241213PerfCPaper2C2030TransportThemeBriefing

Per­form­ance Com­mit­tee Paper 2 13 Decem­ber 2024

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For Dis­cus­sion

Title: Per­form­ance Com­mit­tee Cairngorms 2030 Briefing

Pre­pared by: Dav­id Clyne, Head of Cairngorms 2030, Colin Simpson, Head of Vis­it­or Ser­vices and Act­ive Travel and Elean­or Mac­don­ald, C2030 Sus­tain­able Trans­port Manger

Brief­ing Note on Cairngorms 2030 Com­mit­tee Trans­port Presentation

1. The Cairngorms 2030 (C2030) Pro­gramme spans a wide array of activ­ity, and the papers presen­ted to the Per­form­ance Com­mit­tee con­sequently cov­er a large volume of inform­a­tion. This brief­ing note is pre­pared for Com­mit­tee mem­bers to high­light the key areas for con­sid­er­a­tion, includ­ing present­ing some inform­a­tion on the Trans­port Theme in advance of the present­a­tion to the meeting.

Key High­lights

1. Uncer­tain­ties around Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment trans­port match fund­ing con­tin­ue to rep­res­ent the key risk under man­age­ment with­in the programme.

2. Fund­ing uncer­tainty will impact deliv­ery of the Act­ive Com­munit­ies pro­ject over the remainder of this fin­an­cial year.

3. Man­age­ment is look­ing at fund­ing scen­ari­os includ­ing ongo­ing dis­cus­sions with Trans­port Scot­land and Scot­tish Gov­ern­ment more widely, and also con­sid­er­ing alloc­a­tion of resources from the Park Author­ity as an inter­im meas­ure. This will be picked up in the devel­op­ment of future budget plans with the board from Decem­ber through to March 2025.

4. Oth­er­wise, pro­gress to date on C2030 across a wide range of pro­ject activ­it­ies is on track. There are no cur­rent unanti­cip­ated impacts on the Park Authority’s resources.

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Per­form­ance Com­mit­tee Paper 2 13 Decem­ber 2024

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Out­line of Trans­form­ing Trans­port Theme Presentation

1. The trans­port theme has four main pro­ject areas which aim to trans­form the way people move around the Nation­al Park to reduce emis­sions, pro­tect our nat­ur­al her­it­age and improve health.

   • a) Act­ive travel com­munit­ies: Devel­op­ing act­ive travel infra­struc­ture to make it easy, safe and enjoy­able for res­id­ents and vis­it­ors to walk, cycle or get around using a wheel­chair in the Nation­al Park.
   • b) Chan­ging travel beha­viours: Devel­op­ing a Cairngorms-wide act­ive travel net­work that integ­rates with pub­lic trans­port, help­ing reduce private car use and encour­age res­id­ents and vis­it­ors to travel more act­ively in the Nation­al Park.
   • c) Cycle-friendly Cairngorms: Reduce per­son­al car use by vis­it­ors and res­id­ents through an access­ible net­work of e‑bikes and asso­ci­ated infra­struc­ture. Enga­ging and inspir­ing people to use e‑bikes and oth­er forms of bicycle as a reg­u­lar mode of transport.
   • d) Sus­tain­able trans­port: Mak­ing it easi­er to get around without a private car by Improv­ing pub­lic transport.

2. The main pro­ject deliv­ery risk is the delay to the Sus­trans Places for Every­one fund­ing for 2024 / 2025. The award has been approved in prin­ciple, but Trans­port Scot­land has post­poned all new Sus­trans fun­ded pro­jects across Scot­land. It is expec­ted the fund­ing will be avail­able dir­ectly from Trans­port Scot­land in the next fin­an­cial year (2025 / 2026).

3. The Act­ive Com­munit­ies pro­ject has new deliv­ery pri­or­it­ies for ²⁰²⁴⁄₂₅ and will be deliv­er­ing the following:

   • a) Ongo­ing dis­cus­sions with Trans­port Scot­land to arrange inter­im and future funding.

4. Pro­gress­ing key deliv­er­ables in-house and using altern­at­ive funds for small con­tracts, for example, eco­lo­gic­al appraisals.

5. Pre­par­ing invit­a­tions to tender for detailed and tech­nic­al designs (ITT) in advance of fund­ing con­firm­a­tion includ­ing Dul­nain Bridge and Boat of Garten.

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Per­form­ance Com­mit­tee Paper 2 13 Decem­ber 2024

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1. Fund­ing pro­pos­al for new Inver­druie to Coylumbridge sub­mit­ted to altern­at­ive Sus­trans fund – Net­work Devel­op­ment, who over­see the Nation­al Cycle Network.

   • a) Con­sult with key stake­hold­ers to inform options apprais­al for Inver­druie to Coylumbridge path development.
   • b) Ongo­ing col­lab­or­at­ive work­ing with High­land Coun­cil to con­firm deliv­ery meth­ods for con­struc­tion of Dul­nain Bridge and Boat of Garten Act­ive Com­munit­ies projects.

2. Reg­u­lar meet­ings with Aber­deen­shire Coun­cil to sup­port on Brae­mar design work, spe­cific­ally Equal­ity Impact Assessment.

3. Cost bene­fit ana­lys­is on concept design work to pro­gress a new act­ive travel pro­ject in Kingussie.

4. Fail­ure to secure the Sus­trans / Trans­port Scot­land fund­ing next fin­an­cial year will have a sig­ni­fic­ant impact on the Park Author­it­ies abil­ity to deliv­er the trans­port theme as planned.

5. Pro­gress against each of these pro­jects can be tracked by ref­er­en­cing the pro­ject mile­stones paper.

Dav­id Clyne 28 Novem­ber 2024 davidclyne@​cairngorms.​co.​uk

Colin Simpson 28 Novem­ber 2024 Colinsimpson@​cairngorms.​co.​uk

Elean­or Mac­don­ald 28 Novem­ber 2024 eleanormacdonald@​cairngorms.​co.​uk