Following extensive engagement with communities and stakeholders, the county’s Active Travel Network Maps (ATNM) have now been officially approved by Welsh Government.
The maps, which show current active travel routes and details of aspirational future routes within the county’s 11 designated active travel localities (as defined by Welsh Government), can be viewed on the Welsh Government hosted DataMapWales site here: https://datamap.gov.wales/maps/active-travel-network-maps
“The Active Travel (Wales) Act 2013 aims to make Wales a walking and cycling nation.” explains Cllr Jackie Charlton, Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys.
“Essentially, this means that we are endeavouring to make it possible for us to all make short journeys such as our commute to work, school or local shops, by physically active means, like walking or cycling.
“Not only does active travel have huge health and wellbeing advantages to us all, but by prioritising walking and cycling, rather than using the car, for short, local journeys we are also helping combat the current climate emergency. Less reliance on our cars will go a long way in helping us achieve our ambition to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2030.
“Welsh Government have made it clear that walking and cycling must be the natural mode of choice for short everyday journeys, or as part of a longer journey in combination with other sustainable modes, and the continued investment into practical active travel routes within Powys will help us achieve this vision.
“Developed with the help of local communities, these newly published ATNM show areas across Powys which could be improved to enable more people to walk or cycle for short journeys. These improvements could be as simple as providing a safe place leave your bike while you pop to the shops, adding a road crossing to allow pupils to safely walk to school, or widening and improving pavements to make walking to town with the children and a pushchair easer.
“Whether big ideas or small suggestions, we are grateful for everyone’s feedback and input into creating these maps, all of which been vitally important in creating the community’s vision of future active travel networks throughout the county.”
