Beware Falling Buses

At my bus stop this morning I found this most disturbing grammatical error.

Apparently there will be falling services at the Bathgate end of the 417/27/28. Does this mean that buses will be falling out of the sky to their new starting point at the station rather than South Bridge Street.

Or is the falling more to do with the more than 10% hike in weekly ticket prices today, for two zones to included Edinburgh and West Lothian up from £24 to £27. Don't these bus companies realise that none of us are actually even getting inflationary pay increases and now they are hiking the fares once again.

How Green are Our Copenhagen Delegates?

I see that Prince Charles is to 'attend' the Copenhagen conference on Climate Change. I say attend, he has been invited to make an address during the opening of the conference, in total he will be in the Danish capital for all of four hours.

Which asks the question how will he be getting to conference? Is this a flying visit in both the literal and figurative senses? Indeed how will anyone be getting there? Obviously some of the long haul delegates will have to fly, but with High Speed Rail links across Europe surely the Europeans should be making every effort to get there by using less CO2 and letting the train take the strain?

That is just what George Lyon Scotland's Lib Dem MEP and Simon Hughes representing the party at UK level are doing. Of the 38 UK delegates 19 of the 38 have so far confirmed that they will be flying. Why? Simon Hughes says his train ticket cost him £398, the cost so far claimed for travel with not all travel costs claimed by the delegation is £17,500 averaging £420. So no only is it costing the planet more in CO2 it is costing the taxpayer more as well.

Indeed it is estimated that the total CO2 cost of the conference will come to 41,000 tons, approximately the annual emissions of Morocco. Surely we should expect more of our own delegation. Indeed Eurostar give advise on how to get to Copenhagen by train. It is no more arduous that some trips made by Scottish MPs on a weekly basis for work. Yet somehow when we have a chance to do something practical as well as merely talking about it half our delegation at least are not looking into greener options.

As an aside I know that Prince Charles does his best to carbon offset his travel emissions, but how many of the other delegates will be doing so?

Flattery Doesn't Quite Get One Everywhere

You have to love James of the Two Doctors for trying yesterday he wrote a blogpost called 'In Praise of Liberal Bloggers' in which he praised me and Caron. He says:

"If you read Scotland's top two Liberal bloggers, Stephen and Caron, you find an awful lot more sense, and on most of the key issues of the day they take a far "greener" line than their party."

Before going on to say in conclusion:

"Even so, are you good people not barking up the wrong tree? Are you really in the right party? I'm tempted to send you both a Green membership form, even though I know tribal loyalties are hard to shift."

The even so issue is a matter over the road-building programme - including in his example the Aberdeen Western Peripheral an Extra Forth Bridge. Strangely he doesn't mention the M74 extension.

A lot of this issue stems from the 2003 election so I'll draw his attention to the party manifesto in 2003. The bullet points for transport were:

• Start construction of new rail and light railway projects including the Borders railway, Edinburgh trams and the Aberdeen cross-rail
• Build rail links to Glasgow and Edinburgh airports
• Abolish tolls on the Skye Bridge
• Create a new Highlands and Islands air network to cut air fares, promote tourism and support lifeline links
• Extend concessions for older people to allow them to travel for free across Scotland using off-peak buses
• More action to get freight off our roads

As he can see we fought that election without mentioning roads, especially particular projects in detail. There is a section on roads in the manifesto, it comes after sections on rail & light rail and supporting lifeline links. Here is what the road transport section says:

We seek to limit national road building to the levels already announced by the Executive. Future roads should only proceed when necessary for safety reasons, to connect isolated communities or for environmental reasons when it is better to re-route traffic in the interests of cutting pollution. We will ensure road transport is integrated into the public transport system:

• Ensure that bus timetable information is easily available and that bus services offer convenient links between communities and other types of public transport by using the powers in the Transport Act.
• Monitor whether the Quality Partnership powers included in the Transport Act 2001 are adequate to protect and enhance evening, weekend and rural bus services.
• Pilot new kick-start plans to create better value bus services, provided over a 18 month period to promote particular under-used routes through enhanced frequency and marketing. The aim is to generate growth in passenger numbers and reduce the public subsidy.
• Improve and upgrade rural roads affected by large volumes of timber traffic and reduce the amount of timber traffic on unsuitable roads by promoting internal routes within forestry areas.
• Continue to invest in road improvements that will reduce the number of casualties amongst drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists.
• Promote co-operative sales outlets for fuel in isolated and island areas to drive down where possible the cost of fuel towards the Scottish average.
• Support Demand Responsive Transport initiatives to improve public transport services particularly in rural areas.

