A new community footpath for the Bangor area has been officially opened as part of a Gwynedd Council campaign to give people more travel choices.
The new pathway connects Lôn y Bryn to Penrhos Road and Penrhos Avenue in the city and is aimed at encouraging more people to make the green decision to leave their cars at home and travel on foot.
The work to create the new path was carried out by Gwynedd Council’s Rights of Way Unit and forms part of the city’s rights of way network, providing a safe and environmentally sustainable method of travelling for local residents.
The project has been part-funded by the Welsh Government’s Rights of Way Improvement Plan grant administered by the Countryside Council for Wales; the Môn a Menai Sustainable Transport Town grant and a road safety grant.
Councillor Gareth Roberts, Gwynedd Council’s Senior Environment Portfolio Leader, said:
“I am delighted with the work that has been carried out at Bangor – this route is yet another essential link in the network of pathways the Council is helping to develop across the county.
“I would urge more people to consider leaving the car at home and use pathways like this to get out and about – be it if they are walking to school or college, travelling to work or discovering Gwynedd’s beautiful nature and landscape. The new path is also accessible to wheelchair users and to parents pushing buggies and prams.
“Walking is a much healthier and cheaper way of travelling, and I believe that many people would prefer to walk a path like this which is set away from heavy traffic. I am optimistic that investments such as this will encourage people to choose a more environmentally friendly way of travelling, such as walking or cycling, which can cut down on congestion and carbon emissions.”
The Council worked with the Arfon-Dwyfor Local Access Forum during the planning and construction of the path. The ribbon for the new path was cut by the group’s chairman, Vincent Mears.
He said: “I am very pleased to be able to open this new section of public footpath at a time of severe fiscal constraints for local authorities.
“This event represents the culmination of many months of hard work by the Gwynedd Council Rights of Way Team to bring different groups of people together, to solve legal difficulties and to draw the funding from the Welsh Government’s Rights of Way Improvement Plan scheme, their Safe Routes to School scheme and from the Mon Menai Sustainable Transport Project.
“They should be commended for producing such a good result for the community despite cuts to their staff and maintenance budgets.”
As part of the event, members of the Local Access Forum visited the Tregarth area to see the work which is part of an ambitious community scheme trying to extend the Lôn Las Ogwen path on to Bethesda.
The initial part of the scheme has now been completed and this was an opportunity for forum members to see the hard work of the project which has been led by a local partnership including community councils, various external agencies and Gwynedd Council bearing fruit. This part of the path is now open for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. There is some work to do with the second phase of the project and discussions are ongoing between the steering group and local landowners.
