6 October 2010
Welcome for Energy Efficiency Action Plan
Transform Scotland have welcomed the publication today by the Scottish Government of its '
Energy Efficiency Action Plan'.
Colin Howden, Director of Transform Scotland, said:
"It's good to see First Minister Alex Salmond make commitment to 'transforming how we use our transport systems.'"The Plan takes the correct focus of, firstly, reducing the need to travel; secondly, identifying opportunities for modal shift to sustainable modes; and thirdly, promoting greater vehicle efficiency for remaining road use."However, we share the concerns raised by FoE Scotland, RSPB Scotland and WWF Scotland that this welcome policy framework must be matched by investment to ensure that the transformation of our transport system is actually brought about."Our principal criticism of the transport measures outlined in the Plan is the absence of any commitment to implementing road traffic demand management measures. There is reference to discussing potential policies on 'management of car parking and road space', but nothing more than this."If we want to achieve the Plan's urging that "we must start to reduce our transport energy demand now" then we're not convinced that this will happen swiftly enough to meet our climate change targets without the welcome measures outlined in the Plan being augmented by new road traffic demand management measures."