Community Councils meet Sustrans on Caledonian Way

On Tuesday 15th June, Appin, Ardchattan and Connel Community Councils are meeting Sustrans, the UK’s main sustainable transport charity.

The focus of the meeting is The Caledonian Way – the cycle, walking and horse riding path from Oban to Fort William, running through this beautiful and historic area. This is part of the National Cycle Network which, in Scotland, already consists of 1,800 miles of completed track, with more still to be added.

Discussion at the meeting  will centre on the ongoing cycle track work within the respective parishes.

The main points of interest will be installation of signage and interpretation points along the way – and updates on the next stages of the track.

The opened sections of the track are already proving very popular with visitors. These include traffic-free sections of special attraction to families, young cyclists and new or less confident cyclists.

At the moment, the route is something of a hopscotch, with open sections separated by others to be built in 2010 or as yet to be successfully negotiated wit landowners.

Some of the completed sections are so small as not to be worth using until adjoining sections are open. For example there is half a mile opened at Oban Airport and less than half a mile opened at Benderloch. The sections still to be built in 2010 will make almost no difference to this situation.

Sustrans hopes that negotiations with landowners on several extensive sections will be successful and are aiming for the Caledonian Way to be completed by 2014.

The most substantial sections open in the area at the moment are a 4 mile section from Ganavan, north of Oban, to Dunbeg; a 4 mile section  from the Sea Life Centre to Creagan; and a 3 mile section from Kentallen to South Ballachulish.

Sections to be built in 2010 are a 1.4 mile track from Benderloch to Barcaldine Castle; and a 3 mile track from Ballachulish to Glencoe village.

Anyone in the area with an interest in the project is invited to attend and should approach their specific local community council for further details:

• Appin: appin@silkowski.freeserve.co.uk
• Ardchattan: farm@kintaline.co.uk
• Connel: connelcc@tiscali.co.uk