New path officially opened at Peterhead’s Collieburn after community calls

A new path providing improved links for the community has been officially unveiled in Peterhead.

The establishment of the Collieburn path is seen as something of a ‘missing link’ for neighbourhoods accessing the popular Formartine and Buchan Way – or ‘liney’ as it’s better known – and local amenities.

Thanks to a successful £190,000 funding bid made to Transport Scotland’s Active Travel Infrastructure Fund, with additional grant support of £25,000 from the Coastal Communities Buchan Fund, the Aberdeenshire Council project offers a fully accessible route for pedestrians, cyclists and wheelers to enjoy. 

The project supports the wider ambitions of the council’s Local Transport Strategy in delivering off-road opportunities for active travel and improving important community linkages. The new path will form part of the proposed path network to support sustainable access to the community campus, currently under construction. 

While Collieburn is already well used by pedestrians, it remained inaccessible to many people and couldn’t be used all year round since the trodden paths had drainage issues.  

The new sealed-surface path which meanders through the area and benefits from lighting will enable and encourage active journeys to work and to school and has been carefully designed to avoid any impact on existing tree planting.

Lighting and benches have also been installed and enhanced biodiversity opportunities including wildflower seeding will take place later in the year.

Officially opening the new path, Cllr Dianne Beagrie, chair of the council’s Buchan Area Committee, said: “I am delighted to see completion of this project which has been a long-held aspiration in the town. The local community told us it wanted to have this link created and, while it’s taken some time to develop and fund, we’ve now got this fantastic route which will benefit so many people. By connecting to Maggie Black's Trail, our wonderful coastal paths network and the popular Formartine and Buchan Way, this path will open up tremendous opportunities for long distance active travel routes to attract locals and visitors.”

Cllr Alan Turner, chair of the council’s Infrastructure Services Committee, added: “Thanks to the generous funding from both the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund and Coastal Communities Buchan Fund, we’ve been able to create an important new active travel route for residents which will enable people to walk, cycle and wheel between different areas of Peterhead and access services. I hope it proves popular with people of all ages and that it will inspire communities to seek similar improvements across Aberdeenshire.”