Footpath group wins funding

A GROUP set up to develop footpaths and cycle paths in Tingwall, Whiteness and Weisdale has been awarded £6,000 of funding to undertake a study.

The funding for Win Furt comes from Shetland Charitable Trust and the Shetland Community Benefit Fund (SCBF).

The money is to fund a study of potential walkability and cyclability improvements in the area.

The new group recently held two public sessions to offer the community a chance to put forward ideas.

Win Furt treasurer Paul Mullay said: “We know that people in the area want to be able to walk and cycle more safely but there are a lot of hoops that we have to jump through to get there, particularly if we are to get big funders such as Sustrans involved.

“One of those steps is that we need to do an assessment of existing walking and cycling issues and potential improvements and the money from the Charitable Trust and the SCBF will allow us to do that. 

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“The work should take place in March and after that we need to talk to the landowners.

“Once that has happened, we can put forward some options for a decision by the community later in the year about what they would like us to tackle.”

Mullay said the public launch sessions were “really useful and generated a lot of interest”.

“Our local roads aren’t safe for walkers and cyclists and people really want to see something done about it,” he added.

“As a community group we want local people to be involved as much as possible and it was great to see so many people there.”