Active Annandale
During 2018 and 2019 public consultations were held in the Annan area to find out what the local community felt about their town centre. One of the themes to emerge was about how to get around the area and active travel.
Getting Annan Active
As result of these consultations, Dumfries and Galloway Council submitted applications to Places for Everyone, an active travel infrastructure programme funded by the Scottish Government and administered by Sustrans Scotland.
Our council was successful in securing funding in March 2023 through Sustrans Places for Everyone fund. This has enabled us to explore how active travel can be incorporated into Annan town centre and how Gretna, Eastriggs, Annan and Powfoot can be linked to encourage more people to walk, wheel and cycle in Annandale.
The aim for Annan town centre is to encourage more people to walk, wheel and cycle for their everyday journeys, making car parking less dominant and more effective. The priorities include creating a walking, wheeling and cycling network and the improvement of the high street pedestrian experience.
The Village Links project will link Annan, Eastriggs, Gretna and Powfoot through connecting existing cycle paths. There are also several core paths in the area which are used for walking, wheeling and cycling. Travel for everyday journeys can be made safer by connecting these core paths with new paths and upgrading some of the existing paths.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Plan of Work Concept (Stages 0-2) is about broadly defining the scope of a project and its desired outcomes. Partners involved in the process carry out initial engagement with stakeholders and outline the total expected costs. This stage is now complete for both Annan Town Centre and Village Links.
Applications have been submitted to Sustrans for Stages 3 and 4 for funding to develop the design for one route identified in the concept design, which was Route G for Annan Town Centre and Village Links. The Design (Stages 3-4) involves carrying out developed and technical tasks to make a project workable. Partners use funding at these stages to clearly define their interventions, test implementations and undertake significant community engagement.
It is anticipated that a decision on funding will be made by Sustrans in the summer.
