News.Scotland.Org

Parking fine goes up

Praveen — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 07:04:05 +0000

Parking fines are said to be dearer from now on to keep a check to the offenders and boost the revenue for the government. This rise is slated in order to reduce the illegal parking of vehicles and to meet the cost of staffs. This move might have come as a positive move to keep a check on the illegal parking incidents, but has sparked a fury among the motoring groups.

Opposition even came from the Edinburgh transport leaders and Association of British drivers who termed this rise as outrageous. Reports also suggest that this revised fine on illegal parking would apply across six local authority areas, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Pert & Kinross and South Lanarkshire. It is told that Parking fine revenue in Glasgow has increased one fifth to £5.5 mn which is substantially higher than last year. Edinburgh too showed a rise in the increase in parking fine revenues.

With the hike in the parking fines to £100, it seems the parking system will be the cash cow for the council with better salaries and perks for the staffs. On the contrary the outrageous transport leaders and car owners are left to bear this extra burden of such soaring fines. Now it has to be seen will this increase in parking fines comes up as a smart move by the council or triggers more protest.

News Source : Scotsman

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114 miles walking way to come up

Praveen — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 09:24:22 +0000

Scotland is about to get a new walking route called as North highland way. This 114 mile walk way between John o’Groats in the east to Cape Wrath in the west will be one of the best hill walking route with tons of scenic views. It is expected that this new route will be one of the most beautiful walking routes in Scotland starting right at the tourism mecca of John o’ Groats.

The coastal landscape remains the splendid attraction of Caithness adding more charm to the walking trails. Well, it is learnt that walking has been an all time favourite event in Scotland which is enjoyed by both locals and tourists. Looking at figures we can see, these walking tours do contribute a lot to Scotland’s economy with £244 million contributed in the year 2007.

The interest for these walking tours has shown an increase in recent years with around 86 per cent of visitors taking walk trails as part of their holidays which show how people are liking this. Scotland being blessed with many picturesque and scenic outdoors do holds a variety of such areas which are perfect for walking tours any day.

And with the proposal of this new North highland way it seems tourists will surely love to explore this all new route,dotted with plenty of scenic sights.

New Source : Scotsman

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Row over traffic diversion for tram work in Edinburgh

Praveen — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:23:11 +0000

A row took over the tram issue with a resident group in Edinburgh’s west end claiming that traffic diversion for tram work is causing air pollution. It was only two week before we featured a news about the new tram service which is about to get started in Edinburgh. But the Moray Feus Resident’s Association has expressed worries over the rise in air pollution due to the traffic diversion to many residential areas.

According to them the levels of nitrogen dioxide had doubled in such areas due to traffic casuing a serious threat to the health of residents. It is learnt that busy streets like Princess Street have been closed due to tram project. Sad thing is that the project which was initiated to keep this Scottish capital clean and green is facing great criticism with increase in air pollution.

The resident groups are demanding for a relaxation of the traffic regulation order which keeps Princes Street closed to public traffic. Though the tram project remains a developing project but now time will tell how the council will manage to control the raging issue of air pollution amidst the traffic regulation

Wildlife tourism emerging a key revenue gainer for Scotland

Praveen — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:27:47 +0000

The wildlife and nature-based tourism has resulted to be one of the key revenue gainer for Scotland contributing over £400 million every year to Scotland’s economy. All credit goes to the picturesque outdoors and scenic landscape which attracts many nature lovers and activity enthusiasts to Scotland. The newly collected figures do shows an increase in the number of people turning out here for whale watching, angling, shooting and other outdoor sports.

The rivers, mountains, woods, plains, hill-sides all adds to the scenic charm of the country. Scotland’s natural bounty offers the best outdoors for a mix of sporting events. Every year loads of tourists do visit Scotland for enjoying its outdoors and natural charms. Figures suggests that over £200m is generated by activities like whale watching, wild-life tours and bird watching. Meanwhile country sports too contributes to the revenue by £130m a year. But hill-walking remained the top favourite outdoor activity among tourists, with one in every four visitor going for hill walks.

Meanwhile the claims from SNH reveals that, the natural environment sector plays a vital role in providing employment opportunities to over two lakh people and remains a key sector for the growth of Scotland. The government is also initiating more ideas to enhance the natural wealth of Scotland and attract more visitors.

News Source – Scotsman

Be free to talk more about this news in our Scotland news group section.

Luxury Travel in Edinburgh Airport

Carolane — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 07:04:18 +0000

Lothian Buses has launched a new fleet of Airlink buses at the Edinburgh Airport and is said to be the highest-spec buses in the country. Passengers who are flying from the Edinburgh Airport can have a luxurious short trip before reaching the terminal. This £3 million fleet for the Airlink services is more than the standard fleet of vehicles and is priced at £200,000 each – £30,000.

Among the 75 new buses ordered in 2008 by Airlink, The 14 new fleet of buses are the best ever to be made. Although the expensive new buses are clean and emitting fewer particulates and less nitrous oxide, the managing director of Lothian Buses, Ian Craig say that they emit higher levels of carbon. He also added that the firm would be in a ‘good position’, if they invested in Hybrid and biofuel vehicles when it bought the new buses.

The main reason for the luxury buses to come into light is that due to the 28.7 percent of the passengers taking public transport thereby beating the target to 26 percent.

The new buses offer various luxurious exposures like:

The “E-leather” upholstery- A recycled and environmentally friendly real-leather product with its claret and cream material has the perfect look and feel of pure leather.
Provides electric sockets for charging laptops and phones
To keep an eye on the luggage downstairs, CCTV is provided
For a calming and mood enhancing effect, LED lights are put up that changes colour according to the time of the day and mood.
To check emails on the 30-minute journey, free wi-fi is provided

Many fixtures and added provisions are still to come like screens that display information on stops and distance to arrival and important informations on the various hotels and tourist attractions that will add another £20,000 to the cost.

