< Previous | Contents | Next >

A WALKING STRATEGY FOR SCOTLAND:CONSULTATION DOCUMENT

Dear Consultee,

CONSULTATION DOCUMENT: A WALKING STRATEGY FOR SCOTLAND

The attached Consultation Document seeks your views on a draft walking strategy for Scotland prepared by the Scottish Walking Forum. Ministers will consider the draft strategy, and comments on it, in developing a walking strategy on behalf of the Scottish Executive.

You are free to comment on any aspect of this document. We have, however, identified the following questions which we thought might be helpful to you in considering a response.

• Should we have national or local targets or indicators for walking?
• If so, what should they be?
• What criteria should we use to measure targets or indicators?
• Are there any other policy areas which could benefit from the implementation of walking strategies?
• What other measures would encourage more people to walk more often?
• What role can voluntary organisations play in promoting walking?
• What role can the business sector play in promoting walking?
• Are there any significant needs which walkers have that are not covered by this document?
• Are there other forms of funding which could be used to finance walking projects?
• Are there any examples of good practice / existing initiatives and strategies that can be used as case studies?

It would be helpful to us if, when making a specific point relating to this document, you could identify the paragraph number(s) to which you are addressing your comments.

Please send comments by 16 May 2003 to: Scottish Executive, Transport Division 3:2, Area 2-E, Victoria Quay, EDINBURGH, EH6 6QQ. (or Fax to 0131 244 0871)

Or

E-mail to walkingstrategy@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Please note that comments received as a result of this consultation will be considered in finalising the document for subsequent publication by the Executive. Unless you indicate to the contrary, it will be assumed that you have no objection to the Executive making your comments public.

Yours sincerely

ALAN BROWN
Head of Road Safety, Cycling and Walking Branch

1. INTRODUCTION

Changing the Priorities

1.1 The Scottish Executive is committed to developing a safe, sustainable and integrated transport system for Scotland. That commitment is set out in the Transport White Paper ‘Travel Choices for Scotland' published in 1998. It is reiterated in the specific commitments made in both ‘Making it Work Together: A Programme for Government’ published in July 1999 and in ‘Working Together for Scotland’ which was published in 2000.

1.2 In March 2002 the Scottish Executive published ‘Scotland’s Transport: Delivering Improvements’. That report sets out the Executive’s transport vision for Scotland. It also details the transport achievements that have been made and sets out those that will be delivered in the short term with committed funds. The focus of the report is on congestion in and around the major metropolitan areas, on delivering greater transport integration and on the completion of major missing links in the transport network. Walking has a part to play in the achievement of the first two of these objectives by providing a real choice of mode for shorter journeys.

1.3 This Strategy represents the views of the Scottish Walking Forum. The Forum was established by Ministers in June 2000 to both consider the report published in March 2000 by the then Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions 'Encouraging Walking: Advice to Local Authorities', and to set that document into a Scottish context, making changes or revisions as appropriate to reflect the Scottish situation. Membership of the Scottish Walking Forum is given at Annex A.

1.4 This document is the first part of a two stage process. It aims to establish the policy principles which underpin the Scottish Executive’s stance on walking and the part it can play in contributing to national policy objectives. A second document will follow which will provide more detailed technical advice and draw upon the many existing sources of reference and material relevant to the subject.

1.5 This Strategy acknowledges the many links between walking and other policy areas. While this part of the walking debate in Scotland is being led from the transport agenda, the links with recreational walking are recognised, as is the potential of the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill to increase opportunities for leisure and functional trips using off-road infrastructure. There are strong links with health and the Physical Activity Task Force, and also with education and the Safer Routes to Schools¹ initiative. Walking can contribute to the rural policy agenda, to planning, the environment, tourism, and recreation. Walking also has a role to play in the delivery of social inclusion objectives.

1.6 This policy document is intended to inform and influence policy makers and those who implement policy in all of the fields referred to above. Its target audience includes local authorities, health bodies, the police, public bodies such as Scottish Natural Heritage and the Forestry Commission, employers, schools and all who have an interest in promoting walking as a sustainable, healthy and efficient means of transport and as a leisure pursuit. Its aim is to set out ways in which walking can be made easier, safer and more pleasant.

A Role for Walking

1.7 Walking has a major role in transport, leisure, health, social inclusion, the environment and the local economy. In 2001 13% of adults walked to work and 52% of pupils walked to school (tables 12.14 and 12.15 in Scottish Transport Statistics No.21). Walking also has an important role in contributing to multi-modal trips. But walking as a mode of transport has declined over the years with reductions in both the number and length of trips made on foot (tables 12.1 and 12.2 in Scottish Transport Statistics No. 21). This may be partly because people have increasingly been able to choose car journeys which they perceive as quicker and more comfortable, and partly because walking is less attractive in traffic-dominated streets. However as congestion increases, the "speed" of car travel in city areas is becoming increasingly open to question.

1.8 To reverse this decline we need to foster a climate where a greater number of people choose, more often than they do at present:

• to walk for some short journeys even though they have a car available.
• to use public transport in preference to a car for some journeys, with a walk at either end.
• to build walking into a longer journey where a car may be necessary by using park and ride schemes or by parking or dropping off a short distance from the destination and walking the rest of the way.
• to walk to and at work, school or college.
• to walk for pleasure or exercise.

1.9 All this can have a positive impact on total vehicle mileage, air pollution and climate change, and:

• there will be an easing of congestion in some circumstances, particularly if more people walk for local journeys, and if walking becomes a favoured option in city centres.
• there will be an impact on pollution levels in localised urban areas particularly where there is a reduction in " stop-start" driving².
• there will be a worthwhile improvement in conditions for those who walk.

1.10 Local authorities are encouraged to produce a walking strategy as part of their local transport strategies. The walking strategy should not be seen as a document to be prepared in isolation. It will have greater practical impact when considered as part of an overall package designed to encourage healthier more sustainable lifestyles across a whole spectrum of activities. Local transport strategies should consider both on and off road routes to be used by walkers and cyclists and their integration into local networks. Considered this way they will be part of the plan that enables a local authority:

• to fulfil its Local Agenda 21/Sustainable Development strategy.
• to meet its obligations under the National Air Quality Strategy.
• to meet any targets it sets under the Road Traffic Reduction Act
• to integrate transport with land use in accord with NPPG 17.

1.11 Many local authorities already have or are planning physical activity policies. The development of local walking strategies will contribute to these policies and will also enable local authorities to participate in a meaningful way in the preparation of local health plans to further encourage a change to a healthier lifestyle for all.

1.12 Local authorities should consider how best to integrate their walking strategies across the whole range of council policy including land use planning, environment, recreation and community planning. They should also review budgets across departments to ensure that they reflect the priorities established in their walking strategies. In all cases local authorities should work closely with other policy makers and agencies to ensure a co-ordinated approach to policy making and implementation.

1.13 Walking should be as pleasant, safe and convenient as possible. Improving conditions for walking can bring a range of benefits to everyday lives; to health, safety, access to services and even the sense of community. Conditions can be created in which people will choose to walk rather than walking only if there is no alternative.

1.14 The Scottish Household Survey records that 36% of households in Scotland in 2000 did not have access to a car. In some areas and for some groups in society this figure will be higher. Even where a household does have access to a car not all members of that household will have regular use of that car. Making it easier, safer and more convenient for people to walk is fundamental to improving access to jobs, schools, healthcare and other services with the economic and personal benefits this brings to the whole community. Improved opportunities for walking in the local community have particular social inclusion benefits for the elderly and for those with mobility difficulties.

< Previous | Contents | Next >