So there you have it. So what changed? I also have in my possession the draft copy of the Partnership Agreement numbered 49 and marked at the time I received it 'In Confidence'. This was the paper that every MSP and then a representative of every local party. I was one such representative. Included with it were my notes on the day.

There are two things I have written in bold and underlined at the top of the page of notes. One is ASBOs for Under 16s, the other is ROADS (Aberdeen/Motorway). Looking at the details of the agreement itself it outlines the 15 points of detailed action to ensure tat our transport system meets the needs of business, transport users and the environment. Seven of those pertain to particular rail projects, one to a tram network, one ferries to mainland Europe, two are concessionary public transport schemes for the old and the young, one improved public transport access for the disabled, one more direct air links rather than flying. The other two of course are the road projects, the Aberdeen Peripheral Road and completion of the Central Scotland Motorway system.

I had a few questions written down which I was prepared to ask in the question period, what I do have is a series of ticks through these as someone else asked them and the questions were forthcoming. The two road projects in question where in the Labour manifesto, they were concessions to get so much focus on public transportation and other issues through from our own.

There is also the way the agreement is to be worked through.

"The two Parliamentary parties will operate in support of the Partnership Executive on all issues covered by this agreement."

So while James may think that there is a lack of scepticism in the 4 years my blog has been in operation (bearing in mind the one year hiatus) it is because one of those issues was dealt with in my mind as far as I could back in 2003. Local colleagues were better placed to then sort out the details. As for the Bridge I do appear to for whatever reason not have commented. I can't recall whether this was because I was on a break, had restricted access, or was writing about other stuff.

Just one thing to say James safe that little bit of a carbon footprint you'd use by mailing me a membership form, it won't be used.

Grangemouth by Rail: A Future Hope

Seeing the work going on at the new Bathgate and Armadale stations and the rest of the work going on to restore the Bathgate to Airdrie rail link is a wonderful sight. The news that a campaign is afoot to connect people in Grangemouth back to the rail network is additional welcome news.

Rail lines still exist from Falkirk to Grangemouth to carry freight so less replacing of infrastructure may be required that the Bathgate to Airdrie scheme. Alex Macaulay, the director of SEStran has said that the issue of reinstating a station at Grangemouth would be considered as part of Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (Stag) to assess the future transport needs of the area. The 17,000+ residents of Grangemouth may soon be looking forward to a more rail connection to the rest of the network rather than busing or driving into Falkirk to get on a train.

The £2000 Car-Scrap Scheme Myth

In the Time Budget supplement Ben Webster points out the mythologies of the benefit to a car owner of the car-scrap scheme policy from the Darling budget.

The headline figure was that it would be worth £2000 per car or van aged over 10 years scrapped between 1 May 2009 and 1 March 2010 and replaced with a new car. However, only £1000 of that is coming from the Government the other thousand will be matched by the industry at the floor court. Thing is to try and encourage such sales most retailers are already offering at least that level of discount. Therefore will the price of cars on the forecourt go up to the real figure to allow the retailers to actually be seen to give this full £2000 benefit.

Also scraping cars over 10 years old irrelevant of condition is poor environmental move. Many cars just over this age are still environmental. The only reason that I got rid of my late father's car last year was that it had become too expensive to repair just after getting through it's 12 year MOT. Also the people most likely to be able to buy new cars anyway are the wealthy. Personally I have never owned a new car. Even many of my parents cars have been ex-hire cars, several of these serving a year on one of the channel islands before being sold on to them. While the tax is aimed at helping the car industry is does little for the poor and the environment.

There are also 9.5 millions vehicles that would be eligible for this scheme, Darling has earmarked £300m for this scheme, therefore it would be the first 300,000 people after May the first to take advantage who will benefit. Probably best if your old car still runs to keep it running folks.