‘Sleep lessons’ for Scottish students

usha — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:26:32 +0000

The sleep deprived students in Scotland are taking a lesson or two on how to get enough sleep. Sleep Scotland, a charity organization, is trying to teach the Glasgow teens the importance of adequate sleep. They are recommending the children to sleep for nine hours at night by keeping off from late-night TV and computer games.

Experts say teenagers become moody, irritated and uncommunicative if they are sleep deprived. Many students get only as little as 5 hours of sleep and go to bed after midnight even during weekends because they remain hooked to the online games and web browsing. Sleep deprivation can also lead to depression and obesity.

Fiona Patterson, head of health and well-being of Bellahouston Academy in Glasgow, one of the schools participating in the sleep lessons, called the survey results “absolutely shocking.”

Getting sufficient sleep will not only enhance the academic performance of the students but also their overall alertness and smartness. This pilot program of offering sleep lessons may develop into a full time program in schools around Scotland in the days to come. EIS, the largest teaching union in Scotland has welcomed the move and opined that it would ensure the overall well being of the students.

Irregular sleep patterns of the youth might adversely affect their biological clock and the quality of their sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation, which strictly advices the teens to avoid the computer, the TV and the phone, and choose any relaxed leisure activities at night to ensure a good night’s sleep that would allow the students to get up well rested and refreshed the next morning.

Knife crime on a high in Scotland

Praveen — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:34:00 +0000

Scotland’s crime rate is soaring at such a fast rate that recently it has been listed in the world’s most violent countries. Adding to the crime chart is yet another report which states that knife crime culture is at a high in Scotland, with the convictions merely reaching a ten-year high. This news has come up as an alarm for the Scottish government, which need to put a check on this raging issue.

Looking at the reports we can see an increase of 21% in the number of knife crimes in Lothian and Borders last year. It was also known that the rate of killings carried out with knife in the country was also at the highest in the last five years. In many parts of Scotland the crimes with weapons have gone up, in Lothian and Borders itself about 431 conviction cases were reported last year involving such offensive weapons which is far more than the crimes recorded in 2007-08.

All these reports have raised a serious question on the security of the people in Scotland and also asked for a concrete measure to control these knife crimes.

News Source – Scotsman

Be free to talk more about this news in our Scotland news group section.

Glasgow – 2nd most ‘unwelcoming’ city in UK

Praveen — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:29:58 +0000

If you are a Glaswegian then this might be something really shocking for you, a recent survey has revealed that Glasgow is the second most unwelcoming city in the UK. Well, this news came at a time when Glasgow is gearing up for the Commonwealth Games. What all the reason might be, but its quite evident that the people of Glasgow are clueless and shocked as to how their city was described as unfriendly.

Meanwhile London leads the chart at first place with Aberdeen at seventh position along many other cities in the list. The survey was conducted on the basis of a poll which included 4000 adults across 30 cities, the result of the survey were released to mark the start of the British Tourism Week. The reports also revealed that about 55% people thought that the British politeness was worse and about one in ten even came across a rude person.

Glaswegians though have denied the results which this survey showed and don’t agree to the fact that Glasgow is the second most unwelcoming city in the UK. But this survey has somehow proved to be a hit on the reputation of Glasgow, that too at a time when the city least expected anything like this to happen. Being the host of the Commonwealth games, Glasgow needs to be really watchful, and make sure the city is not tagged as an unwelcoming city in the UK.

News Source : Scotsman

Glasgow Common Wealth Game 2014 logo triggers row

Praveen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:18:01 +0000

Finally the new logo for the 2014 commonwealth games was launched amidst some chaos and fanfare. It all started when the logo was found to be almost identical to the design created for the Common Guild 2007. Both the designs do had similarities which triggered a hullabaloo, with the game organisers claiming that the logo was an original piece of artwork.

Meanwhile Glasgow Tory MSP Bill Aitken said that he will be raising the issue with Games organisers due to the similarities among the two logos. The new logo has similarity with the old logo which raises a question on the originality of this new design. On other hand the game organisers strongly felt nothing to suspect regarding the logo, and it is well matched for the money paid for it.

Now it has to be seen that, what will be the fate of this new logo which has triggered a debate over its originality. Whatever the results might come, but all sport enthusiasts do hope this confusion won’t effect the preparations of the Glasgow 2014 games.

News Source : Scotsman

Golfing- The 2010 Open Championship Theme

Carolane — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:10:18 +0000

For any lover of golf, here’s great news – the 2010 Open Championship at St.Andrews, the most storied and challenging course in Scotland- Golfing is just a few months away. One of golf’s four “Majors”, the Open Championship is the only one hosted outside of the United States. The Open is not tied to one course unlike the Masters and is conducted each year with a different classic course in England or Scotland.

Since 1990, the tournament has been here once in five years with Tiger Woods earning the winning trophy in 2000 and 2009. To be held on 15 to 18th of July, 2010, it is not alone the biggest golf event of the year in Scotland but also the biggest every five years with the most prestigious tournament coming to the most famous course in golf.

No destination quite like Scotland, for golfers and fans of the game to enjoy a great golfing holiday near the Old Course at St. Andrews in Fife, about a 30-mile drive north of Edinburgh. With hundreds of courses across the country, including some of the most famous in the world, there is no other more complete a golf destination than Scotland. With high roughs, unpredictable weather and world class competition, it will be very busy for all golf enthusiasts with loads of time to plan a fabulous Scotland tour.