Council wants to drop Kennacraig bike link from funding proposal

A proposed ‘active travel’ route linking Tarbert with Kennacraig should be removed from a council bid for UK Government funding, according to authority officials, writes Megan Day.

The off-road alternative to the A83 trunk road, linking the centre of Tarbert village with the ferry terminal for Islay, had been put before Argyll and Bute Council at a recent seminar as part of the proposed bid to the Levelling Up Fund. However, council officials now believe that land negotiations mean the project will not be able to meet deadlines for bids to the fund. A project to deliver a cycle path between Helensburgh and Dumbarton is also recommended for removal from the bid.

Executive director Kirsty Flanagan said in the report: ‘Officers have looked at the design of the route and land ownership permissions, and have concluded that this element will not be deliverable within the UK Government’s timescales as set out in their guidance.’

A final report on the bid to the Levelling Up Fund will go before the full council at its final meeting before summer recess on Thursday June 30.