Walking And Cycling In Scotland

 Featured, Information, Opinion  No Responses »
Mar 142013
 

A copy of Scottish Walks fell out of the Sunday Herald a couple of weekends ago.  It must have been a weekend where the Dons didn’t lose before it was bought. Scottish Walks is well-written, covers the whole of Scotland, is not solely for the gearmonsters and Munro-baggers and it’s free.  Aberdeen Voice’s David Innes had a quick word with editor Cameron McNeish about the magazine and its sister publication Scottish Cycling.

cameron-the-cyclist-feat

DI:           The ad in the latest issue mentions distribution of hard copies in the major commuting cities – do you know how this is carried out in Aberdeen?

CMcN:     Scottish Walks and Scottish Cycling are both quarterly magazines and are given away free from a variety of distribution sources. The magazines are usually carried by the Sunday Herald newspaper and in addition a large number of copies are sent to outdoor centres, outdoor shops, leisure centres, libraries and doctors’ surgeries throughout Scotland.’

DI:           How are the magazines financed?

CMcN:    The magazines are financed solely by advertising.

DI:           Do you have a campaigning edge, or is the vision wholly altruistic from a health and environmental viewpoint?

CMcN:    We don’t have a particular campaigning edge.  The emphasis on both titles is to encourage people to have a go, although in Scottish Walks the emphasis is more on giving people a wider choice of walking route.  The cycling magazine is aimed more at the leisure cyclist rather than the racer or hardened sportive rider.’

DI:           Would you accept copy from potential contributors?

CMcN:    We are always happy to accept contributions but since we have a very minimal contributor’s budget we don’t emphasise that!  Most of the material is written by, or sourced, by myself.

As well as the hard copy versions of these magazines, which are gloriously illustrated, you can register to subscribe for a free online version at http://www.scottishwalks.com or http://www.scottishcyclingmag.co.uk or subscribe, for a nominal sum, to have a hard copy delivered to you..

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On a related subject, Aberdeen Cycle Forum has informed its members and subscribers about a vital cycleway improvement in the suburbs:

“The latest improvement to the Deeside line has seen tarmac laid on the remaining 1.5km or so to Culter station.  The route is now sealed surface all the way from Duthie Park.  

“This is good news and is the latest stage in a round of improvements that started around 2000 with the installation of bridges over Hardgate and Holburn Street.

“This is down to the council taking a sustained interest in the route, and excellent funding support from Sustrans and Nestrans – as well as consistent pressure from ACF.  

“Our annual cycle count has shown a steady increase in cycle use which confirms what we already know – good quality cycle provision encourages cycling!”

There are pictures of old and new surfacing on the Deeside Line at
http://aberdeencycleforum.org.uk/index.php?pf=news.php&nid=158

It’s important to let your councillor know if you are benefitting from this investment.

If you don’t know who your councillors are, you can find them here – http://www.writetothem.com/

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Aberdeen City Youth Council Hits Out At CGP

 Aberdeen City, Articles, Breaking, Community, Environment, Featured, Information, News  No Responses »
Jan 272012
 

Aberdeen Youth Council’s former head Sean Press resigned because of ‘a conflict of interest’, citing his involvement with ACSEF the ‘pro-business and development body [which] is fully supportive of the City Garden Project’ per the Press & Journal.  Now Aberdeen City Youth Council, the official voice of young people in the city, has spoken out against the proposed development of Union Terrace Gardens, describing the plans as “unwanted” and “potentially devastating to young people”.

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17 year-old office-bearer, Kenneth Watt, comments on the decision:
“It’s not normal for the Youth Council to speak out against the Council like we are doing. However, the decisions made have the potential to be devastating to our generation, and generations to come and we are genuinely worried about the prospect of the City Gardens Project going ahead.”

As a result, the group has registered to submit 300 words in the voter registration pack.

The group also criticised the City Council in its involvement of young people in the decision-making process, after they discovered that only 113 young people from just two schools were consulted with. In the Youth Council’s own consultation 98% of 14-25 year-olds were in favour of retaining the Gardens.

The financial security of the City Gardens Project (CGP) concerns the Youth Council. The Aberdeen City Youth Council (ACYC) are worried by the lack of a plan to cover the possible failure of the risky Tax Increment Funding scheme. After multiple requests for detailed financial information from councillors on the monitoring board were ignored, the group became very apprehensive over the CGP’s feasibility.

Kenneth Watt, an office-bearer in the ACYC says that:

“Young People have been hit hard by spending cuts to key services already; the prospect of facing more in the future is a risk the Council can’t afford to take.”

“Young people need to be listened to and have their questions answered. We’re the ones that will have to foot the bill when the £96million loan can’t be repaid.”

One of the main sufferers of cuts to public services is Aberdeen’s youth. Northfield has the highest rate of child poverty in the north-east of Scotland and the Council cannot commit to such a financially unstable project when they are closing key services to the youth in many areas.

