Tuesday, May 12 2009
Transport planner JMP is preparing a Travel Plan for a new prison being built in Scotland in a move to encourage staff and visitors to cut down on private car use and instead move to more sustainable modes of transport.
The new prison is being built on the site of a 15 hectare site, a part of which was the previous HMP Lowmoss in East Dumbartonshire. The site is close to a retail park and accessed by a frequent bus service from Glasgow, some 5.5 miles away.
Enabling works for the new prison have already begun with the prison planned to come into operation in 2012. The prison will have around 500 staff – both from the prison service and external agencies – and around 700 prisoners. It is expected that there will be approximately about 300 staff on site at any one time.
The new prison will have 300 parking spaces for staff and 84 for visitors and JMP will be looking to encourage car sharing, together with cycling and walking, and ways of enhancing public transport. There is a local railway station about two miles from the prison.
The Travel Plan is required to meet not just the Scottish Prison Service’s sustainable transport strategy but also to comply with the requirements of East Dunbartonshire Council. The prison service’s target is to achieve as a minimum a “Very Good” rating under the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method for prisons.