Focus On Paths In Ross And Cromarty

The Highland Council is undertaking consultations with communities to help decide its Core Paths Plan. The first consultation in Ross and Cromarty will take place in Invergordon on the 13th and 14th March. This will be followed by work in Easter Ross and South West Ross between April and June and the rest of the area over the next two years.

Council Access officer, Phil Waite said: "We are hoping the local people will show us which paths they use and help decide which paths are the most important to them."

There will be a drop-in venue at the Arts Centre in Invergordon on Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 March between 12 noon and 8pm. A follow up meeting will be held on Tuesday 21 March at 7.30pm in the same venue.

Core Paths will be a key part of outdoor access provision and are a statutory requirement of the Land Reform Act. The Core Paths system will grow out of consultations with local communities, land managers and other key stakeholders. It is likely that the Core paths are those already in use and in some visible form on the ground and could vary from a muddy line over hilly ground to high-specification constructed paths at lower levels.

The funding for these paths has yet to be determined. Core Paths will be particularly important close to where people live with the network catering for all types of users including walkers, cyclists, horse-riders, canoeists, people with disabilities etc – but not every path needs to be multi user.

All the Core Paths will be clearly shown on official Core Paths maps and on other maps such as the Ordnance Survey. It is intended that all core paths will be clearly signposted for people to use with confidence. The Core Paths will be the most important paths within a wider path network and they will not be allowed to be blocked and will be the priority for maintenance.

Councillor John Connell of Invergordon said: "I would like to encourage as many members of the public as possible to be involved by visiting the Arts Centre on Monday or Tuesday. The volunteers will also be interviewing people in the streets, shops and cafes and visiting workplaces, schools and landowners."