This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
£45,000 for rural transport in Midlothian
20/12/1999
Rural Community Transport in Midlothian received a £45,000 cash injection today from Transport and Environment Minister Sarah Boyack.
A funding application by Lothian Community Transport Services in Midlothian is among twenty transport projects throughout Scotland to benefit from the Executive's £14.2 million Rural Community Transport Grant Scheme.
The scheme will fund a variety of new services from the Borders to the Shetland Isles which will help people in rural areas who do not have access to a car or regular public transport.
Speaking during a visit to Eilean Siar (Western Isles) Sarah Boyack said:
"Today I am announcing an additional 20 awards on top of the 21 successful projects I announced in September. The Executive is committed to improving transport in rural areas and providing these communities with real transport choices. Every community matters and the Executive recognises that scheduled bus services are not always a viable option in rural areas. The Rural Community Transport Grant Scheme funds services which fit the needs of the communities they serve."
The £45,000 award to Lothian Community Transport Services will help fund a replacement accessible minibus for use on group hire services. It will also fund pilot services in rural areas of Midlothian.
BACKGROUND
1. As part of the £4.5m per annum rural transport funding package announced last year, £600,000 per annum is being put towards the Rural Community Transport Grants Scheme to help fund projects such as community minibuses, dial-a-bus services, local community transport co-ordinators and voluntary car schemes. An additional £150,000 was also earmarked by the Transport Minister Sarah Boyack for 1999-00 making £750,000 available in total for this year. Also, as a result of a redistribution of resources within the funding package, an additional £135,000 is being made available.
2. Since the scheme was launched just over a year ago 53 projects have already been awarded grant funding. The second round of this year's successful applicants means that a further 20 projects will benefit. The 20 winners are spread over a wide part of Scotland - including 4 projects in Highland, 3 in each of Aberdeenshire and Dumfries and Galloway, 2 in Eilean Siar, Moray and Scottish Borders and 1 each in Midlothian, Shetland Islands, South Lanarkshire and Stirling. Another round of the grants scheme is expected to take place in the next financial year.
News Release: SE1736/1999
20 Dec 1999