BackSafer streets investment cut
The Scottish Government announced the Local Government settlement for 2012-15 yesterday. The ring fenced capital funding for Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets was confirmed at £6.069m in 2012/13, a cut of 19% from 2011/12. The settlement also states that there is an “Undistributed specific capital grant Vacant & Derelict Land Fund, £8.146m” for 2012/13.
In our evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee on Wednesday 2nd November, Living Streets highlighted four key messages:
– Scottish Government policies aim to tackle two key challenges- an aging, increasingly overweight/obese population, and need/desirability to shift to a low carbon economy.
– Walking is a vital transport mode: one in four journeys that we make are on foot, it is the most inclusive form of transport and the most common travel mode for under 20s and over 80s.
– Investing in sustainable transport is preventative spend. Investing in walking helps tackle the key public health challenges and the transition to a low carbon economy.
– Cutting investment in road maintenance disproportionately affects vulnerable road users like pedestrians and Transport Scotland’s analysis suggests the costs as a result of cutting maintenance are 5-12 times as expensive on local roads as trunk roads
Our four key calls for the Draft Budget were:
o Maintain Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets as additional funding for local authorities
o Maintain funding for tackling Vacant and Derelict Land and Air Quality issues
o Maintain the sustainable and active travel budget in 2012/13 and, over the Spending Review, start to fund the Low Carbon Scotland measures
o Support implementation of Designing Streets- a low cost solution,
Published on: 09/12/2011
