Forestry Commission - News - green light for safer route to school

Planning chiefs have approved plans to develop family mountain bike trails at Wolftrax, near Laggan Bridge in Inverness-shire.

The Cairngorms National Park Board has approved plans by Forestry Commission Scotland and the Laggan Forest Trust, which include a green-graded, utility bike-to-school route. Funding for the route has been boosted by a Ł94,000 grant from Sustrans through the Scottish Executive's ‘Tackling the School Run’ grant scheme.

The Commission and the trust are prioritising the development of this utility route, which will be used by families and school children walking or cycling between Achduchil and Gergarsk Primary School in Laggan Bridge. The path will be about two metres wide and two kilometres (1.2 miles) long, and is being constructed to allow ponies to travel on a separate running surface.

Jack Mackay, the Commission's Inverness district forester, said:

"We're delighted that the park board has approved the plans, because it means we can start to diversify Wolftrax into a more family-orientated centre.

"Our priority is to work on this green-graded utility route, which will be suitable for families and will also be pram-friendly for families with children that are too young to ride the trails. There will also be a separate running surface for ponies as part of the plan to create a circular route around the existing Laggan Wolftrax facility, which will be used by the Haflinger Pony Trekking Centre.

"We hope that work on the expansion of the Laggan Wolftrax facility will begin early in 2007. We are also grateful to Sustrans for seeing the merits in the Achduchil to Gorstean link path, and awarding the project such a generous amount of cash."

Other features that will take priority during 2007 will be the completion of a trailhead ‘gateway’ feature at Laggan Wolftrax, which will provide mountain bikers with the chance to test their skills before choosing which trail to ride, and which will direct them towards local facilities. The Commission and the trust will also look at ways to market the trails, including putting up directional signs on the A9 in January.

Also approved at the planning meeting were: a new 2km blue-graded route from the top of the existing blue-graded fun park, aimed at families and beginners; a skills loops for all cyclists to improve their skill; and a 2.2km extension of the red-graded singletrack descent.

It is likely that a charge for car parking will be introduced in 2007, with the money raised from back into maintaining the trails.

The results of an independent evaluation study have also been delivered in draft form, revealing that about 16,000 visitors a year use the facilities at Wolftrax, bringing around Ł280,000 to the local economy.

The Laggan Wolftrax trails are part of a cluster of challenging mountain biking routes in national forests in northern Scotland to complement the famous 7Stanes cluster across the south of the country. Other trails in the area include Learnie Red Rocks and the Wildcat trails in Golspie.

For more information on Forestry Commission Scotland's mountain bike trails visit www.forestry.gov.uk/mtbscotland.

Notes to editors:

The Laggan Forest Trust and the Laggan Forest Trust Forestry Company have their routes in the local community, and jointly manage the forests of Strathmashie in a formal, 25-year partnership agreement with Forestry Commission Scotland. The partnership is an example of a range of methods by which the Scottish Executive encourages community involvement in the management of local forests to provide the full range of potential benefits from them.
Forestry Commission Scotland serves as the Scottish Executive's forestry department. It manages 668,000 hectares of national forest land for multiple benefits, including nature conservation, public recreation, timber production, and rural and community development; supports other woodland owners with grants, felling licences, advice and regulation; promotes the benefits of forests and forestry; and advises Ministers on forestry policy. For further information, visit www.forestry.gov.uk/scotland

Media enquiries to:

Claire Martin, Forestry Commission Scotland press office, tel: 0131 3146506 or 07810 853508;
Jack Mackay, Inverness Forest District, tel: 01463 791575.