A new route for walking, cycling and wheeling is being considered for residents and visitors north of Perth. The new path will provide better community links whilst allowing users to keep active and healthy. 

£77,000 of Scottish Government funding, through Sustrans’ Places for Everyone programme was secured to begin investigations into an active travel route between Stanley and Luncarty by partners Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust (PKCT) and Stanley Development Trust (SDT).

It has been a long-held ambition of SDT to develop an all-abilities path between Stanley and Luncarty. In 2016, SDT commissioned a report by P4 Projects to look into the options and opportunities in the area, which then led to the development of a new working partnership with PKCT and Cycling Scotland’s Transport Planning and Engineering (TP&E) in 2020. TP&E are a social enterprise design consultancy and industry leader in developing best practice active travel infrastructure.

In September 2020, funding from Sustrans enabled PKCT to commission TP&E to take forward a feasibility study and concept design of two shared-use active travel route options to link the villages of Stanley and Luncarty. The new route will be part of the River Tay Way – a new long-distance active travel route between Perth and Kenmore.

Active travel is an important mode of transport involving physical activity being part of travel from A to B, including walking, cycling, wheeling and horse riding, as examples. It is great for our physical and mental health plus wellbeing. It also assists in managing the environment by reducing carbon emissions created by everyday journeys in cars.

The proposed active travel route between Stanley and Luncarty will be a new, sealed surface, off road path designed for daily use by everyone on foot, wheels or horseback. The completed path will be used for commuting and leisure, thus helping users to gain a better level of fitness and an improved sense of wellbeing while travelling through a beautiful part of Perthshire. It will also be great for tourism and the local economy by directly linking the settlements to each other and further path networks, towns and cycle routes in the area.

For more information about the project, check out:

• the project newsletter for the latest news
• community consultation route options and results to learn how the project has developed
• five core principles of cycle route design that are helping shape the concept designs