Shortly before the local elections on 3 May, I wrote to each of the councillors in the West Fife and Coastal Villages ward of Fife Council.
Sent: 30 April 2012 through www.writetothem.com
Dear Bill Walker, Gerry McMullan, Bobby Clelland and William Ferguson,
I know you are probably all busy with activity related to the elections
on Thursday but having attended the Pedal on Parliament mass ride in
Edinburgh on Saturday to campaign for safer cycling in Scotland, I
wanted to raise the particular local issues around Limekilns that make
it difficult for cyclists, particularly children, to use local roads
and undertake normal journeys using bicycles rather than cars.
Many of the roads around Limekilns are dangerous for cycling on,
difficult to cross or in such a poor state that cycling on them is
impractical in all but the best weather. For myself, I am not too
concerned. I have been cycling for many years and ride quickly and
confidently but I want my children to grow up in a community where
cycling is a positive choice and can be undertaken safely. I recently
asked council officials about my son's travel to school when he moves
up to Woodmill and the response suggests that this will not be a
realistic prospect until Grange Road is improved to have a footpath
some time in the next 20 years! I am happy to provide copies of the
correspondence.
Fife has excellent provision for leisure cycling but provision for
cycling as a mode of transport - with safe, direct routes - seems
neglected. Edinburgh recently committed to dedicate 5% of its transport
budget to active travel - walking and cycling. Pedal on Parliament,
initiated by volunteers after cyclist deaths in Glasgow and Edinburgh
drew 3,000 people from across Scotland to ask that cycling be made
safer for everyone. In the new Council, what will Fife's commitment be?
Yours sincerely,
Gerry McMullan responded the next day with a nice supportive message and an hour later I was cc'd in an email from Bill Walker (sent as the MSP for Dunfermline) passing my email to Fife Council.
After some correspondence with these Fife Council officers, the two strands - my original email and the message above - have merged into a single outcome. Someone "should be able to come back to you before too long but I have asked him to give you an approximate timescale". That's coming back to me on the issues I've raised not a solution.
It's disappointing that Gerry McMullan wasn't re-elected to the Council. He had a good track record so I suspect he's suffered for Nick Clegg. There are now two new councillors in addition to the two that didn't reply the first time. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, assume they were busy with the election and try them again, particularly since the two Labour councillors are now part of the minority administration that will be running Fife.
Comments