- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 29 July 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider introducing legislation to protect the status of existing common good assets in perpetuity.
Answer
There is already legal protection for common good assets held in perpetuity. The question of whether the existing legislation is sufficient is being considered by my officials in consultation with local government.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 29 July 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure common good assets are protected and retained for community ownership in any future legislation regarding the conversion of long leases.
Answer
The protection of common good assets and their retention for community ownership will be given careful consideration in any future legislative proposals on the conversion of long leases.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 29 July 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that implementing the recommendations in the Scottish Law Commission’s Report on Conversion of Long Leases could result in common good assets that are let on a long lease being transferred into private ownership.
Answer
Officials in Constitution, Law and Courts Directorate are currently giving consideration to the Scottish Law Commission’s report and the Scottish Government will take a view in due course about a response to its recommendations and the timing of any bill.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 29 July 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that existing common good assets should remain held in the common good in perpetuity.
Answer
It is the responsibility of each Local Authority to manage its common good assets and funds in accordance with all current statutory requirements and non-statutory guidance.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Maxwell on 25 July 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering the establishment of a brownfield regeneration forum.
Answer
The Scottish Government will be a member of the recently established UK National Brownfield Forum, which is being sponsored by the Department of Communities and Local Government and Defra. We will await further developments with the UK National Brownfield Forum before considering whether there is any requirement for the establishment of a distinct brownfield forum for Scotland.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 July 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to improve the provision of guidance in relation to the assessment of contaminated land.
Answer
In addition to the statutory guidance which was last revised in 2006, the Scottish Government is working with DEFRA, the other devolved administrations, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Environment Agency to review the current technical guidance on risk assessment, known as the Contaminated Land Exposure Assessment (CLEA) framework, used in the determination of contaminated land. This guidance, first issued in 2002, provides a methodology to help assess whether there is a significant risk to human health from exposure to a particular contaminant on a given site.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 25 July 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that appropriate standards exist for the assessment of groundwater contamination.
Answer
Threshold values, established for various pollutants under the terms of the Groundwater Directive, are used in assessing the chemical status of a groundwater body. The exceedance of a threshold value is used as a trigger for investigations of whether the pressures on the groundwater body concerned would compromise the quality of drinking water sources, the quality of surface water into which the groundwater flows, or the quality of any wetlands connected to the groundwater. The standards applied for the regulation of pollution or the remediation of contaminated land are therefore specific to the groundwater body concerned.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 18 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact each project listed in the Scottish motorway and trunk road programme will have on greenhouse gas emission levels.
Answer
The principal greenhouse gas emitted by traffic using trunk roads and motorways is carbon dioxide. An assessment of the emissions of carbon dioxide from traffic predicted to use new trunk road projects is usually undertaken as part of the environmental impact assessment of the road proposals. These assessments are based on traffic modelling for the schemes which predict changes in traffic flows, and report emissions as a change in the quantity of carbon dioxide compared with the predicted conditions without the new or improved road in place. The findings of these assessments are presented in the environmental statement (ES) for each project which is a public document.
Information on carbon dioxide emissions is not available for all projects in the motorway and trunk road programme. A number of smaller road improvement schemes do not significantly change traffic flows and have a negligible effect on emissions. Also, several schemes are still in preparation and have not yet reached the ES stage. A summary of information for the projects in the programme on which information is available from the relevant ES is presented in the following table.
Route | Project Name | Estimated Carbon Dioxide Emissions* (t.p.a.) | Assessment Year |
A876 | Upper Forth Crossing at Kincardine | 7,524 | 2021 |
A75 | Overtaking Opportunities | 32 | 2021 |
A830 | Arisaig to Loch nan Uamh | Reduction of 70 | 2021 |
A9 | Ballinluig Junction | 181 | 2022 |
M74 | M74 Completion | 134,800 | 2020 |
A7 | Auchenrivock | 130 | 2006 |
A77 | Park End to Bennane | 3 | 2008 |
A76 | Glenairlie | 105 | 2007 |
M74 | Raith Interchange | 10,000 | 2020 |
M80 | Stepps to Haggs | 40,000 | 2025 |
A9 | Crubenmore Extension | 251 | 2022 |
A96 | Fochabers to Mosstodloch | 171 | 2020 |
M8 | Baillieston to Newhouse | 30,000 | 2020 |
M8 | Associated Network Improvements | 1,600 | 2010 |
A75 | Dunragit Bypass | 3,670 | 2022 |
A9 | Kincraig to Dalraddy | 45 | 2023 |
A90 | Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route | 36,700 | 2025 |
A77 | Symington and Bogend Toll | 121 | 2024 |
A90 | Balmedie to Tipperty | 2,137 | 2010 |
Note: *Estimates are predicted increases (unless shown) in carbon dioxide emissions with the project compared to without the project, in a given future assessment year. Units: tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.
Environmental Statements for a number of projects in the trunk road and motorway programme can be accessed from the projects pages of Transport Scotland’s website:
http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/projects.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 18 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the additional Forth crossing will have on greenhouse gas emission levels.
Answer
An assessment of the emissions from traffic predicted to use the crossing will be undertaken as part of the environmental impact assessment. The findings will be published in an environmental statement in 2009.
- Asked by: Patrick Harvie, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Green Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2008
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Current Status:
Answered by Stewart Stevenson on 18 June 2008
To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the removal of tolls on the Forth and Tay bridges has had across each bridge on (a) the total number of road journeys, (b) the length of the peak period and (c) greenhouse gas emission levels arising from road journeys.
Answer
The new traffic management arrangements at the Forth Road Bridge came into effect on 26 May 2008, and major works are continuing at the Tay Road Bridge which restrict traffic flows southbound. It is therefore too early to make any realistic assessment of the traffic and other impacts of the abolition of tolls. We will work with the bridge boards and neighbouring local authorities to monitor the situation and to see how any impacts arising directly from the abolition of tolls might be addressed.