In Real Life : Greener Kirkcaldy

Nearly one third of greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland are from the transport sector- and 39% of these are due to cars. While car emissions are dropping as more people adopt electric or hybrid vehicles, these solutions are not affordable for everyone- other forms of transport such as buses, trains, cycling and walking/wheeling need to be part of the solution if we are going to reach net zero. Active modes of transport in particular offer several co-benefits too; cycling, walking or wheeling is good for our mental and physical health, for air quality, and for our wallets, as well as being an environmentally friendly way of travelling.

Building Confidence to Travel Differently

However, it’s not as simple as “getting on your bike.” If you’re starting from zero, there is a variety of information, skills, confidence and equipment that you might need to be able to get from A to B by foot, bicycle or wheelchair. In Kirkcaldy, one organisation decided to provide all of that- in one place.

Greener Kirkcaldy began in 2009 as a group of friends who wanted to support their community to take actions to combat climate change, in ways which had cobenefits for their lives too. Responding to local demand as they learned about it, the group has provided energy advice, community allotments and orchards, “eating well on a budget” cooking classes, repair services for bikes, computers and clothes, and more. All of these activities had a climate aspect- reducing emissions or waste- and also helped reduce the living costs for Kirkcaldy residents.

“The more that we did with active travel the more people said they wanted active travel,” says Kitty O’Connor from Greener Kirkcaldy. Over time the charity’s active travel branched out from bicycle repairs to include led bike rides, route advice and e-bike hire. Over the same period, the town’s only bike shop had closed, and Greener Kirkcaldy had acquired a building to run their activities from.

From Community Demand to Community Enterprise

For the Greener Kirkcaldy team it became too good an opportunity to miss - and their social enterprise bike shop opened in 2020. This new and ambitious venture not only offered a holistic cycling support service, but also helped the organisation to generate an income stream in a changing funding environment.

In its five years of operation the team at Lang Toun Cycles have fixed and refurbished over 4000 bikes, many of which were rescued from recycling centres to be sold on alongside all the accessories a cyclist will need. The shop also runs an e-bike hire scheme and a children’s bike library- all together, this work is estimated to have created carbon savings of 64,500kg of carbon dioxide, equivalent to taking 41 cars off the road.

Lang Toun cycles isn’t just providing the equipment for travelling by bicycle. As a social enterprise, the business also offers volunteering and employability opportunities to locals, as well as sociable bike fixing days for those who’d like some company and support with their own bike maintenance.

Another key barrier to many people cycling is confidence and safety. Lang Toun Cycles often acts as the start point for led bike rides and confidence-building sessions.

Recently, the bike shop evolved again to encompass all forms of active travel.

The rebranded Active Travel Hub acts as the start point for group walks, hosts events which provide information and inspiration on active travel, and it is also home to all of the travel advice that Greener Kirkcaldy have collected and created, helping people to do different every day journeys by wheelchair, foot, pram, or bicycle.

Creating the Conditions for Change

The shift away from car use and towards active travel is not purely down to individual choices, though. As motivated as we might be, if we don’t have safe routes to cycle, walk or wheel on, then very few of us will do it. “The thing that we’re up against all the time is lack of infrastructure,” says Ea O‘Neill, another Greener Kirkcaldy member, “That’s why we have involved ourselves, and thrown ourselves at, Fife Council to be involved in their active travel plan.” As an organisation embedded in the community, Greener Kirkcaldy has been able to demonstrate to local politicians that there is a demand for active travel infrastructure in the area- and have even mapped out the desired routes as part of a community travel action plan.

As a lead partner in the Climate Action Fife Partnership, Greener Kirkcaldy has been advocating for active travel across the county- from the new urban developments in Levenmouth to the developing tourist routes in the East Neuk. The team works with all kinds of organisations, from community groups to businesses, housing associations to health facilities- to help them be more accommodating of those who want to access their places by foot, wheelchair, pram or bicycle.

Changing the way that we travel is not going to be simple. Over years of working with their community and with other organisations, Greener Kirkcaldy has developed an approach which provides the holistic support that communities need - a one-stop shop for equipment, information and learning, and a wide advocacy campaign to improve infrastructure. And these travel projects don’t have to be about convincing people to sacrifice their routines- Lang Toun Cycles was born out of a desire to reduce waste as much as a desire to encourage sustainable travel. By supporting their community to take more active forms of transport, in safe and affordable ways, Greener Kirkcaldy are offering travel which is healthier, cheaper, and maybe even more enjoyable too.