Residents of an ‘island’ village at the heart of West Lothian are appealing for a footpath to connect them with vital services in nearby areas.
Villagers in Stoneyburn have said they feel like they are living on an island, with the only path they can walk or cycle in safety taking them in a circle around the village.
And despite active work by community groups and the local community council villagers are still finding it difficult to find a safe walking route out of the village.
That’s become more important in the last three years since the closure of the GP surgery.
Now the community Council has renewed its appeal to West Lothian Council for help.
John Stirling from the community Council told a meeting of the West Lothian’s Executive: “We’re an island village. We don’t have a safe path to connect us to Longridge or Fauldhouse.
“The partnership at Fauldhouse has served as the GP surgery for the village since ours closed but there’s no safe path to walk or cycle there.”
Answering questions from Councillor Chris Horne when the petition was presented to the Executive, Mr Stirling said that the main road was busy and a 60mph route to walk the two miles between Longridge and Stoneyburn.
The pavement-less road also has heavily overgrown verges which are not easy to walk along. In the summer heavy tree cover in places also makes the road unsafe for walking.
Mr Stirling said the benefits of walking and cycling were well recognised not only for physical but also mental health.
He paid tribute to the work already done by council officers and outside agencies in trying to develop the path network around the village and connect it onwards.
A footpath to Longridge would give villagers walking access to major bus routes into Whitburn and beyond, although the village itself is served by a bus service.
“The council teams have done an awful lot of work but we just seem to keep running into barriers. We would be happy at whatever the committee could do to help us,” Mr Stirling told the meeting.
Chairing the meeting, Councillor Leader Lawrence Fitzpatrick referred the petition and pathway plea to the Development and Transport policy Development and Scrutiny Panel for further discussion.
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