CASH BOOST FOR TIMBER TRANSPORT PROJECTS (01/06/06)

Four projects aiming to minimise the impact of timber transport on Scotland's rural roads have become the first to benefit from a cash injection of over £420,000 from the Strategic Timber Transport Fund (STTF). The £13m fund - announced by the Executive last year - aims to help the industry find innovative ways to reduce the impact of timber lorries on Scotland's rural roads.

Announcing the successful projects, Scottish Forestry Minister, Rhona Brankin, said: "Scotland's timber production is set to nearly double from five million tonnes a year to around 10 million tonnes by 2020 as trees planted back in the 80s are due for harvesting. To prepare for this we need to find creative ways to address timber transport needs to reduce the impact of timber haulage on smaller communities. "I am delighted to announce the first four successful applicants. We want to provide real community benefits from this fund and by making improvements to the forest transport network, disruption to rural communities will be greatly reduced and the timber industry may also benefit from improved access to forests with restricted vehicle access. The fund aims to help find new solutions to timber transport which may also include moving more timber by rail and by sea. This will help reduce both environmental impacts and the potential damage to fragile roads.

The four projects that have been offered funding are:

Programme Manager/Facilitator for Stirling and Tayside area, offered £25,000 to help analyse current timber transport issues and including reviewing or revising the timber route maps for the area.

SKOTKA: South of Scotland timber logistics programme offered £68,900 to design, build and evaluate a comprehensive computerised timber haulage route scheduling system.

Programme Manager/Co-ordinator for Argyll Timber Transport Group offered £94,000 to develop the area's strategic route network. The work will explore opportunities on forestry and public roads and/or piers or railhead infrastructure. This project builds on and takes forward work to review and prioritise the timber transport issues facing the area.

A partnership between Forest Civil Engineering and Nottingham University offered £232,500 to help a new study into the performance of forest and public roads under timber transport traffic. The work will look at how the interaction of weather usage by timber lorries affects the load-bearing capacity of minor public roads and forest roads.

The next round of applications is due on June 12.