Portfolio

“ Getting people out of their cars and walking and cycling more

is a priority. Funding projects like this, which provide valuable
connections for people, is key to achieving this goal. As this
project progresses it will connect East Ayrshire with South
Lanarkshire and the Ayrshire Coast, allowing people to use this

”path to commute, for leisure or for even longer journeys.

Councillor Bobby McDill,
East Ayrshire Council and Member of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport

“ This new path is important

to the local community…
helping to encourage people
to keep fit and healthy. The
path is lit by award-winning
active road stud technology…
This means the path is literally

”being used day and night.

Councillor Tom Cook,
Spokesperson for Improving Community
Safety, East Ayrshire Council

51

Seven Lochs
Route
Planning

DELIVERED BY
GLASGOW AND
CLYDE VALLEY
GREEN NETWORK
PARTNERSHIP

78%

of journeys to the park, under a
mile, are currently made by car

Study helped secure additional

funding

from Transport Scotland
and CSGNT

52

Comprehensive study crossing “ The Seven
council boundaries, highlighting
opportunities to make active travel Lochs Project area
easier and more enjoyable. will see major new
development in
The Seven Lochs Wetland Park covers almost twenty the coming years,
square kilometres across the Glasgow City and with 4,500 new
North Lanarkshire Council boundary. Glasgow and homes planned to
Clyde Valley Green Network Partnership (GCVGNP) 2025. The… study
with support from Central Scotland Green Network has helped identify
Trust undertook a large number of studies to identify opportunities to
gaps and barriers in the existing cycling and walking improve walking
networks. Local people completed surveys about and cycling
how they would currently travel and what measures routes for existing
they’d like to see to enable them to walk or cycle more communities, and
frequently. will also inform
The studies and survey data led to the development of the planning and
sixteen route proposals linking key community facilities, design of new
including Easterhouse and Coatbridge town centres,
schools and colleges, leisure facilities, health centres ”developments.
and business parks. The proposals were presented
and refined at stakeholder workshops where partner Scott Ferguson,
organisations identified a further ten potential projects. Seven Lochs Project
The process helped to facilitate conversations about Coordinator
active travel links across the two councils’boundary.
The study highlighted the importance of improving links Includes design development
across the M8 motorway and creating a continuous for Scotland’s first
parallel cycle route from Coatbridge to Glasgow. It
also enabled GCVGNP to make a successful bid to ‘green
Transport Scotland for detailed design studies for the bridge’
Monkland Canal Line and a proposal for Scotland’s first
‘green bridge’across the M73 motorway.
A framework was developed to assess the impacts of
developing and promoting walking and cycling facilities
in the park. This helped ensure robust monitoring and
evaluation and facilitated important assessments,
such as cost-benefit analysis and social return on
investment.
Community Links funding is helping to further the
development and ongoing implementation of the
proposed walking and cycling network in and around
the park.

53

Clickimin Changing travel behaviours in
Path Lerwick. A high quality path
for daily trips.
DELIVERED BY
SHETLAND ISLANDS Clickimin Loch sits between the town
COUNCIL of Lerwick and a large area of housing,
Westerloch, on the mainland of the Shetland
24% Isles. Set in a beautiful area that is rich with
wildlife, the loch has a Bronze Age broch on its
increase in cycling banks and is popular with the local community
and walking trips as a recreational resource.

91% An existing path around the loch linked two local
primary schools to the local leisure centre and
of residents surveyed said the the site of the new Anderson High School which
path upgrade enhances the area is due to be completed in 2017. However the
path was very narrow, uneven and had steep
gradients, meaning it was poorly used.

Shetland Island Council identified the
opportunity to use capital investment from
the new school project to upgrade the paths
around the loch. Walking and cycling to school
is now an appealing and convenient option.
Local children and the community enjoy a
really high quality path which is three metres
wide, with street lighting and greatly reduced
gradients.

The local primary schools were involved in
the planning and delivery of the project, as
well as local community groups, such as the
Sandveien Neighbourhood Association and
Sound Community Association.

89%

of residents surveyed said
the path upgrade meets the

needs of the community

54

“ The old path was too narrow

for cycling and it was in a bad
state of repair. Community Links
funding was the ideal opportunity
to build a new one! We now
have a lovely wide path that is
used by young and old, disabled
people, dog walkers and cyclists.
Everyone that uses the path
loves it and it is getting busier

”and busier every day.

