Consultation Digest (Local) Issue 138, 29 June 2023

Wishaw you were here?

A belated issue with a range of consultations from town centres and neighbourhoods to parks and prisons. New plans from North Lanarkshire, not-so-new plans from East Dunbartonshire and a mixture from Glasgow.

Contents
(new consultations in bold)

1: Current Consultations

1. Town Action Plan consultations – North Lanarkshire
2. Bishopbriggs Civic Space
3. Green and open space survey – North Lanarkshire
4. Duke Street & John Knox Street Avenues Plus project
5. Your Citizen Voice – Ideas in Calton/Pollok
6. Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park Partnership Plan
7. HMP Glasgow planning application
8. Drumchapel Local Development Framework – Draft

2: Consultation Feedback

1. Active travel infrastructure funding awarded

3: Proposed Traffic Regulation Orders

1. East Dunbartonshire TROs
2. Glasgow City TROs
3. North Lanarkshire TROs

Section 1: Current Consultations
(in date order for responses)

1.1: Town Action Plan consultations – North Lanarkshire

Council: North Lanarkshire.
Area: Airdrie, Motherwell and Wishaw town centres.
Subject: Consultative draft plans with a tight deadline (apparently online for weeks but not on NLC's consultations page). As our shopping habits change, all three towns add more residential development to replace some retail. Motherwell's plan is the most radical, potentially demolishing the Aquatec leisure centre and building a new square and pedestrian bridge over the railway. However, it doesn't include much for cycling. Airdrie and Wishaw's plans both have a cycle route but North Lanarkshire don't seem to do on-road protected lanes. Instead, NLC prefers painted lanes or shared paths. Wishaw already has some of the latter on pavements on Alexander St. Airdrie's visual shows painted lanes past its health centre (with a left hook risk!). The rest of the route mostly uses green space to the north-east of its centre. However, the town could do with links south to NCN75 and west to neighbouring Coatbridge.
Website links: Town Action Plans introduction,
Deadline: 30 June 2023.

1.2: Bishopbriggs Civic Space

Council: East Dunbartonshire.
Subject: Latest stage of consultation, now looking to finalise designs for phase 1 works. The ‘civic space’ is on Kirkintilloch Rd (A803) at the cross next to St Matthews Church and the Triangle shopping centre. The main focus is removing a mini-roundabout, service road and car parking to create a larger public space. Masterplan B is the preferred option EDC want to fine-tune. Visualisations for that option include a very short 2-way protected cycleway (~130m) on the western side of the A803. However, the wider masterplan shows a bi-directional cycleway continuing south of Bishopbriggs Cross (at Kenmure Ave/Springfield Rd). It’s not clear how to get in or out of the lane going southbound. It seems you may have to go on the carriageway in between the junctions so it's unlikely to work for an ‘unaccompanied 12-year-old’, as cited in guidance like Cycling by Design or LTN 1/20.
Website links: Bishopbriggs Civic Space storymap.
Deadline: June 30 2023.

1.3: Green and open space survey – North Lanarkshire

Council: North Lanarkshire.
Subject: Survey and audit data to feed into an Open Space Strategy and other policies. NLC avoid on-street protected cycle lanes, so anything affecting off-street paths could have a big impact on cycling in the county. Areas like the Seven Lochs Wetland Park have cross-border active travel routes (Hogganfield Loch to Drumpellier Country Park, Coatbridge). NL’s other country parks, Palacerigg and especially Strathclyde Park, are also havens for active travel. The latter has added and upgraded paths near Bellshill with more of NCN74 due to be re-routed through the park. The council ignored a GoBike suggestion for links between Strathclyde Park, Duchess Park, Ravenscraig and the existing Greenlink route (as part of redevelopment of Airbles Rd). There’s potential for similar links around some of North Lanarkshire’s dozen nature reserves. The consultation has a general survey and one about specific places that are important to visitors or residents.
Website links: Green and open space surveys.
Deadline: 10 July 2023.

1.4: Duke Street & John Knox Street Avenues Plus project

Council: Glasgow City.
Subject: This Avenues Plus project was awarded Sustrans funding in July 2019. It's about 1km long between George St and Bellgrove St. It doesn’t include the busy area where pedestrian Cameron Eaglesham was recently killed by a lorry driver. John Knox St plans only reach Wishart St (at Necropolis). The original 2019 visual showed 1-way lanes on Duke St at the High St junction. However, the latest consultation images have a choice between 2-way lanes either on the southern side of the road (option 1) or northern side (option 2). At public events on 15 June, consultants preferred option 1 for its connection to George St and Meatmarket development. However, option 2 would have more links with Dennistoun around Duke St Park at Ark Lane (but no link to The Drives via Westcraigs). Both options would have delays from signalised pedestrian crossings across the cycleway (to help visually impaired people).
Website links: GCC Consultation page and consultant’s site.
Deadline: 13 July 2023.

1.5: Your Citizen Voice – Ideas in Calton/Pollok

Council: Glasgow City.
Subject: A pilot project to “co-design” infrastructure improvements in two neighbourhoods – Calton in the East End and Pollok in the Southside. This process would decide how to spend money allocated to each area. This funding previously came to Local Area Partnerships with a lot of question marks about how it would be spent. There are various options, many to do with basic maintenance. The best category for cycling suggestions is probably road safety. The lessons from these areas may well be applied to other wards in the city.
Website links: YCV – Calton and Calton survey. YCV – Pollok and Pollok survey.
Deadline: 14 July 2023.

