SNP’s £200m handout to cycle charity
Money should have been spent filling in potholes, say motorists
A STAGGERING £234million has been handed to a cycling charity by the Scottish Government in only five years.
A Freedom of Information request uncovered the payments made to Sustrans between the 2016-17 and 2020-21 financial years.
The cycling and walking charity has helped organise cycle routes throughout Scotland and was involved in the controversial Spaces for People project which saw cycle lanes, walkways and planters dotted around city streets.
The £234,759,058 total was last night questioned by road organisations, which claimed Scotland’s highways are full of potholes.
Brian MacDowall, from the Alliance of British Drivers, said: ‘The focus on cycling is ridiculously excessive.
‘The use of public money to fund cycle tracks which invariably reduce road space for motorised traffic, which could only serve to increase accident
‘Fed up taxpayers taken for a ride’
potential and journey times, is not an effective use of money.’
The amount of cash given to the charity increased each year.
In 2016-17 the green body was given £27,641,037 – but by 2020-21 the annual grant increased to £63,119,660.
The SNP Government has said the bulk of the cash enables local authorities to deliver the Places for Everyone programme, which looks to ‘create safe, attractive, healthier places’ and increase the number of trips made by walking, cycling and ‘wheeling’.
Danielle Boxall, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Taxpayers are fed up with being taken for a ride by officials paying over the odds for cycle schemes.’
Neil Greig, from the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: ‘It does seem an awful lot of money compared to what is spent on potholes.
‘The resounding message that we get from Scottish drivers is that they want more money spent on potholes because we all suffer from potholes and I think cyclists would benefit from this too.
‘We do, however, want to see investment in properly segregated cycle lanes. I would like to see all their money spent on separate facilities.’
Sustrans projects in local authority areas across Scotland have previously come under fire on cost grounds.
Earlier this year, more than 200 protesters in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, signed a petition against cycle lanes on a busy road. The new lanes and shared footpaths formed part of a wider scheme.
A spokesman for the charity said: ‘In Scotland, we receive an annual grant from Transport Scotland to deliver a series of grant-funded programmes, mainly in partnership with local authorities, other statutory bodies and increasingly with small local charities.
‘We provide expertise, advice and support for applicants throughout the grants process, we support our partners in designing and delivering infrastructure projects where they want our assistance, and we deliver projects in schools, at transport interchanges and in the workplace.
‘These are all aimed at making it easier for people to walk, wheel and cycle.’
The Scottish Government says the funding is mainly used to deliver the Places for Everyone programme.
A spokesman said: ‘Local authorities are able to bid into this for funding for active travel infrastructure schemes and it is worth over £52million in 2022-23. The balance of funding is for upgrading and growing the National Cycle Network, and also a range of behaviour change and access to bikes programmes.’