Tuesday, 26 February 2019

Rally - Closed Road Report


Full marks to the Transport Scotland staff. They have turned around their Closed Road report quicker than a Russ Swift J-Turn. And there's more good news, as previously intimated, the report is extremely positive in its findings.

In total, Transport Scotland received 3,788 completed Questionnaires which included responses from 52 'organisations' (not necessarily motors sports organisations!) and just 7 Local Authorities - which was a bit of a surprise considering many Local Authorities are claiming hardship. Looks like some of them haven't yet quite grasped there are opportunities to be had with such legislation in place.

There was also one response from a Community Council (gaun yersels Muileachs) and a quite massive response from individuals - that's you lot out there. In total, 3,728 of you sat yourselves down with your phone, tablet or computer and let your digits do the talking. That alone had a considerable impact on deliberations.

Of course there were doubters and dissenters, but we live in a democracy and the majority view should prevail. Principal amongst the dissenting views were concerns about the environment. Fair point, but every sport produces emissions either directly or indirectly, so it would be unfair to single out one activity for more restrictive treatment.

The re-drafted Bill should now be presented to the Scottish Parliament for approval, but there's no timetable on that process. However, we can be greatly encouraged by the speed with which Transport Scotland has turned around this report. Fingers crossed, eh? Again!

The full text of the 24 page 'Motorsports on Closed Public Roads Public Consultation Analysis Report' is here:

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