Elaine Skinley,
Road Safety Officer, Shetland Islands Council

55

How to apply

If you have a project you think would make a good Community Link, you can talk to
us about the best way to take your project forward. We may also be able to arrange a
site visit to have a look at your proposals. All Community Links funded projects must
be 50% match funded and must demonstrate that they contribute to the objectives
of the programme. Local authorities are the principal delivery partners for Community
Links projects as they can show a strong track record of delivering quality projects
within the required time frame. However, other applicants – such as national parks,
universities, trusts and larger charitable organisations – have all received funding in
the past.
Full details of how to apply are available in our Community Links Guide, which is
available to download from our website:
www.sustrans.org.uk/scotland/what-we-do/communities/
community-links-grant-programme-0
Once you have a clear plan in place, you can submit an application to our online
portal, which is open year-round for submissions. If you need advice on a project
that you think may be suitable for Community Links funding, please contact the
team at [email protected] or call 0131 346 1384.

56

57

Partnership

Community Links would not exist without our enthusiastic, dedicated partners
and the continued support of Transport Scotland. We would like to thank all of the
organisations and individuals with whom we have worked in order to deliver these
fantastic projects. They have given more people in Scotland the opportunity to
make healthier, cleaner, more affordable journeys.

It’s not possible to list every organisation and individual that we have partnered with
over the last five years but here is a list of partners that delivered and promoted the
projects featured in this document:

Midlothian Council Dunblane Development Trust

Scottish Borders Council Dunblane BID

Network Rail Dunblane in Bloom

Argyll and Bute Council The Causey Development Trust

East Ayrshire Council East Dunbartonshire Council

Clackmannanshire Council Kirkintilloch Masterplan Champions Group

Shetland Islands Council Friends of the Bears Way

The City of Edinburgh Council Dundee City Council

Spokes Glasgow City Council

Moray Council Scottish Canals

Falkirk Council Glasgow and Clyde Valley Green Network

Falkirk Environment Trust North Lanarkshire Council

Scottish Natural Heritage North Ayrshire Council

SportScotland Aberdeenshire Council

Blackness Area Community Council Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT)

Communities Along the Carron The Highland and Island Transport
Association Partnership (HITRANS)
Central Scotland Green
Network Trust South East of Scotland Transport
Partnership (SEStran)
Stirling Council
The Transport Partnership for Aberdeen City
Dunblane Community Council and Shire (nestrans)

Local Councillors, local landowners,
local volunteers

58

Community Links 2011-2016.
Cycling and walking projects for Scotland.
Published by Sustrans Scotland, 2016.
Compiled by Anna Ronayne.

Icons created by Piotrek Chuchla, OCHA Visual Information Unit, Siddharth Dasari, Dmitry
Mirolyubov, Chris Evans, Mister Pixel, Arthur Shlain, Melvin Poppelaars, Ann Fandrey, Stanislav
Levin, parkjisun, Ilsur Aptukov, Pierre-Luc Auclair, Christopher Holm-Hansen, DTE MEDIA, Piotrek
Chuchla, Icon Fair, Carla Gom Mejorada, Eden Clairicia, Le Hoang, Edward Boatman, Claire Jones,
Andrea Harris, Aaron K. Kim, Creative Stall, Brennan Novak and Nikita Kozin from the Noun Project.

Report design and layout by Transform Creative (transformcreative.org.uk), 2016.

Please
get in touch

Sustrans is a leading UK charity enabling people to travel by foot,
bike or public transport for more of the journeys we make every day.
If you would like to know more about the Community Links
Programme or any aspect of our work, please get in touch.

Address: Sustrans Scotland, Rosebery House,
9 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh, EH12 5EZ
Telephone: 0131 346 1384
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.sustrans.org.uk
Follow us on:

Sustrans Scotland
@SustransScot

Community Links is funded by Transport Scotland, the national
transport agency for Scotland, delivering the Scottish Government’s
vision for transport.

Sustrans is a registered charity No. SCO39263 (Scotland)
326550 (England and Wales).
Produced for Sustrans by GMP Print Solutions using vegetable based inks on FSC
approved paper. In addition, all the carbon emissions generated in the printing of this
document will be offset by planting broadleaved trees in a local community woodland
resulting in the print becoming completely carbon balanced.