Seòmar agus comataidhean

Scottish Natural Heritage hasrecorded the estimated deer population and cull numbers since its inception as follows:

Year	Deer Count	Total Deer Culled
1991	1,649	434
1992	1,438	308
1993	1,262	113
1994	1,185	172
1995	Abandoned due to weather	196
1996	1,483	280
1997	1,408	245
1998	1,527	255
1999	1,432	256
2000	1,341	249
2001	1,103	444
2002	990	406
2003	No count done	190
2004	1,269	237
2005	1,234	445
2006	1,160	141

 

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH)received the following payments of forestry grants between 1994 and 2007. Of those,during the period 2003-07, £5,643 were in respect of its woodland management onRum.

Any future grant applicationsfor Rum are dependant on the outcome of the review of SNH’s National Nature Reserveplan.

Forestry Grants Paid toScottish Natural Heritage

1994-95	£3,261
1995-96	£1,052.50
1996-97	£1,657.30
1997-98	£2,633.75
1998-99	£1,341.25
1999-00	£3,946.30
2000-01	£4,747.69
2001-02	£40,989.74
2002-03	£6,941.78
2003-04	£542.50
2004-05	£38,528.02
2005-06	£25,481
2006-07	£33,909.59
Total grants paid	£165,032.42

 

Forestry Commission Scotlandwill approve grant for planting schemes which contain no provision for fencingwhether submitted by Scottish Natural Heritage or by other applicants if theyare satisfied that there is no significant risk of damage from deer or othergrazing animals. If such planting schemes are not successful, the applicantwould be asked to carry out remedial work to ensure that the scheme will becomeestablished.

The Scottish Executive has alwaystaken the view that there should be a charge on the newStirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway and that the charge should be such as to allowthe benefits of the new railway to be shared between the investor and operatorsusing the new railway. This view has been discussed with many bodies since 2001including the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR), the Strategic Rail Authority, ClackmannanshireCouncil, Scottish Power, Forth Ports, Clydeport and other industry bodies. Mostrecently we wrote to the ORR in June 2006 asking them to set an appropriate trackaccess charge for the railway.

Transport Scotland plansto ask the Office of Rail Regulation to set an appropriate access charge for allnew additions to the rail network This is normal with any addition to infrastructurecontrolled by Network Rail. Transport Scotland will fund any necessary increasein the First ScotRail franchise subsidy to cover these charges.

I expect the railway to open in the summer 2007; as indicated in mystatement of March 2006.

Access charges will be paid byFirst ScotRail to Network Rail for use of the railway between Stirling and Alloa.This was anticipated in the ScotRail Franchise contract, in accordance with normalindustry practice.

The level of charges will bedetermined between Network Rail and passenger operators in terms of the track accessagreements overseen by the Office of the Rail Regulator. As such, details will notbe placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

The Office of Rail Regulation(ORR) is responsible for setting an appropriate track access charge regime for newrailways. The Scottish Executive does not consider that the parliamentary considerationof the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine Railway and Linked Improvements Bill will preventthe ORR from discharging this responsibility.

Over 1,000 transport projectshave been announced by the Scottish Executive since 1999, of which nine were subsequentlycancelled. This figure does not include projects funded from the annual allocationsgiven to local authorities in respect of Cycling, Walking and Safer Streets or theRural Public Passenger Grant Scheme as local authorities take decisions on how tospend these grants in line with their local priorities.

The cancelled projects are listed:

Bus Route Development Fund Grant- Strathclyde Passenger Transport – First Glasgow: New Glasgow Night Services.

Announced October 2005 and withdrawnJuly 2006.

Freight Facilities Grant to ScottishCoal Ltd.

Announced November 2001 and withdrawnSeptember 2006.

Sheriffhall Roundabout Cycle Bridge.

Announced October 1999 and withdrawnAugust 2004.

Allandale Rail Station Park and Ride Scheme.

Announced September 2002 andwithdrawn October 2006.

A75 Chapelton to Bush o’BieldScheme.

Announced March 2000 and withdrawn2001.

A7 Glenmayne to Yair Scheme.

Announced March 2003 and withdrawnAugust 2005.

Air Route Development Fund, Glasgow Prestwick to Berlin.

Due to start 1 September 2003, didnot start.

Piers and Harbours Grant Scheme,Eday/Westray – Access road, car parking, turning area and finger pier/slipway. Steelstairway.

Project abandoned following landacquisition problems.

Rural Community Transport Initiative,Braemar Community Council

Announced 2003-04, project cancelled2003-04.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30775 on 12 February 2007. All answers to writtenparliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facilityfor which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.