The Council is asking residents, businesses and visitors for their ideas on how to improve cycling and walking infrastructure on the Isles of Scilly.
We’re running two sessions this week, in collaboration with the Department for Transport, where you can share your ideas on how cycling and walking on Scilly could be made safer, more accessible and more enjoyable for all.
You can find our stall in Hugh Town on St Mary’s at the following times:
- Wednesday 29 June, 10am to 1pm, in The Park in front of the Town Hall
- Saturday 2 July, 10am to 1pm outside the Tideline shop on Hugh Street
Ideas could include improvements to existing footpaths and cycle paths, encouraging more people to walk and cycle safely away from busy roads, improvements to pavements and increased road safety measures.
Your views will be used to inform a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for Scilly. This is a statutory document that all Local Authorities must have in place. Once the plan is in place, the Council will be eligible to apply for government funding to pay for identified improvements.
The plan is being funded and developed by the Department for Transport on behalf of the Council. A representative of the DfT will be on hand at the stalls and is also gathering the views from local groups and organisations such as the Community Safety Partnership, Five Islands Academy and Devon and Cornwall Police.
Active travel is important for our health and wellbeing and our local environment. It also helps tackle climate change through the reduced use of fossil fuel powered vehicles. The development of the plan is an action set out within the Council’s Climate Change Action Plan to ensure our transport infrastructure supports clean, safe methods of travel, promoting active travel where possible. It will also help us to achieve objectives within our Corporate Plan 2022-2026 relating to road safety, traffic management and reduced vehicle usage.
Councillor Joel Williams, Lead Member for Adult and Children’s Services, said: “We are grateful to the Department for Transport for assisting us with the development of this much needed plan and ultimately, we hope the plan will make our roads safer for everyone to use”.
Councillor Harry Legg, Lead Member for the Environment said: “This plan will help shape the future of sustainable travel infrastructure on the islands, whilst also reducing our carbon emissions, promoting our health and wellbeing and improving road safety at the same time. It’s important that everyone shares their views.”
If you are unable to attend either of these two sessions, please feel free to send your ideas to environment@scilly.gov.uk or drop any suggestions into St Mary's Library, addressed to Tanya Saker.