15 August 2012
Transform Scotland newsletter -- August 2012
Is Scotland moving towards sustainable transport?
Please come along to Transform Scotland’s 'annual event' on Wednesday 12 September, where we will be launching a new report setting out exactly where we are on sustainable transport in Scotland. This event is free but ticketed -- please click the link to register. Delegates are invited to join us at 18:30 for the launch of this report, and afterwards (at 19:45), for a drinks reception and buffet. Registration is from 18:00. We already have over 60 people booked to attend -- so early booking is advised (as it looks like we’ll be full on the night).
Campaigning for sustainable transport funding in 2013/14
The Scottish Government will publish its Draft Budget for 2013/14 before 20 September. We hope that this year’s Budget is rather more helpful for sustainable transport that the one John Swinney announced last September, when funding was slashed for both buses and active travel. It was only after concerted campaigning that some of the cycling money was at the last moment reinstated.
Over the summer we’ve been doing the rounds of the political parties in Holyrood regarding the Government’s new climate change action plan (RPP2) as part of a Stop Climate Chaos Scotland delegation. Given that the Government has already missed its first annual target (for 2010), it’s important that the revised action plan brings forward strong new measures to reduce emissions from the transport sector (the second largest emissions sector). And for the Scottish Ministers to retain their claims to leadership on tackling climate change, it's imerative that the Budget sets out clear funding allocations for these climate-reducing measures to be implemented.
RPP2 will be published for Parliamentary scrutiny some time in the autumn. The Scottish Budget will also be scrutinised in the Parliament and we would encourage all members to make their views known on both the Budget and the RPP2 upon their publication.
Flagship rail project sunk by Scottish Ministers
But one has to worry about the prospects for heightened investment in sustainable transport given the desperate behaviour of the Scottish Ministers on rail policy.
Hopes for Scottish rail investment took a serious blow when the Government used the first week of the Parliamentary recess to announce that it was butchering its flagship rail project, the Edinburgh-Glasgow Improvement Programme (EGIP).
This is despite it featuring as one of the key ‘national developments’ in the National Planning Framework. So much for the Government’s supposed focus on infrastructure investment! Presumably the Scottish Ministers are happier seeing these funds spent subsidising car use through its multi-billion pound road-building programme?
The decision was all the more crass given that the Westminster Government has just announced a huge raft of new rail investment across England and Wales, including line re-openings, infrastructure enhancements and large scale electrification.
In the early days of devolution, Scotland rightly enjoyed a reputation for its pro-rail policies with line and station re-openings all performing well ahead of projected figures. Unfortunately the current administration has now systematically retreated from this, and instead handed the lead in rail investment back to London.
An Olympic cycling legacy for Scotland?
Dave Morris of Ramblers Scotland has had, for us,
the final word on this topic with his statement that “
There will be no nationwide legacy from 2014 unless we are all walking and cycling across Scotland, through town and countryside, without having to dodge out of the way of traffic.”
So it remains to be seen whether our politicians are prepared to respond to this challenge -- or whether it’s back to business-as-usual. Wouldn’t it be good to actually see Britain’s success in sport cycling translate into some improvements for cycling on a day-to-day basis?
Because, of course, the Scots invented cycling...
Forget the telephone or the television, can there have been a better Scottish invention than the pedal bicycle? (Well, OK, maybe the U-bend...)
Next month (2 September) sees the bicentennial of the birth of Dumfries-shire man Kirkpatrick Macmillan, who is widely credited with having invented the pedal-driven bicycle. It’s somewhat strange that Macmillan is not better known or celebrated in Scotland. Perhaps it’s just down to the tired canards that Scotland is “too hilly” or “too wet” for cycling?
And not only did the Scots invent the bike. We can also boast the inventor of the first electric locomotive, Robert Davidson. One suspects that Davidson would be somewhat appalled that 170 years after his invention that our politicians have not yet been able to get round to electrifying the rail line to his home town of Aberdeen. But then given that the Scottish Ministers have just slashed investment in rail electrification in the Central Belt (see above), is this too much to hope?
