Stenness and World Heritage Site Active Travel Public Consultation

Orkney Islands Council is to develop an Active Travel Plan for Stenness and the adjacent World Heritage Site area.

Active travel means making journeys by physically active means, like walking or cycling. These are usually short journeys, like walking to a shop or other community facility, walking the kids to school or cycling to work.

A public consultation drop-in event is being held this month aimed at understanding if, and how, local people currently use active travel methods in the area and what facilities could be developed in future to help them do this more often.

There will be the opportunity to meet the consultants developing the Active Travel Plan, and to contribute to the consultation process. The team are particularly interested in hearing from people who live and work in Stenness and the surrounding area, but all are welcome.

You can also complete an online questionnaire at this link.

The public consultation drop-in event is being held on Thursday 25th April from 14.30-19.30 at Stenness Community Centre.

In Scotland, 30% of households do not own a car and, even in car owning households, not all individuals have access to one. This can act as a barrier to accessing services and work. Making services easily accessible on foot and by bicycle helps reduce inequalities and create a more inclusive society.

Councillor Graham Sinclair is Chair of the Council’s Development and Infrastructure Committee. He said: “The Development and Infrastructure Committee recently approved a World Heritage Site Masterplan document in partnership with Historic Environment Scotland and also agreed to undertake a feasibility study to look at active and sustainable travel options in the World Heritage Site.  This consultation will kickstart some of that work and it’s an important opportunity for the local community to get involved.

“By investing in walking and cycling we can not only stimulate local economic development in our rural areas but also support positive benefits for public health and wellbeing. Active travel is an important means of building physical activity into our daily routines, also improving air quality and mental health – and this plan is the first step towards that.”