Scots discuss lorry parks
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TWO SCOTTISH councils are conducting investigations into the possibility of providing improved lorry parking facilities in their areas, and are in discussion with the Freight Transport Association.
The FTA is seeking its members' views on the future of lorry parking in Edinburgh, as Edinburgh District Council wants to develop the site upon which the city's Morrison Street parking area is situated.
The FTA, which has long been campaigning for improved road and transport facilities in the Leith dock area, has been looking at Lothian Region and Scottish Development Agency sites there.
FTA Scottish controller Gordon Dougall told CM that he believes the SDA's environmental rehabilitiation role should include lorry parking developments, as the reduction of environmental impact of lorries would improve the areas.
There also is a precedent, as the SDA helped fund the provision of parking space at the Tayside Truckstop being opened yesterday (Friday) in Dundee (CM, October 22).
Mr Dougall added that Leith was a highly satisfactory location for a lorry parking area in Edinburgh, as it already had such essential features for lorry drivers as overnight accommodation and public houses.
In Fife, the regional council wants to build a lorry parking area on the regional road being built to link the M90 at Dunfermline to Kirkcaldy.
The FTA was meeting Fife Region this week, when Mr Dougall intended to press for the lorry park to be built nearer the M90 where it could attract M90 and East Fife traffic, rather than just traffic using the new road.
There are unlikely to be any serious environmental objections to a lorry park development, as it could be built on one of many redundant coal sites in Fife.