Starlink's submission to TayPlan
23, 07 11 11:03
The Starlink campaign has made a submission to TayPlan, the new guide to strategic planning centred on Dundee and covering Tayside and North East Fife. Details of the plan, whose consultation period ends on 1st August, can be found at:
http://www.tayplan-sdpa.gov.uk/
Text of Starlink’s submission to TayPlan
The Starlink (St Andrews Rail Link) campaign requests the inclusion of a clause in the appropriate part of TayPlan to ensure that,
'Land will be safeguarded for a St Andrews railway and station,'
This is similar to a clause in the previous Fife Structure Plan.
Reasons:
St Andrews is an important economic driver, not just for the TayPlan area but for Scotland as a whole. This is shown by its inclusion in the top 6 Scottish Enterprise locations, the top 10 Visit Scotland destinations (7th), as well as the TripAdvisor UK destinations (9th). In each of these lists, St Andrews is the only settlement without a railway station of its own. St Andrews regularly features among the leading universities, yet it is the only Scottish university town without a railway station, and one of only a handful, including Cranfield, Buckingham, Keele and Lampeter, in Britain.
A railway is the most likely way to achieve modal shift from cars; drivers are much more likely to use public transport when the option is a train than a bus (40% as opposed to 7%, according to a German corridor study). It should be noted that when there is heavy traffic travelling to St Andrews, the effect is felt well back down the A91 as far as Cupar.
Road infrastructure improvements, such as are suggested for St Andrews, are known to increase car use and as such are unlikely to achieve the stated aim of modal shift from the private car.
Although TayPlan is not site-specific a copy of the Tata Steel preliminary drawing commissioned by Starlink is attached for indicative purposes only.
It should be noted that the Tata Steel study currently being completed is the only exercise since the original line's closure in 1969 whose sole purpose has been the investigation of the feasibility of reconnecting St Andrews to the railway.
http://www.tayplan-sdpa.gov.uk/
Text of Starlink’s submission to TayPlan
The Starlink (St Andrews Rail Link) campaign requests the inclusion of a clause in the appropriate part of TayPlan to ensure that,
'Land will be safeguarded for a St Andrews railway and station,'
This is similar to a clause in the previous Fife Structure Plan.
Reasons:
St Andrews is an important economic driver, not just for the TayPlan area but for Scotland as a whole. This is shown by its inclusion in the top 6 Scottish Enterprise locations, the top 10 Visit Scotland destinations (7th), as well as the TripAdvisor UK destinations (9th). In each of these lists, St Andrews is the only settlement without a railway station of its own. St Andrews regularly features among the leading universities, yet it is the only Scottish university town without a railway station, and one of only a handful, including Cranfield, Buckingham, Keele and Lampeter, in Britain.
A railway is the most likely way to achieve modal shift from cars; drivers are much more likely to use public transport when the option is a train than a bus (40% as opposed to 7%, according to a German corridor study). It should be noted that when there is heavy traffic travelling to St Andrews, the effect is felt well back down the A91 as far as Cupar.
Road infrastructure improvements, such as are suggested for St Andrews, are known to increase car use and as such are unlikely to achieve the stated aim of modal shift from the private car.
Although TayPlan is not site-specific a copy of the Tata Steel preliminary drawing commissioned by Starlink is attached for indicative purposes only.
It should be noted that the Tata Steel study currently being completed is the only exercise since the original line's closure in 1969 whose sole purpose has been the investigation of the feasibility of reconnecting St Andrews to the railway.