No Lock for Boris's Bike Then as Well

You'd have thought the floppy haired Mayor of London would have learnt from the woes of his glorious leader last summer at least just a little when implementing his bike hire scheme. You'd also think that Boris Johnson avid bike rider would also have looked at the examples of the other city schemes such as Paris's Vélib. But no Boris is forgetting one thing the lock.

He thinks not having a lock will make people return the bikes they hire quicker to one of the 300-400 docking stations that will be available dotted around zone 1. But what is one needs to purchase a bottle of water, or snatch a paper all quick little dashes into a shop, all quite normal behaviour for cyclists, only to come out to find the bike gone an have to lose the whole £150 deposit.

Transport for London say providing locks will spoil the aesthetic of London.

Jenny Jones, a Green Party member of the London Assembly, said:

"Commuters and tourists will want the flexibility that a bike brings, and not
providing locks defies common sense. Part of the joy of cycling is the ability
to stop off where you want, nip into a shop, have a quick coffee and do all
those little things along your route that are more awkward when travelling by
bus, Tube or cab. The people setting up this scheme simply do not understand
cycling."

The London Cycling Campaign added:

"The lack of a lock may discourage potential riders, so TfL will need to make
sure there are sufficient convenient docking stations."

Come on Boris don't be silly. You know a lock makes sense to this scheme. Or we'll take your lock away from your bike.

Why Whitburn Needs the X33

When I first moved to Scotland and indeed West Lothian the after a few month living with the then partners family I moved into my own wee flat, it was in the old Croftmalloch ward of Whitburn.

While at the start of my time there I had my own little car but later on I didn't have my own transport. I had to get to work in Edinburgh and if I was on a early shift the only way I could guarantee getting there was to get on the X33 service (or it's equivalent then) to get into town. Even then with the vagrancies of public transport there were occasions that I failed to make it on time. I only had to get to Sighthill on the Western edge of the city heaven knows what others did who had to go the whole way into town.

As I worked shifts there were occasions that both in and out of Edinburgh I had to make alternative arrangements. For me that meant taking the 12 into Livingston and then hopping on a 27/28 onwards to Edinburgh and the reverse getting back out. There were occasions when I was leaving work at 8pm and not getting in before 10 if I was lucky with connections at Livingston's centre. on occasions I was not getting back from that finish before 11.

The X33 as with the X1 to Bathgate is a key service to deliver fresh workers to and from their place of work. Understandably a lot of West Lothian bound buses meander through Livingston to serve its various areas but the ones that by pass Livingston (like the X1 on which I am typing this) are key fast services that greatly benefit the community living beyond that hub.

As Angela Constance Livingston's MSP also points out in this week's West Lothian Courier "some people have to plan their daily journeys around their childcare arrangements and only the availabilty of the X33 allows them to do this".

Therefore I wholeheartedly support the efforts of the local elected representatives Michael Connarty MP, Mary Mulligan MSP and local councillors Jim Swan, George Paul* and Neil Findlay in trying to get this service reinstated unto the timetable as soon as possible. It may yet be withdrawn from Monday but it or an equivalent fast link is vitally important to the community of Whitburn.

UPDATE: Good news on Saturday I was checking the first website for Times of Buses to Glasgow and found that a limited one morning and one evening X33 service is to be reintroduced from Whitburn from Monday, Feb 9.

*Jim and George where my SNP and Labour opponents in that 2003 Croftmalloch contest.

This Train will Call at ....Blackridge...

Good news for residents in Blackridge the Scottish Government has agreed funding for them to have a platform as part of the Bathgate to Airdrie railway reinstatement programme.

While the Scotsman may be heaping praise on Fiona Hyslop for this success I'm like to single out independent councillor Stuart Borrowman who actually really got this campaign going and was convener of PlatformBlackridge a group which had all party support. No doubt the council will pass the passing application for the station at a nod now and Blackridge can become better connected than it has been for years.

The people of Blackridge have for too long lived with a poverty in public transport provision, their needs often overlooked. This success for PlatformBlackridge will greatly benefit many in that community, along with the others already set to benefit from the new line. It is a great step forward.

