Active Travel Engagement Officer in post

The Highland Council is pleased to welcome Amy Taylor as their new Engagement Officer for active travel in Inverness. The role has been created to work with the public, businesses and Highland Council staff to ensure everyone can have their say and be informed about active travel plans for the Inverness city area.

The two year post is funded by Transport Scotland through Sustrans’ Places for Everyone fund.Infrastructure Coordinator for Sustrans in the Highlands, Sjoerd Tel said: “This role will help deliver the commitment made by the Highland Council to ensure people are able to travel safely and sustainably via active travel. Sustrans look forward to working with Amy to advance opportunities for walking, wheeling and cycling in Inverness.”

Speaking about her new role, Amy said; “I am really looking forward to working at Highland Council, and to engaging with people to hear their views on active travel. It is something which is very important to me, and a great way of tackling climate change, having cleaner air, safer travel routes, and for boosting physical and mental health. It would be great if as many people as possible got involved in helping our communities to be the best they can be.”

Last year the Council ran a consultation to seek people’s view on how easy they thought it was to walk, wheel and cycle in their area. Feedback will be used to help set up a framework for supporting people to make healthier, low carbon travel choices. For some, this will mean supporting a transition to low carbon car travel, whilst for others active travel and public transport will provide the best options.

Welcoming Amy to her new role, Chair of the Council’s Environment and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Trish Robertson said: “The Highland Council is working to deliver a low carbon transport network to tackle the Climate and Ecological Emergency. Essentially this means making it easier, safer and more convenient for people to walk, wheel and cycle. To plan this effectively it is important that we understanding what people think about moving around their area. Amy’s role to engage with communities and businesses will be key to gathering information and feedback as we move forward, and I wish her all the very best.”