Commendation for Council’s proposed Active Travel Network project
After being successful in gaining a place on the final short list of projects in the Community Links PLUS competition, The Highland Council’s Inverness Active Travel Network project has received a commendation from the judging panel.
The primary aim of the competition, which was launched in November 2015, was for exemplar, high profile and ‘game changing’ cycling projects in Scotland. Applications were invited from imaginative projects focussing on creating safer, more convenient, seamless and segregated routes through cities, integrating the needs of pedestrians while meeting the needs and aspirations of communities.
Community Links PLUS attracted 25 applications from 24 Local Authorities across Scotland. The initial entries were narrowed down to 10 projects after Stage One and then down to 5 after Stage Two.
The application submitted by Highland Council was for developing and delivering a comprehensive active travel network across the City of Inverness that aimed to double the levels of cycling across the city.
After being successful in the first two stages of the competition, in stage three the application was one of five projects to be closely assessed over five categories by an independent panel. Feedback from the panel was positive and although unsuccessful in winning the competition, the Council have been awarded a Commendation in recognition of the projects strengths, ambition and potential.
Chair of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor Audrey Sinclair thanked staff and stakeholders for all their work. She said: “The proposal has the scope and ambition to create a truly city-wide network and while we are obviously disappointed not to have been selected as the winning project, to get down to the last five is a great achievement. It reflects all the commitment and the hard work everyone involved has put in.
“In their summary the panel highlighted the strong political and stakeholder support and the good work done on engaging with the public. I’d like to thank everyone involved for their excellent work and thank the panel for awarding us a commendation.”
ENDS