MORE than 30 demonstrations were held simultaneously on roads from
Inverness to Ayrshire yesterday by Friends of the Earth Scotland as part
of their national day of action to Slow Down Scotland.
The nationwide protests were aimed at focusing attention on dangerous
drivers and the need for substantial traffic calming measures. In
Edinburgh, it took the form of a march to the Scottish Office with a
Hallowe'en theme of breaking the spell of ''road-dominated'' transport
policy in Scotland.
When demonstrators went to the Scottish Office to hand in a letter
demanding a meeting with Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, they got an
immediate response. The Scottish Office Minister in charge of roads saw
them there and then for what was later described as a ''constructive''
meeting.
Mr Kevin Dunion, FOE director, said the emphasis needed to shift away
from ''prioritising road developments and motor vehicles to focus on the
human being''.
At present, streets were ''trade arteries, no-go areas, through-roads
that pollute the air''.
He added: ''Over the years, we have abandoned the streets to the motor
vehicle but people are expressing their opinion and sending a strong
message that they want their streets back.''
Current policy was at odds with expert opinion, public opinion, and
European trends, paying only lip service to the real need for
sustainable and sensible transport policies.
* Councillors of all parties in Lothian region want a full public
inquiry into proposals for a second Forth Road Bridge and also called
for the setting up of a Passenger Transport Authority for east central
Scotland.
The region's transportation committee called unanimously for any
decision on the bridge plans by the Secretary of State for Scotland to
be delayed until after an inquiry.
The committee also voted for the present 40p toll for cars to be
increased to at least #1.50, the money raised, an estimated #25m a year,
to go to improving road and public transport infrastructures in Lothian
and Fife.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article