On the Buses: Or Not

Tales of Two Buses

Talking about buses. What? You missed the Eddie Izard-esque segue? I had the misfortune to have a bad day and two different results on the buses yesterday and neither had anything to do with David "Blakey" Miliband.

As I mentioned yesterday I was taking a midweek game in the Corporate Insurance Cup as a chance to catch up on my table topping Livingston.

"You’re no, you’re no, we’re top of the league and you’re no."*

So knowing that the road works around Haymarket are delaying buses I was quite expectant that my 90 second walk from desk to bus stop would enable be to get on a delayed 15:57 bus heading Livingston direction leaving at the end of my working hours on time for a rare change. Sure enough as I looked down the road towards Edinburgh Zoo I soon saw the First Bus livery waiting at the lights at the zoo exit. It was in the outside lane so I knew I’d have to use all my usual tricks to get it to see me and stop.

The lights changed just as the Lothian bus picking up from the stop before the lights pulled along side, this is a worse case nightmare for us First Bus customers along the Glasgow/St. John’s/Corstorphine Road even more so when you are desperate to be somewhere else at the end of your trip other than your sofa. With my week pass in hand I looked straight at the driver of the First Bus as both approached my stop at the Forestry Commission the Lothian driver pulled in and also indicated to the First Bus driver to do the same. Just beyond the stop it indicated it was coming in I thought to stop, so to ease the wait time I ran along to hop on quickly. However, I ended up running after the bus all the way to the next stop where when I was about a length behind it pulled away again from the next stop. A rather irate me was straight on the phone to First to complain.

The second bus/coach related tales are with the coaches that took us to the match itself. The first upsetting thing is that some of the people I’ve travelled with on coaches to away games for some seasons now will never travel by coach to Celtic Park ever again, because of the poor disability access provision for away supporters' coaches.


View Larger Map

I hope this map experiment works but the green flag is Celtic Park and the blue tag is where we had to alight and re-embark our coaches. As you can see it is quite a long trek along Springfield Road to get from one to the other and the guys who require the aid of sticks to walk there were exhausted on arrival, and even worse on getting back. In future they have decided to drive themselves and avail them selves of parking right next to the stadium but also thus missing out on part of the ambiance of travelling to away games.

However, that is not the end of the tail. Oh no! On our return trip homeward bound our coach while travelling along the M8/A8 having just negotiated last nights road works suddenly lost power about the Kirk of Shotts area. Our coach driver manfully lurched, urged and eased it along the hard shoulder to come off at the Shotts junction before coasting the vehicle for a 3 mile downhill stretch towards his depot at Harthill before having to give up and bring it to a stop in Eastfield in a bus stop. Similar to some of your worst flying experiences he then earned a round of applause.

All in all quite an eventful day/night on the buses. Lionel will fill you all in on Celtic Park and the game later on.

*Yes this did get an interesting mix of reactions from humour to derision from the Celtic faithful last night.

West Ham now Have Another Vacacy to Fill

Football is a game of two halves so the old cliche goes. That includes a club's shirt. It has a front and a back this is the tale of two halves from the world of football yesterday.


Well Gianfranco Zola may have been smiling yesterday when he was appointed the new West Ham United manager. However, turn the shirt over.

And there will be concerns still with the club board following last night's news that the club's shirt sponsors XL Travel have entered administration, which has left tens of thousands of tourists stranded overseas will all flights grounded.

Alex Tram'U-turn'old

Just when the Nats and cybernats thought it was save to venture into Edinburgh without the threat of any more tram works because they're not cost effective, or there's no need for them as buses are better, or an electric train to Glasgow is a better way to spend the money etc. Or simply because Alex Salmond is always right even if every other party was against doing away with the investment. Cue the Jaws theme as today it appears that there is a change of heart and policy.

Maybe Alex Salmond is starting to take heed of Nicol Stephen's words this Spring that the Scottish National Party were weak on the environment, that coal or the road isn't king. However, even the Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson seems a little confused. He says today:

"We are not against trams as such, but the project that was before
us.

"The advice which Edinburgh City Council and Transport Initiatives
Edinburgh (TIE) have made to me, which I can see the logic of, is that when you
have invested in the infrastructure it is cheaper to make extensions."

While his spokeswomen is adamant that:

"The Scottish Government was against the trams project, but we respected the
will of the parliament to allow the scheme to continue."

