Listen to the public and keep free parking

I am disappointed to find out that there is a proposal being put forward by Stirling Council to end free parking in Dunblane.

There was no mention of this option during the recent consultation carried out by Stirling Council.

The proposal would end all free parking within the proposed extended controlled zone that includes car parks, High Street and commuter parking in Perth Road.

I carried out my own survey earlier this year. It received over 700 hundred responses and over half opposed the introduction of more pay-anddisplay parking.

Furthermore, even more people wanted the council to maximise the use of the Perth Road at the old dual carriageway section for more commuter parking. Introducing charges certainly wouldn’t assist with that.

I would urge council officers to rethink these proposals and also to make sure that every option being considered for Bridge of Allan is included during the consultation process, rather than being introduced at a later date.

There was also an excellent survey carried out by Bridge of Allan Community Council that should be used to inform decisions.

Councillor Alastair Majury, Dunblane and Bridge of Allan

trains and insufficient and overcrowded carriages.

In addition there are reports that employers are now thinking twice about employing people who are solely dependent on ScotRail for their commute.

If this develops then not only the company itself but Abellio, Network Rail and ultimately Transport Scotland will be responsible for jeopardising people’s livelihoods and careers.

Meantime my constituents are being forced to suffer further undue and undeserved hardship whilst paying good money to ScotRail for its increased fares and woefully inadequate service.

This is totally unacceptable and I will keep the pressure up on both the Scottish Government and ScotrailAbellio until something is resolved for good.

Alexander Stewart MSP, Mid Scotland and Fife

because so much of the existing cycle route network is always safer than riding on the road.

The Department for Transport and Transport Scotland-approved cycle training scheme, The National Standards for Cycle Training, is taught to many P6 children in schools. It encourages those doing the training to ask themselves, when out on their bikes, if dedicated cycle routes take them where they want to go and whether it safer than remaining on the road. This explains why you see people riding bikes who are ignoring some cycle infrastructure. For example, at this time of the year it is often frosty and generally off-road cycle routes are not gritted.

Often the highest risk to people on bikes is at junctions or roundabouts. Consequently many experienced and confident cyclists will decide it is safer to remain on the Manor Powis to Tullibody road rather than negotiate the roads merging at the Manor Powis roundabout in order to access the cycle route.

The path beside the Hillfoots Road, from Witches Craig caravan park to Menstrie, is incomplete and there is a section missing by Blairlogie. Hence you will find riders using the road.

The shared-use cycle path between Wallace High and Stirling University is a substandard width for a bi-directional walking and cycling path. The DfT produced draft guidance a few years ago which recommended that if cyclists are riding at 18mph or faster then they should not share space with pedestrians but share space with motor vehicles.

The good news here is that Sustrans has allocated funding from Scottish Government active travel funds to upgrade the route from Stirling to the university so in due course this route may improve.

In Dunblane the cycle route in Perth Road has a cycle lane painted close to the parked cars, contrary to DfT design guidance. Cyclists are trained to ride far enough from parked cars that they will not be hit if a door opens, even if that means riding in the road outside the cycle lane.

Michelle was also concerned that cyclists on busy roads have no mirrors to see what is behind them. I would like to reassure her that by looking over their shoulder people on bikes have a much better view of what is happening behind them than looking in a mirror. Hence, this skill is practised by children as part of cycle training in schools.

Although I do not choose to use earpieces when cycling, the Highway Code tells road uses to look before changing position, not to listen. Indeed there is no prohibition on people with hearing impairment either driving or riding a bike. Research has shown that somebody with earpieces on a bike can still hear more than a driver with the windows up.

Many of the things that Michelle says cause her annoyance are exactly what we hear from some professional truck and bus drivers at the start of professional driver cycle awareness courses that I deliver but by the end of the training they say they understand much better why cyclists do what they do.

Andrew Abbess, Stirling Cycle Training