Published Date:
The council has secured £835,000 of funding from the Sustrans Community Links programme which supports the creation of cycling networks for everyday journeys.
Local authorities are invited to apply to the fund annually, with £14,5million available in 2014/15. Sustrans received almost 200 bids; a total grant request of £35million.
The local authority received confirmation last week that their funding application had been successful.
Out of the 39 applications to this year’s funding round, Argyll and Bute Council received the ninth highest award.
The projects being progressed are detailed below:
Project Name |
Community Links Funding award 2014/15 |
Project Description |
Strategic Link - Scotrail | £140,000 |
Improve links to rail stations on West Highland Line to complement 6 trains per day between Glasgow and Oban. |
Regional Link - Dunoon Active Travel | £250,000 | Upgrade Dunoon esplanade and local walking and cycling infrastructure to compliment CHORD works. |
Local Link - South Islay Distillery Path | £250,000 | Final phase of traffic-free path linking Port Ellen and Ardbeg. |
Local Link – Kilmichael Glassary | £150,000 | Construct footpath linking Bridgend and Kilmichael providing a safe walking route to the local school. |
Local Link - Appin School Link |
£20,000 | Upgrade existing off-road path from Kirkton which provides walking route to local primary school. |
Local Link -Kilchrenan School Link |
£25,000 | Provide on off-road path link including a bridge linking the primary school with the village hall. |
TOTAL | £835,000 |
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These projects will be completed by spring 2015, with Argyll and Bute Council overseeing the projects while working closely with key partners such as Scotrail, Cycling Scotland and the Islay Community Access Group.
Policy Lead for Strategic Transportation, Councillor Duncan MacIntyre, said: ‘’This is very exciting news for the area. With this funding award we will be able to keep our communities connected and ensure safe traffic-free transport links – a key aspect of our economic development strategy.
‘’We will be working closely with our partners to deliver these projects within the given timescale. From the projects listed people will see that we have matched them to issues we know matter to our communities – safe transport for our schoolchildren; complementing on-going regeneration work and linking in to the fantastic new Scotrail service of 6 trains a day from Oban to Glasgow.’’
Transport Minister Keith Brown said: ‘’I am encouraged by the number of local authorities who have put forward exemplar projects which could make a difference to helping more people to walk and cycle for everyday local journeys.
‘’We provided around £14m to the community links programme, which is the largest ever funding pot available to local authorities for these projects, to ensure infrastructure is delivered to make cycling a safe and realistic travel choice.
‘’The Scottish Government is committed to investing in cycling infrastructure, training and road safety projects through active partnerships with charities such as Sustrans to make Scotland a more active and healthy nation and increase the numbers of people choosing to cycle each day.’’