Just what is going on? Even former SNP Member not Independent Margo MacDonald last year felt the SNP were well suited for Hogwarts house of Slytherin when she said:

"I think somewhere along the line the SNP have mastered the black arts. The
signs were there at the tail-end of the last parliament when, for cheap
political advantage, the trams project was dropped [by the SNP] and the
Edinburgh airport rail link was disparaged.

"At the same time, comment was made about how much needed to be spent
modernising infrastructure north of Perth. It is no coincidence."

Implying that the Nat's transport policy drifts where the votes are. As I pointed out just yesterday it is a art still practised by the First Minister of smarm, trying to please all of the people all of the time is not going to wash forever.

Update:

Thanks to this comment from Scottish Unionist I thought I'd better make it clear, rather than assume that every reader knows, that I have been a firm supporter of the tram networks in Edinburgh since the off as a clean, efficient and reliable alternative to road transportation whether car or bus. Looking forward to the current schemes merely being the first stepping stone to a network stretching to other parts of Edinburgh and beyond (there was initial talk of extending it out to West Lothian for example).

He Came, He Charmed, He Promised...Just When?

OK the First Minister and his cabinet headed to the Highland's capital Inverness and making promises to invest in the Inverness to Edinburgh rail line and dual the A9. Is it just me or is there one vital thing missing from these promises? Where is the time scale? Apart that is from the one of making the announcement while in the city that will benefit from the promise.

While it is all well and good stating the "importance of having better and safer transport connections for the north of Scotland" promising investment on a "continuing basis" is not setting a SMART objective. Yes he came out of the meeting promising to spell out the details in a couple of weeks but making a promise of things yet to be revealed is being somewhat of a familiar tune from Alex's lips.

Surely these platitudes are also part of the smarm offensive that Alex used when also calling Inverness the "most important city in Scotland". No offence to any resident of Inverness but I'm sure even they would realise that there are several stronger candidates to that that claim in all honesty. Indeed why should any city be more important than any other. Without Aberdeen for example where would Alex's oil revenue be, without Edinburgh where would he power be, as for Glasgow where would a great bulk of his population be. Surely Alex meant to say that Inverness was as important a part of Scotland as anywhere else. But then that wouldn't have built up an hysteria within the crowd to prevent them looking beyond what he was saying to realise it was all big on ideas and thin on detail.

Promise all you want but you're going to have to deliver on them all.

You are the Weakest Driver

That scary red-head Anne Robinson didn't bank on losing her licence for incurring a fourth speeding offence and 12 penalty points. The Weakest Link presenter seems to make an annual job of speeding past some speed camera the other 3 offences being in September 2005, March 2006 and June 2007.

Mr McGoldick her brief said she would suffer "significant inconvenience" to the winking one as she travelled between 40,000 and 50,000 miles a year in her car. She was only doing 43mph in 30 zone. If only she was more charitable like fellow red head Patrick Kielty who recently got off with a ban doing 101mph on a far more dangerous stretch of road.

Nats Robin Hooding the Young and the Old

The latest effect of the SNP tightening of the bugetary purse strings may well the free bus travel for the over 60s.

It is another incentive that is currently facing a Governemnt review and like other policies under such review the spending will be cut while the review gets under way. The result is that the reimbursement to the bus companies will not cover their increased costs with the rising fuel prices if they keep it at being available to the over 60s and the age may increase to those over 65 as a result.

This comes the day after new drink laws were proposed which could further alienate young people by not allowing under 21s to buy drink from off licences, at the same time as many are trying to give those over 16 a vote. The much cited Armadale experiment did seem to lead to an increased number of young people and police presence in the streets of Bathgate over the trail period. Also many people have pointed out that the continent has actually lower drinking age which is true, they also forget that they have less of a binge drinking problem.

The problem with prohibiting young people from acquiring drink only makes it more attractive to try and get some. Also once acquired by surepticious means it is more likely to be consumed in a hurry causing further problems. Responsible drinking requires responsible drinking laws.

If both Nat policies take effect they could be facing a reaction from both the youngest and oldest voters.

