Fife Council seeks local views ahead of active travel plan

Fifers will be asked for their views as the local authority develops an Active Travel Strategy and Action Plan for the region. It will then form the basis of a long-term vision for a high-quality network of routes that enable people to walk, wheel and cycle more easily and safely in and around communities. To take part in the consultation visit www.fife.gov.uk/activetravel

Local people are being asked to comment on the plan’s priorities and the draft network proposals via a survey, and by leaving comments on an interactive map. There will also be supporting face to face public engagement events held across Fife.

Cllr Altany Craik, spokesperson for finance, economy and strategic planning, said: “Our Active Travel Strategy and Action Plan will be highly ambitious. Improvements and increases in active travel will benefit our environment, our air quality and people’s physical and mental wellbeing. Wheeling is also a cheap and easy way to commute to work, travel to school or college, or pop to the local shops.”

Mr Craik said that the views will help inform a “new active travel masterplan”.

He said: “We want local people to help keep us moving in the right direction. That’s why we want your views to shape a new active travel masterplan and why we’re asking as many people as possible to take part in this consultation and let us know what they think.”

Cllr Jan Wincott, spokesperson for environment and climate change, added: “Rebalancing the shift away from cars to more active travel is going to be fundamental in our pursuit of tackling climate change. To encourage more people to leave the car at home for short journeys we need to make walking, wheeling and cycling an attractive option by building safe, traffic free, routes where people can move around with confidence across Fife and in the right places.

"We have recently launched Climate Fife 2024 and enhancing active travel is a key part of our transition to Net Zero. This is the challenge of our lifetime and the more people who engage in this conversation and our consultations, the better our offer will become.”