Spokes has written to Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Development John Swinney over the miserable level of funding for cycling in the draft Scottish budget 2010-11.
Our Budget 2010-11 letter to Mr Swinney follows a question to him about cycling investment, at the October 29 Dynamic Earth conference on Sustainable Development. In response, most of Mr Swinney’s reply was about rail investment – nothing to do with the question! – and he did not deny that cycling investment is around the very low level which Spokes research suggests.
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NOTE – there’s a lot of news on this site about national funding at the moment – that is because we are now in the vital budget-negotations period.
It’s easy to think that ‘the budget’ is a fairly abstract and boring concept – boring, perhaps, but abstract – no! If our proposal to double cycle funding from its current very low level is accepted, that could mean literally hundreds of cycle projects right across Scotland. Would you like all urban sections of the Glasgow to Edinburgh canal surfaced? Or a big new batch of onroad facilities in Edinburgh – or elsewhere? Or the A90 Edinburgh to Forth Bridge path brought up to a quality standard? These are examples of the projects which could happen – see our budget submission for more examples of the kind of thing it could mean.
That is why we urge you to write to your MSPs now in support of proper cycle investment in the budget. MSPs pay much more attention to a pressure group like Spokes if they are also getting letters from the public about the same subject. A short letter is fine – we have already sent in the details!! But say how important this is to you, and why. See Oct 24 news item on the draft Budget for more about how to write and what to ask.