Active travel consultations open in Carstairs Junction, Coalburn and Coulter

Communities in Carstairs Junction, Coalburn and Coulter are being asked to take part in a walking, cycling and wheeling mapping consultation between now and 18 October, to help create new active travel maps and wayfinding.

The consultation will gather information on all routes in and around each of the communities, and bring together local knowledge on best routes for different user groups, points of interest, facilities and hazards and obstacles.

The consultation is part of the Make Your Way active travel project, which will produce active travel maps and wayfinding along one identified route in each of the communities, due to be launched next spring. Maps will include local facilities and recreation areas to encourage walking, cycling and wheeling around the communities, as well as providing information on bus stops and timetables, and links to the National Cycle Network.

This new project compliments Make Your Way active travel maps and activities that took place last year in Abington, Crawford, Crawfordjohn, Douglas, Elvanfoot, Glespin, Rigside and Leadhills. Led cycles promoting these maps and the new maps to be created in Carstairs Junction, Coalburn and Coulter are due to take place alongside a Bikeability programme in eight local Primary Schools, before March 2021.

A series of Make Your Way community engagement events around each of the consultations are due to be announced soon at www.communityactionalan.org/news/latest-news.

Make Your Way is managed by Rural Development Trust’s Community Action Lanarkshire programme and supported by Paths for All Smarter Choices Smarter Places, South Lanarkshire Council Renewable Energy Fund and Rural Development Trust. The consultation is coordinated by creative consultants icecream architecture.

The Make Your Way active travel consultation takes place online or by phone as detailed below.

Digital users can navigate to www.communityactionlan.org/news/latest-news where they can pinpoint routes, points of interest, facilities and hazards and obstacles. The consultation is open until Sunday 19 October.

Participants may also take part in the consultation by contacting icecream architecture at chris@icecreamarchitecture.com / 0141 237 8592.

Sarah O’Sullivan, Community Action Lanarkshire Project Officer says, “Community Action Lanarkshire are delighted to be able to continue the Make Your Way programme across these three new communities and urge everyone who has knowledge of active travel in these communities to contribute. The increased importance of active travel since the onset of COVID-19 is well documented so the project comes at a time well suited to Carstairs Junction, Coalburn and Coulter.”

She continues, “This new programme of active travel focussed activities is the latest incarnation of the Make Your Way project, which was initiated in 2016, as part of the Clyde and Avon Valley Landscape Partnership (CAVLP). 16 communities and thousands of associated residents have benefitted from the initiative to date, including Carluke, Glassford, Lanark, Larkhall, Stonehouse and Quarter.”

View the previous Make Your Way maps by clicking ‘trails’ at https://www.communityactionlan.org/explore/explore-the-map

Activities compliment another ambitious Community Action Lanarkshire project funded by Sustrans’ Places For Everyone grant, which is undertaking feasibility studies to examine infrastructure options for active travel from Abington to Abington Services, Leadhills to Wanlockhead, and Douglas to the National Cycle Network.

Take part in the digital consultation at www.communityactionlan.org/news/latest-news or contact icecream architecture at chris@icecreamarchitecture.com / 0141 237 8592. Join the dedicated Make Your Way Facebook Group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MYWForum.