Active Travel hubs in Ayr and Kilmarnock are under threat of ‘enforced termination’ after the Scottish Government cut funding used to employ hub staff.
Kevin Braidwood, head of Ayrshire Roads Alliance, relayed his concerns to councillors at the Ayrshire Shared Services Committee on Friday.
In his report, he stated: “Ayrshire Roads Alliance issued a briefing to all Elected Members in both East and South Ayrshire detailing our concerns and ability to continue to operate the Active Travel Hubs in Ayr and Kilmarnock.
“This follows a cut in Smarter Choices, Smarter Places (SCSP) funding received by Sustrans with officers placed on redundancy notice.
“Ayrshire Roads Alliance continues to explore all available options to prevent the enforced termination of our Active Travel Hub projects.”
The Active Travel Hubs in Kilmarnock and Ayr are central to the Active Travel work being carried out in each authority.
In a bid to improve health and wellbeing and reduce their carbon footprint, both authorities are looking at developing infrastructure, such as the Infinity Loop in Kilmarnock, while actively encouraging residents to change their travel habits.
The plans focus on safety, leisure and tourism, connectivity, workplaces and schools and cover the next decade.
South Ayrshire Councillor Bob Pollock said: “I would like to pick up on the point about the loss of staff from Active Travel.
“I have certainly got real concerns about that.
“We have got an active travel forum in process of being developed in South Ayrshire and probably half of the discussion of last meeting was about influencing changes in behaviour to make the Active Travel strategy effective.
“It is great having infrastructure, but we have to convince, particularly young people, to start using it and address the concerns of the ‘Nimbys’ who say ‘we don’t want active travel’."
He said that there had been some success stories, particularly with work in schools, and encouraged efforts to find funding from the Scottish Government or other agencies.
Mr Braidwood said: “There is a meeting with Sustrans next week. We are looking at how we can do this.
“Do we absorb a couple of the staff into Ayrshire Roads Alliance? Do we use other funding options that we have got available to us?
“We are actively looking at that and hope we can come up with some kind of solution.”
The Ayrshire Active Travel Hub website states: “Active Travel Hubs provide community groups and local business with support and information to help make our communities healthier by changing travel habits and encouraging people to become more active.
“These events include family fun days, family-led walk and rides, bike maintenance sessions and women-only rides.”
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