1.6: Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park Partnership Plan

Organisation: Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park.
Area: The park ranges from Loch Eck and Loch Goil in the west to Loch Earn and Callander in the east. Also, from Killin and Crianlarich in the north to Balloch in the south (but it misses out Helensburgh and Gare Loch).
Subject: A wide-ranging five year plan for the park. It includes a section on ‘Low Carbon Travel for Everyone’. Cycle routes and active travel are mentioned briefly but most of the section is about buses. That may make sense, considering the size of the park, but it’s still a bit disappointing. There’s already a cycle route from Balloch up the west side of Loch Lomond (and there were plans for an active travel route to Inverarnan as part of A82 works). Active travel paths were extended along the River Goil in 2021 and there seems to be plenty of scope for more.
Website links: Loch Lomond & the Trossachs National Park Commonplace site.
Deadline: 19 July 2023.

1.7: HMP Glasgow planning application

Organisation: Scottish Prison Service.
Area: Part of former Provan gasworks site between Royston Road and M8 Junction 13.
Subject: A replacement for the current Barlinnie Prison (across the motorway in Riddrie). The road entrance to the new prison on Royston Rd will mean the 2-way cycleway would be amended. There's a shared path along the front of the prison (with staff bike parking). The most interesting bit (apart from the gasworks blast zone!) is the proposed shared path on its western boundary. It would go from  Royston Rd, on an old bridge near Germiston allotments, heading south towards Blochairn Rd. This is close to the pedestrian bridge to Alexandra Park (with its Bike Hub).
Website links: HMP Glasgow planning application (including site plan).
Deadline: 24 Jul 2023.

1.8: Drumchapel Local Development Framework – Draft

Council: Glasgow City.
Subject: Consultation to “inform the final Local Development Framework (LDF) for Drumchapel, a document which will recommend coordinated short, medium and long-term activity to deliver the area's future development and regeneration. Some examples of the development types the LDF considers include housing, facilities, shops, public spaces, transport infrastructure, parks and play areas. Information from engagement with the local community from late 2021 until the autumn of 2022 assisted in the development of the current draft Drumchapel LDF. The final version of the LDF will help address regeneration challenges and… development opportunities.”
Featured: Digest 102, 1.12.
Website links: Drumchapel LDF page and LDF survey.
Deadline: 5 Sept 2023.

Section 2: Consultation Feedback

2.1: Active travel infrastructure funding awarded

Council: Various.
Subject: Projects awarded national funding – £20m from Transport Scotland through the Active Travel Transformation Fund (ATTF):

• East Dunbartonshire: £200k – Regent Gardens, Kirkintilloch Town Centre Links Project.
• East Renfrewshire: £950k – A77 Active Corridor, Phase 2.
• Glasgow City: £4m – Connecting Battlefield (accelerated delivery of first section to extend South City Way to New Victoria Hospital), North East Active Travel Route and the Pitt Street Active Travel Link.
• North Lanarkshire: £1.75m – Motherwell Station Active Travel Links Phase 1c, Alexander Street, Wishaw - Active Travel  Improvements and A73 Carlisle Road, Airdrie, Active Travel Improvements.
• Renfrewshire: £2.43m – North Renfrewshire Active Travel (Phase 3 - Red Smiddy Roundabout to Southolm Roundabout Erskine and Park Mains High School Footbridge on A726). AMIDS South - Gallowhill, Hawkhead Estate to Seedhill Road active travel link and Paisley to Renfrew Active Travel Route.
• West Dunbartonshire: £100k – Kilbowie Rd, Clydebank cycleway.

Website links: Transport Scotland announcement.

Section 3: Proposed Traffic Regulation Orders

3.1: East Dunbartonshire TROs

Areas: Kirkintilloch.
Subject: A TRO about raised road tables on Union St, Kirkie – deadline: 14 July 2023.
A series of TROs about Canniesburn Toll roundabout are changing pavements to shared path, creating car parking spaces and a raised road table at the shops. Also, they're altering the speed limit on part of the Switchback Road. EDC shared the plans with us at Stage 1 and GoBike responded with different examples they could use to reduce conflict between people walking and cycling. However, they seem to have ignored our suggestions (and ditched previous plans for segregation). Deadline: 25 July 2023.
Website links: East Dunbartonshire TROs.

3.2: Glasgow City TROs and Traffic Calming

Subject: School streets are being made permanent at eight primary schools across the city: Annette Street Primary School – Annette Street; Carmyle Primary School – Hillcrest Road; St Joachim’s Primary School – Montrose Avenue; St Saviour’s Primary School – Neptune Street; Riverside Primary School – Southcroft Street; Sandaig Primary School – Burnmouth Road; St Bartholomew’s Primary School – Cavin Road; Whiteinch Primary School – Medwyn Street. Deadline: 10 July.
Website links: Glasgow City Proposed TROs and Glasgow City Proposed Traffic Calming Schemes.

3.3: North Lanarkshire TROs

Areas: Motherwell and Airdrie.
Subject: A TRO for loading restrictions on the new unnamed access road to Motherwell train station. Also, a TRO about adding a puffin crossing on A73 Carlisle Road, Airdrie (possibly funded by ATTF, above). However, the order seems to have the wrong measurement for its position south of Brownsburn Rd (should 25m be 2.5m?). Deadline: 19 July 2023.
Website links: North Lanarkshire Live Consultations.