4/12/2016 - Tarbert hosts HITRANS meeting on Friday
The partnership board of HITRANS, the regional transport partnership for the Highlands and Islands, is holding its quarterly meeting at Tarbert, Harris, on Friday (15 April).
The meeting is being held in public and starts at 9 am in the Harris Hotel. HITRANS Vice-Chairman is Councillor John Mackay of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.
Members will be updated on a wide range of transport issues, including the organisation’s Business Plan for 2016/17.
Another main item on the agenda is the refresh of the Regional Transport Strategy, a key feature of the work of HITRANS, one of seven regional partnerships in Scotland.
The public is invited to have its say and a deadline of 23 May has been set for comments on the updating of the Regional Transport Strategy (RTS), first established in 2008.
The strategy aims to develop a clear rationale for the investment in transport infrastructure and services in rural and peripheral areas. It will also develop a strategy for improving the integration of existing transport provision and reducing the cost of providing these services. Key elements of the new strategy will include Active Travel and Low Carbon Action Plans.
Already views have been fed into the process by Board members of HITRANS, regional community planning partnerships and transport providers to identify how transport by road, rail, sea and air can help the wellbeing of local communities who depend so much on effective transport communications.
Six main issues have been identified in the Main Issues Paper, namely the economy, connecting communities, lifeline transport, reliability and resilience, roles, relationships and responsibilities, and carbon reduction.
HITRANS appointed consultants Elyand Skyn to support officers with the preparation of the strategy in November 2015. Following a presentation and workshop on the Regional Transport Strategy at the last Partnership meeting on 5 February 2015, a Main Issues Report has been developed for public consultation to help inform and shape the updated strategy. A copy of the full Main Issues Report and feedback form is available on the HITRANS website via the following link.
http://www.hitrans.org.uk/Corporate/Corporate_Documents/Strategy
HITRANS Director Ranald Robertson said: “The rotational nature of HITRANS Partnership Board meetings is a really useful feature of how the organisation works. Meeting in different parts of our diverse area means that our Members get a good sense of the transport challenges each of our Councils face. The Board are looking forward to the meeting in Tarbert to see what this means for businesses and residents of Harris who rely on good land, sea and air links to get on.”