Making the Park more walking, cycling and wheelchair friendly

Community drop-in events to present proposals for making the National Park more walking, cycling and wheelchair friendly

A series of community drop-in events will be hosted from 28 February – 7 March in the Park communities of Boat of Garten, Carrbridge, Dulnain Bridge, Nethy Bridge and Newtonmore, where proposals for making the National Park more walking, cycling and wheelchair friendly will be presented for community feedback.

The Park Authority is continuing to work on transforming how people get around in the National Park as part of the Heritage Horizons: Cairngorms 2030 programme, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund with thanks to National Lottery players, and Transport Scotland-backed Places for Everyone funding from Sustrans. Following a series of online and in-person consultations in 2022 in Boat of Garten, Carrbridge, Dulnain Bridge, Nethy Bridge and Newtonmore, a collection of proposals, bespoke to each community and based on residents’ ideas and feedback, have been drawn up.

Murray Ferguson, Direcotor of Planning and Place at the Cairngorms National Park Authority said: “With transport accounting for over a third of Scotland’s carbon emissions, how people get to and around the National Park will need to change if we are to achieve our net zero targets. We’re working with communities to make active travel improvements and in the second half of 2022, we asked people what places and routes the work should focus on. Thanks to their feedback, we now have a clear picture of the challenges people feel exist, as well as opportunities to make things better.

“Proposals have been created from community feedback and we look forward to welcoming as many people as possible to the events to hear their thoughts on these new proposals. The events are open to all, so please come along and spread the word to others who might be interested.”

The roadshow events will take place at the following locations:

• Carrbridge Village Hall on Tuesday 28 February from 16:00 to 19:00
• Newtonmore Community Hall on Wednesday 1 March from 16:00 to 19:00
• Boat of Garten Community Hall on Friday 3 March from 16:00 to 19:00
• Dulnain Bridge Public Hall on Monday 6 March from 16:00 to 19:00
• Nethy Bridge Community Centre on Tuesday 7 March from 16:00 to 19:00

Each event will focus on proposals for that specific community, and people can drop in at any time to find out more and leave comments. For those who cannot attend the events in person, there is also an option to view the proposals and give feedback online on this dedicated website https://cairngorms2030.commonplace.is  or people can provide feedback by emailing [email protected].

These five events are the first in a series of further community consultations to be held this year in the National Park, with more planned for Aviemore, Ballater, Braemar, Blair Atholl and Killiecrankie, along with other projects aimed at changing and improving the way people get around in the National Park.