Here’s a suggestion. For a start, maybe the National Museum of Scotland could see fit to give greater prominence to Scots inventions like the bike and the electric train -- rather than the car which clutters one of its main entrances?
And maybe our Nationalist Government might see fit to supporting two Scottish success stories -- rather than squandering the nation’s scarce resources on promoting car use. (At least we Scots can’t be blamed for inventing the car: the French and the Germans have to take the rap for that.)
Why trains are better than planes: East Coast business travel project
We are working with long-term members East Coast on a project which will examine the benefits of business travel by rail, rather than air, between London and Edinburgh. This project follows on from a very successful 2007 research project called ‘The Railways Mean Business’ which found that the existing benefits of rail travel -- reliability, better use of the working day, comfort, and low stress -- far outweigh the assumption that shorter travel times equates to greater productivity. The report is due for completion over the coming months, and we are very pleased that Edinburgh Central MSP Marco Biagi has agreed to host the launch of the study in the Scottish Parliament on 24 October. More details will follow in due course.
Calculating the value of Cycle Tourism to Scotland
We are also working in partnership with Sustrans on an exciting research project which explores the value of cycle tourism to the Scottish economy. We intend the report and its findings to provide a clearly-defined evidence base upon which the case can be made for further expansion of and investment into leisure cycle tourism in Scotland. Transform Scotland research analyst Ivan Zovko will define the the value of cycle tourism, identify key issues and potential opportunities and set out recommendations for growing cycle tourism in Scotland. We will bring you news as the project develops.
Take Action: consultations and call for evidence
An opportunity already exists to make your views known on the Scottish Budget by responding to the Parliament’s Finance Committees call for evidence on the budget (deadline 24 August).
The DFT is currently consulting on the forthcoming new East Coast franchise -- deadline 18 September. And it is also (again) consulting on aviation policy -- deadline 31 October.
Transform Scotland news
We’ve had a few requests for clarification regarding why we decided to close down the Transform Scotland Trust. The reasons are explained on our website -- but essentially a decision was taken to close the Trust following Transform Scotland Limited obtaining charitable status. As such, the two organisations had essentially the same charitable objectives and powers, and yet we were having to administer two separate legal entities. This wasn’t going to be a good use of (scarce) charitable funds or people's time.
Goodbye and good luck! We would like to wish our fantastic volunteers Jetta Doran, Zoe Blah, Sandra Wechner and Sophie van der Ham all the best as they leave the Transform family and move on to pastures new. Sandra will of course be making an appearance at the event on 12 September after she returns (by rail, of course) from Switzerland. We also wish our Head of Research, Jolin Warren, the best of luck as he begins a year-long sabbatical while he builds his mud hut cob wall eco-house in South Lanarkshire.
But a warm welcome to new recruits Ivan Zovko, Fi Brown, Jodie Clarke and Rebecca Millar. Also welcome aboard to a new Board member! We’d like to welcome our newest board member Fiona Crawford, who currently works for the Glasgow Centre for Population Health. Fiona is an independent public health specialist and Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health and we look forward to working with her over the next few years. And we’re looking to add a few new volunteers to our team. We’re looking to recruit a new Communications Assistant, an Office Manager, and a new Parliamentary Assistant. All posts are of a minimum of a half-day a week, but could be more.
Finally, free to a good home! If anyone would like to adopt an eMac, G4, 1.25 GHz, 17 inch, from Jan 2005, please let us know. Yes it’s ancient -- but it still works pretty well. Any takers?
Please let us know what you'd like in the next issue
This newsletter has been put together by Zoë Blah. Please feel free to email me with your suggestions for content for next month's newsletter.
And see our 'Events' and 'Take Action Online' pages for more information on things you could attend and things you could do to press for sustainable transport.
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Transform Scotland, the campaign for sustainable transport
5 Rose Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PR, Scotland
t: +44 (0)131 243 2690
e: info@transformscotland.org.uk
w: http://www.transformscotland.org.uk
FB: http://www.facebook.com/transformscotland
Twitter: @TransformScot
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Transform Scotland is a registered Scottish charity (SC041516)
Join us at http://www.transformscotland.org.uk/join-us.aspx
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