What was once an overgrown area in Raploch, Stirling used informally by a few people has now been transformed into a wide, surfaced path that provides an important safe walking and cycling link between the Millennium Way and the Castle Business Park as well as completing a route through to Drip Road.

The community recognised the value of this link and campaigned to have the path upgraded. At the start of 2010 the Raploch Urban Regeneration Company (Raploch URC) decided to tackle the project and approached the Tayside and Central Scotland Transport Partnership (Tactran) for funding.

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Eric Guthrie, Director of Tactran said: “We were delighted to be able to work with the local community and provide the funding to make this facility a reality, directly helping to improve Raploch community’s walking and cycling opportunities.

"Promoting active and more sustainable modes of travel for their environmental and personal health benefits, particularly for shorter trips, is a key aim of our Regional Transport Strategy and this project fits very well with these objectives”

Raploch URC’s Head of Physical Built Environment Kevin Braidwood worked in partnership with Stirling Council’s Roads Improvement and Development Team on the design of the path. They also worked with both Community Enterprise trainees and Future Jobs funded employees to put the path in on the ground.

The path work they undertook allowed the trainees to practice and improve skills they had been working on as part of their training.

“The completion of this work is a major achievement and the workers should all be proud of the path they’ve created,” said Nicole DeBrincat, Raploch Community Enterprise Manager.

(GK)