Public Access Strategy - Action Area C Cumbernauld

This action area includes the town of Cumbernauld and the more rural areas around it.  The town is surrounded by a particularly dense network of paths, linking the town with the countryside.  Many of these were created by the former New Town Corporation.  To the north this is constrained by the A80 road corridor.  To the south, however, the network extends into Palacerigg Country Park where it links into existing routes.  Taken together, the paths form an almost complete route around Cumbernauld.  Further routes developed by the New Town Corporation, and within specific project areas also contribute to the overall access network in the area.

• Community health could be improved directly, by encouraging more people to make greater use of existing path networks, and indirectly through encouraging the community to take more collective action in planning and managing paths.  A GP referral scheme has already been undertaken in Cumbernauld, and this could be taken further locally, in partnership with local representatives of Lanarkshire Health Board.  There are also plans to 'roll out' the scheme to cover wider areas within North Lanarkshire.  Many local people felt that safe routes should be provided to allow for cycling or walking to work.  This could tie in with the local launch of the 'Walk in to Work Out Campaign' as a practical means of encouraging local people to exercise more.  With its extensive network of routes in and around Cumbernauld, this area could provide an early focus for the initiative.
• People will be more likely to walk, cycle and ride in and around the town, if local routes are considered to be safe.  Lighting of key paths within and on the edges of Cumbernauld may help to reduce anti-social behaviour.  Perceptions of personal security could also be improved by measures like providing signage to direct path users to nearby public telephones or through considered planting strategies. Safety can also be addressed by ensuring that pedestrians and cyclists do not come into conflict with road traffic.  The local access group should liaise with the police to identify key problem areas (in terms of both crime and road traffic accidents), as a means of targeting lighting, signage, policing and traffic calming initiatives.
• Community initiatives, such as greater school and local youth group involvement in path maintenance, can also have a positive effect on perceptions of security.  Greater involvement might be achieved through a series of high profile initiatives or self-contained projects, and should build in the proactive approach already being promoted by the SWT under its Cumbernauld Greenspaces Initiative.  For example, within the town, concerns have been expressed about the poor condition of pedestrian underpasses.  Working towards improving the underpasses is the type of project, which might galvanise community interest in access management, as well as being beneficial in terms of securing 'on the ground' environmental improvements.  The Local Action Group, in association with North Lanarkshire Council, should make contact with community representatives to establish which groups would like to become more directly involved.
• As with the previous Action Area, it will be important to establish good links with the Forth and Clyde Canal.  The Antonine Wall already forms an important link between the northern edge of the town and the canal.  These links should be followed through to ensure that the wider population of Cumbernauld have a chance to enjoy the new recreation opportunities that the Millennium Link project will provide.  This might best be achieved through improved signage and / or traffic calming on key minor roads such as the B802 through Croy.
• Development, particularly in the north of the area, and its impact on access provision, has caused considerable concern amongst local residents.  In addition, the loss of open ground to golf course development has also meant that local people feel more restricted about where they can walk in the area.  North Lanarkshire Council should work in partnership with house-builders and golf course managers to ensure that all new developments of this type take into account both existing access, and potential improvements that might be included in site plans.  Planning gain could be an important means of securing an agreement in terms of path development and longer term maintenance.  There may be opportunities to involve the local access group in such discussion so that important routes are maintained or improved.
• Whilst there is already a good supply of paths in the area, it is important that together they form a coherent and legible network. Further new links have been highlighted in the audit and by the local communities themselves, which could help toward providing a more coherent network of routes in and around Cumbernauld.  They include:
  • Links across the A80 within Cumbernauld to open up areas to the north for access and recreation for the southern and eastern side of the town.  The crossing points that exist at the moment should be maintained and signposted as a matter of priority.
  • Some local people felt that the circular route around Cumbernauld should be reinstated.  Our mapping has highlighted some missing links in the south west of the town and particularly on the north west side of the A80.  Scope for making better connections through provision of short connections and linked via signage, should be investigated further.
• There is also a need to ensure that the ongoing renewal of the town centre is integrated with wider access networks, to encourage local people to walk and cycle to the shops, schools and workplaces.  This could be achieved both through the physical development of off road links or improvement of existing routes, or through improved information, and signage (e.g. maps and information boards on network links at industrial estates or business parks).
• Palacerigg Country Park is an important access area, for walking, cycling and horse riding.  However, local residents feel that the condition of paths within the park has deteriorated over the past few years.  Scope for improving existing paths to ensure they can be used by walkers, and where appropriate horse riders and cyclists, and ways of developing links from the park southwards (into Action Area E) should be considered further.  Connections from the area to the Millennium Link should also be viewed as a priority within this area.
• The potential of the Broadwood Loch for recreation has not yet been realised fully.  The area is used informally for canoeing, and local people are keen to see opportunities for further non-powered watersports in this location.  Scope for improving existing routes to the Loch from the town should therefore be investigated further. Solutions might include physical improvements and better signage on routes along the Luggie Burn to the south west of the town, south of Condorrat and around Broadwood Loch to the north of Condorrat.