Public Access Strategy - Review & Analysis Previous Consultation

Community Consultation

Plains, Greengairs and Wattston, Petersburn, Glenmavis, Chapelhall and Calderbank, Clarkston and Airdrie town centre

During 1998 Scottish Participatory Initiatives were commissioned North Lanarkshire Council, The Paths for All Partnership, Lanarkshire Development Agency and the Central Scotland Countryside Trust to undertake a series of community participation exercises.  These were as follows:

• Plains, February 2-3 1998
• Greengairs and Wattston, February 9-10 1998
• Petersburn, February 16-17 1998
• Glenmavis, March 2-3 1998
• Chapelhall and Calderbank, March 23-24 1998
• Clarkston and Airdrie Town Centre, April 6-7 1998

The aim of the exercises was to gain an understanding of local people's opinions regarding the pathways they use for walking, cycling, horse riding and other uses, now and for the future.  A further aim was to promote the need for good community consultation for countryside access.  A team of facilitators carried out the participatory appraisal events.  People were asked to:

• map past, present and suggested future pathways;
• identify aspects they like and or dislike about the existing paths;
• make recommendations for the future.

The views of adults and children were recorded and reported separately.

Likes and dislikes

Recurring adult's likes in all of the locations included:

• quietness of routes
• routes away from traffic
• enjoyed the countryside
• scenery
• pleasantness of routes.

The young peoples' likes differed.  They appeared to be more concerned with issues of practicality e.g. cycle paths, horse riding tracks and routes which were suitable good for roller blading.  They also liked routes which provided access to places such as parks and school.

Both adults and young people expressed a like for good surfaces.

In all of the locations adults and young people expressed a dislike for (bumpy / stony) uneven surfaces and suggested these surfaces be tarmaced or smoothed to encourage access.  Similarly they expressed concern about the amount of vandalism (rubbish/broken glass) on paths and the fear of youths, drinking/lurking around paths.  In all locations except Glenmavis, adults and young people indicated that there are insufficient paths.  The need for lighting was another recurring concern, raised mostly by adults.

As part of the SNH Local Authority Pilot Project, LUC and STAR undertook community consultation.  The exercise aimed to establish more qualitative information about the access networks which current exists in North Lanarkshire.  The work was undertaken in a small trial area, to ensure that the team and participants were able to focus on specific issues and routes.  The North Lanarkshire trial area formed a square that includes Cumbernauld, and Kilsyth in the northern part of the council area. Two stakeholder workshops were held in Cumbernauld during 2000.

The SNH pilot project consultation highlighted a number of issues relating to demand for paths which are summarised below:

• extensive use of path networks around Cumbernauld and Palacerigg Country Park for walking, cycling and riding (including a number of routes not previously identified in the project's mapping exercise);
• additional routes identified along the Luggie Burn to the south west of the town, south of Condorrat and around Broadwood Loch to the north of Condorrat;
• extensive use of rights of way and other routes (including the Antonine Wall, Forth-Clyde Canal and the parallel disused railway line) in and around Kilsyth, many for cycling and riding as well as walking;
• additional routes identified, including routes around Dumbreck Nature Reserve.

Local people were asked to highlight where, ideally, they would like to see further access provision.  Key additional routes identified by workshop attendees included:

• new links across the A80 within Cumbernauld to open up areas to the north for access and recreation;
• key links between the Cumbernauld area and the Kilsyth area via the Antonine Wall, the Millennium Link and disused railway lines;
• additional links in the countryside around Palacerigg Country Park;
• new or replacement links where new development takes place.

Information and signage, together with improved management were commonly highlighted as key needs.  Other requests included safe road and canal crossings, and improvement to the system of pedestrian underpasses in Cumbernauld.

Consultation undertaken with land managers in and around Cumbernauld identified a relatively positive view of access, but also a number of significant concerns.  Most of the discussion was of a generalised nature, and tended to focus on broad issues arising from access.  The following specific points were made:

• the areas further from the main settlements have less problems resulting from access;
• there are problems with rubbish and fly tipping around car parks within the area;
• On the hillsides towards the northern end of the trial area (around Kilsyth) mountain bikes and horses can cause erosion.

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