SNP Prioritise Private Over Public Transport in Crisis

It would seem that Edinburgh's public transport could almost grind to a halt on Sunday after the Scottish Government has prioritsed the supply at Grangemouth for petrol station forecourts rather than public transport. Lothian Buses

Today as Alex Salmond pormised the people of Scotland at First Minister's questions that there was "ample and substantial" fuel to cope with the shut down of the Grangemouth petrochemical plant, as a result of strike action, he was away of the problems Lothian Buses was facing. During his answer Mr Salmond actually said:

"Assuming consumer behaviour is responsible, then there should be limited difficulties, both in terms of inconvenience and disruption.

"Clearly, it's a time when we need everyone, and the public's cooperation, to behave sensibly and responsibly, to cut out non-essential trips, to use public transport."

Going to a bit hard for the good, sensible and responsible Burghers of the capital to do that Alex especially to get to work on Monday when there are no buses available to take many of them anywhere. Guess we know how green the Nats are with this prioritisation of resources at a time of crisis.

Update: just love when something like this happens. You click publish post and then find this from Lothian Buses which wasn't there when you started. Make you wonder though has Alex done a Gordon Brownesque U-Turn.

Further Update: The Scottish Government are now claiming there was a misunderstanding by BP regarding where the fuel should be prioritised. Lothian Buses clearly did not have a misunderstanding, they had said the supplier had been told not to supply them.

So the misunderstanding has to come from some communication between the Scottish Government and BP or how BP interpreted that to tell this major wholesale customer that they would not get a delivery which would appear to be enough to see them through about half a week, gauging time scales. Just what did the SNP Government tell BP regarding supply at this time? How could this be misunderstood? Why did this misunderstanding lead to such an escalation in panic? And why was this not sorted out at FMQs? Something is not quite adding up as to this 'misunderstanding'.

Even Further Update: It appears the amount of fuel that Lothian Bueses and many wholesale purchasers of fuel will be recieving is to be only 70% of their long scheduled orders. Now one assumes that 30% has not been stockpiled away in case of shortages and that the 100% is required to operate the full service bus, emergency and transportation services require. Therefore we must hope that the rationing to these wholesale customers can be speedily restored following this weekend's industrial action.

However, if there is "ample fuel" until the middle of May, again the question must be why the 30% reduction in supply Mr Salmond?

Free to Fife: A Bridge Toll Free

On Saturday Livingston were returning to a football ground across the Forth for the first time since the removal of the tolls on the Forth and Tay Bridges. On this occasion we were returning to East End Park to take on Dunfermline.

Due to my personal arrangements now seeing me spend the bulk of my weekends in Edinburgh rather than Bathgate, it was obviously easier, faster and more convenient for me to drive there rather than back to Almondvale to pick up the suppoters coach. So I was going to experience first hand the change in getting over the Forth Road Bridge. The queues approaching the bridge were minimal and although the wind had dropped you still felt it a bit on the crossing, but I've never whizzed into Fifie quite so fast during daylight hours before. I was pleasantly surprised to actually park up near the stadium in less time that I have recently been taking to drive to where I park for home games.

The result was a 1-1 draw, although Livingston had more chances to win the match, one shot being saved by a defender on the line and Robert Snodgrass being clean through on goal one on one with the keeper just steering his shot past. My only real concern was that whilst the bulk of our fans were accomodated in Dunfermline's Main stand, this is inappropraite for disabled fans and their carers who were thus isolated in the East Stand. But also away at the far side well away from any set of other supporters, therefore missing out on the atmosphere that a football fan expects. So while they are accomodated under the circumstance they fail to get the full benefit of the match that the able bodied fans enjoyed.

Tackle Climate Change Take a Plane - Labour

Apparently the best way government guidelines tell us to tackle underused railways is to take a plane.

Are these planes going to stop at request stops along the line of the rail route? How are they going to tackle the stations in the Highlands or rural Wales which surely must be amongst those targeted? I mean it will be difficult to built airports next to every conceiveable station. That is before taking into account that taking off is the most carbon heavy point of a planes emmissions.

If there are not going to airports at every stop how are passengers going to get to their final destination? In some of these underused rail lines there is no realistic alternative to make the journey from Rannoch Station to Fort William being a prime example.

