People across the Dumfries and Galloway are still benefitting from the ‘sustainable’ projects developed and delivered in response to the challenge from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games to provide a legacy beyond 2014 for everyone. There are more and more opportunities for you to travel smart when you get active.
Young people are thinking about how communities can get more active and travel green. This week the pupils at Lochside primary school are hosting a series of workshops on Tuesday 10th March to consider how to remodel their neighbourhood greenspaces with more local facilities, and more paths to local services and places, and how to reduce the need to travel to more distant sites. Mouswald Primary School pupils are sharing their eco-design ideas with pupils at Lochside primary school using their Eco-Village Model to inspire. Mouswald primary school won the Dr Finalyson Environmental Challenge in 2014 with their Eco-Village designs. One of the Council’s Countryside Rangers, Tom Henry is facilitating the workshops with the pupils, to develop visions of their own future Eco-Community using maps of the area around the school.
During the workshops the children will use the GoSmart Active Travel map for Dumfries to add their local cycle paths and footpaths to their maps.
During the Commonwealth Games year, GoSmart Active Travel guides were published for Kirkcudbright, Dalbeattie and Dumfries. In Spring2015 guides will be published for Stranraer, Annan, Sanquhar, Kirkconnel / Kelloholm and Castle Douglas. You can find all of these guides on-line on the GoSmart web-site and they will be available in hard copy from Council Customer Service Centres, or by contacting [email protected] or telephone 0800 0234 586.
The Guides provide maps of cycle and footpaths bus, car club and car share information. They also show locations of community facilities such as sports centres and pitches, golf courses and parks, community centres and schools, and more. Pick up your map to find your active route to local facilities, join in, get active and travel smart.
Cycle path maps are being tested all over the region this week by the 22 schools who are taking part in the Big Pedal, the UK’s largest inter-school cycling and scooting challenge that inspires pupils, staff and parents to choose two wheels for their journey to school. The competition started Monday 2nd March and will end on Friday 20th March.
This spring, schools in North West Dumfries will be taking part in the National Give Me Cycle Space Campaign. Cycling Scotland started this annual campaign in 2014 as a Commonwealth Games legacy. Give Me Cycle Space aims to create high levels of driver awareness around child cyclists to make the roads around schools more cycle-friendly.
Dumfries and Galloway Council Leader and Chair of Policy and Resources Committee Ronnie Nicholson said;
“The best start in life for our children includes support to be healthy and active. The Legacy from the Commonwealth Games means our children have more of the information and infrastructure to be able to choose sustainable travel to local activities. Many of our schools are making the most of local and national programmes to encourage pupils to think about the best future for their communities.”
