New plans for a safer ‘mile a day‘
Plans were unveiled for a new safe pathway around Iochdar at a community consultation event held in Iochdar Hall on 17th May.
Co-hosted by Iochdar Community Council and SUSTRANS, the organisation funding the development work to date, the event set out an ambitious proposal to construct more than 3 miles of new pathway running from Iochdar School to Lovats store.
Iochdar Community Council Vice Chair Morag Ann MacAulay-Steele set out what motivated them to start the work:
“We want to change things so that people of all ages and levels of mobility will have a safe route to follow around Iochdar. Right now, the route is exposed and the verges are narrow with water on both sides of the road. There are tight corners, blind summits, and accidents and near-misses happen all the time.”
“Slighe an Iochdair, shows what Community Councils can aim for if they work together with the community. There hadn’t been a Community Council in Iochdar or years, but in 2016 a group of us got together and started looking at ways we could improve the area. It became clear early on that if we wanted change, we had to effect change ourselves.”
The proposed route will run from the east side of Sgoil an Iochdar playground and follow Bualadubh to the junction with the A865, before heading north along the A865 to end at the junction north of Lovats. A spur section of pathway is also proposed running parallel to Ardmore Road off the A865.
The new route will take the form of an off-road 3m wide shared-use path, with a boardwalk installed along those sections prone to flooding.
The project team expects to be ready to apply for funding in December 2022, with a project start date planned for June 2023.
“It is taking longer than we expected but we’re learning a lot along the way. With the continued support of the community and other stakeholders, we are confident that we can get there in the end.”
Morag added:
“We encourage people to support their Community Councils. Anyone with an idea for improving their community can approach their local Community Council and there’s help there from organisations like UCVO to get ideas off the ground and look at sources of funding.”