So not only is Tony Blair not prepared to set annual targets for cutting carbon emmissions (when he has them for everything else), he looks like adding to them non-sensically.

On the MSPs Radar

Well my latest focus leaflet appears to have caught the attention of Mary Mulligan MSP as she has attacked it in the letter's page of the Linlithgow Gazette.

I have a number of issues with what is trying to convey to Local Residents.

Firstly she say she was 'unaware of any such proposal' relating to there being no improving of the Burghmuir junction on the M9 for West Bound access. If that is the cae I would like to draw her attention to the Scottish Planning Policy which came to a head last October and was mentioned on this blog. Also the fact that this proposal has been in discussion and consideration for over a decade shows a lot of inaction on behalf of Labour-led local authorities over a number of years.

Secondly she says that I should 'really listen to local concerns'. The fact that she lifted one point out of a list which is headed 'local people have been telling Stephen Glenn of their concerns about local transport' should be a clue. These issues have been raised by local Linlithgow residents who I have bothered to go out and meet on their own doorsteps. Many of whom have also told me they have never seen a politician on their doorstep ever before. I might just have to go home and work out just what percentage of the people I have spoken to have raised which local issue over hte last few months and supply these figures here.

Finally she says that such a proposal has 'mixed views' and will 'increase pressure still further on schools and public services'. Well maybe Ms Mulligan should be a little more au fait with what the town's community council is saying and discovering. For example in their response to the Council's West Lothian Local Plan 2005 stated that they carried out a single appraisal survey which asked:

Linlithgow town centre suffers from constant through traffic. Over the years there have been proposals to upgrade junction 3 of the M9 'the Burghmuir junction' to an all-ways junction so allowing traffic to access the motorway and avoiding the High Street. Would you support such a proposal?

The response was Yes 100% No 0%, so cleary we have very mixed views here.

The fact that Mary says that the junction would 'increase pressure still further' must make bad reading for any Labour candidates hoping to stand in Linlithgow. The fact that many local residents have already told me that they feel that development is already putting a strain on local schools and services is surely down to Labour-led council.

So that is a nice admission from the MSP. It shows that there is a problem in voted Labour at next years council elections as they are already failing the people of Linlithgow.

Linlithgow Parking Debate

Last night I attended the public meeting held by Linlithgow Community Council regaring the parking proposals for the town centre.

Many of the proposals in the scheme were torn into because of a number of factors. One thing that did cone out of the scheme is that the officers who drew up this proposal are not taking into account the the full long term picture of the area.

In the FAQs in the proposal under 'Why not build a new car park?' comes the response:

'In the short-term, it is not feasible to provide signifigant extra parking space in Linlithgow due to the signifigant costs and lack of suitable places.'

The problem is that the reasonm that the costs are so prohibitive is that every suitable space is being bought up for residential development therefore increasing the pressure on parking spaces whereas the same brown field site could have been used by the coucil to alleviate the parking issues.

Of the four groups that park in and around Linlithgow 3 do not appear to have been addressed in the proposals the traders and business owners will have no right to park near their business, the tourists that come to Linlithgow and are an important eceonomic imput and the commuters upon which development of Linlithgow and nearby Bo'ness is being built with the express links to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Of the fourth group the local residents these while being considered are not being given enough recognition or available spaces and are being asked to move cars from outside some of their front doors.

The proposal would also make Linlithgow the only town in West Lothian where residents and shoppers would have to pay for parking to get to their shops. There has recently been huge investment to help commuters in Linvingston at Livingston North a new second car park and the park a ride schemes on Livingston road. So the argument about cost is merely one of no back bone.

If residents want to make comments about these proposals they should write to West Lothian Council, Transportation, FREEPOST SCO4880, Linlithgow, EH49 0BR by the 30 June.

Blair Force One and err...Two

Tony Blair is to get two official planes to fly him on official government business.

One will apparently only have 70 seats for long haul flights, the onther a smaller 15 seater for short haul. Which means that fuel usage per passenger will be higher than booking the same delegation on a commercial flight.

So much for Tony Blair being prepared to fight Climate Change. I hope he is going to offset the fuel emmisions.

Can't you just imagine Jim Bowen going up to Prescott and saying "Here's what you could have won"?