“It is ridiculous for the Council to commit to a £96million loan when vital community services – such as the Mastrick Young People’s Project – are being cut left, right and centre.”

It was claimed that the CGP would reduce crime rates in the city, which young people are frequently blamed for. Both final designs for the CGP have direct access from Belmont Street and Union Street, home to many pubs and clubs. A £170million project of this nature will not cure the violence and crime that Aberdeen faces.

“Voters need to think seriously about the long-term aspect of the City Gardens Project and the financial burden it could easily leave for generations of Aberdonians to come.”

“Union Terrace Gardens is a space that is unique to our city. Our parents have loved the Gardens, we love the Gardens, and – if retained – our children will love the Gardens too.”

 

Not The First Choice – Webs, Worms And The CGP.

 Aberdeen City, Articles, Community, Environment, Information, News, Opinion  No Responses »
Jan 192012
 

By Mike Shepherd.

utgdesign3pic
The final design for the City Garden Project was picked this week.  The proposed plan is to replace Union Terrace Gardens with a futuristic design of curving walkways and grass called the “Granite Web”.
The announcement stoked up even more controversy as it appears that the design was not the first choice amongst those that voted in the exhibition in October last year.

Favoured was the “Winter Garden”, the design with the big greenhouse resembling a giant glass worm.

A letter in the Scotsman gave a typical response to this ‘consultation’:

“Pointless poll. Of the six designs submitted for the development of Aberdeen’s Union Terrace Gardens, one emerged as the clear favourite during a protracted public consultation in which the Aberdeen electorate took part.

Yet a panel of judges has selected one of the other designs, and the Aberdeen public is apparently to be given the choice between this one or nothing. What is the point of holding a public consultation and treating the result as if it didn’t exist?

Derrick McClure, Aberdeen”
http://www.scotsman.com/news/letters/letter_pointless_poll_1_2061360

It is not the first time that a consultation on the fate of Union Terrace Gardens has been ignored. A public consultation run in 2010 saw a majority of the public rejecting the scheme.

The design itself is also controversial. John Glenday, the editor of the magazine for Scottish architects the Urban Realm, commented:

“Diller Scofidio & Renfro’s ‘granite web’ of interconnected walkways has been sold as a vision of the future for Aberdeen. However the seductive sixties sci-fi vision presented may be out of date before the journey from concept to reality has even begun. In their submission the architects have spun a tale of making Aberdeen “throb” again but the history of elevated walkways and underpasses, as anyone who has ever traversed any concrete New Town will attest, is often dystopian.

“Health and Safety officials are also likely to have a field day with the walkways and platforms as presented, inevitably leading to a compromised design with fencing, signage and other clutter once the demands of building regulations are met.”
http://www.scotsman.com/news/cartoon/analysisagrandschemebutitmayjustbealittletoolate

Others have been more  sceptical. It has been variously likened to a Teletubbies TV set, a skatepark and even  ‘Mounthooly Roundabout on steroids’. The City Garden Project have however reached for their dictionaries to praise the ‘vision’, with press releases abounding with words such as ‘transformative’, ‘vibrant’ and ‘dazzling’. Despite the hype there are very few facts being presented. We still do not know how much it will cost or how long it will take to build.

In another development, Aberdeen City Council are to hold a special council meeting next Wednesday to discuss the City Garden Project.
http://committees.aberdeencity.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=18252

The report for the meeting asks councillors to approve the final City Garden Project design , expects the private sector to commit at least £70 million towards the project and discusses some of the land ownership issues.

There is no discussion in the report as to what happens if the City Garden Project goes into massive cost over-run. In 2009 the then Chief Executive, Sue Bruce,  decreed the private sector would be responsible for any cost over-run. Since then, no procedure has been discussed on ensuring agreement about this. In my opinion, Aberdeen City council are being grossly negligent here.

Councillors are effectively being asked to approve the final City Garden Project design ahead of February’s public referendum.

Yet the report mentions that:

“ACGT has produced initial draft proposals in respect of the likely uses of any internal and external space to be created by the proposed development and are currently redrafting these proposals to reflect the space provision within the design recently selected by the Design Competition Jury.”

It is difficult to see how councillors can approve a project when there is no clear statement as to what the scheme is going to be used for.

The requests to councillors to spend up to £300,000 on legal costs from Council funds will be very controversial. We have been repeatedly told that the City Garden Project will have no impact on Council budgets, yet this is clearly not the case here. Some will ask how such costs can be justified when services and amenities are being drastically cut elsewhere.

Polling cards for the referendum are to be issued to Aberdeen residents on or around the 16th February. We will be asked for a third time – what do we want our city centre to look like?

The public are being treated with disrespect on this issue. Nevertheless, Aberdonians should ensure that they vote in the referendum.  This one counts.