Concern at idea of volunteers looking after cycle path
COUNCIL chiefs will either have to find more funding or will need to mobilise community support to look after the planned Helensburgh to Dumbarton cycle path, an official has confirmed.
But a representative of Helensburgh Community Council has warned it is “very unlikely” the group would want to take on the role alongside its other environmental projects in town.
An update on the process of planning the path went before councillors at a meeting, with questions being asked over a proposal for volunteer groups to help maintain it.
The meeting of Argyll and Bute Council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee took place on Tuesday, March 12.
The cycle path is not currently expected to be complete until 2030 - some 30 years since it was first green-lit by the then Scottish Executive.
Earlier on in the meeting, Sarah Davies of Helensburgh Community Council had said: “The community council is very happy to maintain the beach and [Colquhoun] Square, but it is very unlikely we would want to take on the responsibility that is in the paper you will be voting on today.”
During discussion of the item, Councillor Fiona Howard (Labour, Helensburgh Central) said: “My concern is about the volunteer aspect of maintaining the track. It is a dangerous thing for volunteers to do if anything is not being maintained correctly.”
Colin Young, the council’s strategic transportation manager, responded: “There are a number of locations where community groups undertake the maintenance of routes and paths, including areas of Argyll and Bute.
“That seems to be quite successful, if there is a commitment for group members who wish to do so.
“We do not have any external funding provided for maintenance, so if there were no volunteers, the council would have to find funding.
“Vegetation cutback is not difficult. If you can maintain your garden against it, you can maintain the path against it.
“We have heard from individuals and an action group in Cardross on how they can support the project being taken forward, but if anybody has other ideas, I am very happy to be part of that discussion.
“The one service within the council that has the technical ability to do that would be roads and infrastructure services, but they have previously intimated they do not wish to be given sole responsibility for things such as cycle paths.”
Councillor Howard then said: “I can get that groups might pick up
litter and cut hedges, which are not risky things, but I would have thought that resurfacing a path is risky for amateurs to attempt. Would they be given full support by officers?”
Mr Young responded: “Things like resurfacing are not suited to the vast majority of community groups, so I am not saying we would like them to take on every aspect of maintenance.
“Resurfacing is required every 25 years or so, so it is not a frequent activity.
“What is important is that it does not get overgrown, and if community groups are interested, there are some elements of vegetation cutback that could be suited to them.”
A report on the project’s progress, prepared ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, revealed that WSP, the design contractors working on the project, are due to finish when their current contract concludes at the end of the week.
But several elements of work remain unfinished, with the likes of ground investigation, drainage design and a flood risk assessment not expected to be complete by then.
The report also says there is a question mark over funding to complete the outstanding design requirements, and a warning that the council may have to fund them itself.
Executive director Kirsty Flanagan said: “While the design work has, to date, been funded by jointly by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) capital programme and Transport Scotland’s PFE (Places for Everyone) programme, the decision to de-fund the SPT Capital Programme in 2024/25 results in the project being fully reliant on securing 2024/25 PFE funding or internal council funding in order to complete the outstanding design requirements.”