Feedback sought on draft Regional Active Travel Network for North East Scotland

Members of the public are being asked to give their views on a Regional Active Travel Network for North East Scotland.

A draft of the network plan has been developed by Nestrans with Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council.

Active travel is people-powered transport: walking, wheeling (such as wheelchairs, scooters, prams and buggies) and cycling. Improving routes for these options can help more people get to where they want to go, improve people’s health and reduce carbon emissions.

There are some good facilities for active travel in both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, but it is recognised that there is much more that could be done to create safe and attractive routes. The new Regional Active Travel Network will set out a multi-decade vision for high-quality routes within and between the region’s communities. Its purpose is to define the priorities for improvements and help make the case for investment.

A draft of the network plan has been developed by Nestrans and its partners Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council.

The consultation explains the network and asks for your views on it, so that the final recommendations reflect the views and priorities of people across the North East of Scotland.

Nestrans is also particularly keen to hear the views of the region’s young people, and a separate consultation, promoted primarily through the region’s schools, will collect feedback on issues most relevant to them.

Councillor Alan Turner, chair of Nestrans, said “We all have much to benefit if more people could walk, wheel and cycle more often. Delivering high quality routes everywhere through the region will take many years, but by setting out the regional network now we want to show our ambition for change and, more importantly, make a strong case for investment to come to the North East.

Our draft network is a good start on this process, but we want to hear the views of people from across the region to help us understand whether we have got the scale of ambition for the network right, as well as any detailed suggestions for specific changes that we should make.”

More information is available at Regional Active Travel Network StoryMap. People unable to access the information or survey can contact the team by phoning 0131 659 1547 between 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday).

The consultation will run until Sunday June 2.