Purpose of consultation

Purpose of the consultation

This stage in the process of preparing the Core Paths Plan, and the accompanying Draft Environmental Report, is to engage with interested parties and to give them the opportunity to comment. A consultation period of eight weeks will be allowed for comment on both the Candidate Core Paths Plan and the draft Environmental Report. This consultation period will start on 14th April and close on 6th June 2008.

Details of consultation on the Draft Environmental Report are contained within Section 6 of that report.

As mentioned above an early round of consultation is being undertaken on the Candidate Core Paths Plan. We are seeking comment on the Candidate Core Paths Plan and want to hear from everyone with an interest in access to the outdoors and land management.

The Candidate Core Paths Plans

Accompanying this Written Statement are two A1 size plans, identifying the routes of the proposed core paths, the first plan is at a scale of 1:30,000 and covers the entire authority area. The second plan is at a scale of 1:12,500 and focuses on the urban areas of East Renfrewshire.

There are 18 candidate core paths detailed on the plans which are numbered from 01 through to18. The route of a candidate core path is detailed with either a broken or dotted purple line. A broken purple line means that the path is existing. A dotted purple line means that the path route is aspirational and will need to be constructed to complete the core path network. Candidate core paths occur on both land and water.

The 18 candidate core paths have a total length of 121.5 kilometres (75.5 miles). A significant length of the network (30%) is comprised of public rights of way, where access rights are long established. The majority of the network (80%) is on existing, well established paths including rights of way, public roads and cycle lanes.

The two plans also show other existing rights of way (in pink) and other existing off road paths (in fawn) as background information. This background information shows how other path routes link into the candidate core path network. It is expected that core path users will access the core path network via adjacent roads, pavements, paths and rights of way.

Each of the individual candidate core paths is made up of differing components consisting of a wide variety of surface types including public roads and pavements, cycle lanes, off-road surfaced paths and off-road routes consisting of natural surfacing. Each of these distinct components has an alphabetic reference letter. The surfacing of each component is colour coded on each of the plans for ease of reference. The following colours are used on the plans:

        Minor public road, pavement or cycle lane

        Off road path with a man made surface

        Off road route with a natural surface

        Route on water

This system of labelling means that each path and each component of the path has a unique reference number. An example reference number is as follows:

       CCP01a - where

  • CCP = Candidate Core Path

  • 01  = Path number

  • ‘a’  = Path component

Each component of a core path will have; a unique reference number, a broken or dotted purple line indicating whither the path section is existing or to be constructed and a background colour indicating the path surface.

Candidate Core Paths

The 18 core path routes are titled as follows:

  • CCP01 – Merrylee to Floak Bridge

  • CCP02 – Clarkston to Loganswell

  • CCP03 – Netherlee to Eaglesham

  • CCP04 – Eaglesham to Soame Bridge

  • CCP05 – Eaglesham to Crook Hill

  • CCP06 – Crossmill to Caldwell House

  • CCP07 – Queenseat Hill to Crook Hill

  • CCP08 – Eaglesham to Loganswell

  • CCP09 – Greenhaggs to Uplawmoor

  • CCP10 – Whitecraigs to Flenders Farm

  • CCP11 – Auchenback to Ayr Road

  • CCP12 – Balgray Reservoir to Craigton

  • CCP13 – Craigton to Neilston

  • CCP14 – Neilston to Neilstonside Bridge

  • CCP15 – Ryatt Linn Reservoir

  • CCP16 – Balgray Reservoir

  • CCP17 – Waulkmill Glen Reservoir

  • CCP18 – Lochgoin Reservoir

How to comment on the Candidate Core Paths Plan

A comment sheet is included within this pack to enable you to comment on each of the candidate core paths or individual components of each path. We are seeking your views and comments on the following:

  • Do you approve of the candidate paths selected?

  • Do you agree that the candidate paths are sufficient for facilitating access throughout East Renfrewshire?

  • Do you feel that the 10 key selection criteria, detailed on page 4, are appropriate?

  • Are there other paths that you would like to see included in the plan?

  • Are there specific paths that you would like to see removed from the plan?

  • Are there any existing routes that you would like to see amended?

  • Your general comments in support of path routes or the overall network.

Information on how to access consultation forms and submit them are given below:

Request a hard copy of the consultation form from the Council’s Outdoor Access Officer  by telephone on 0141 577 3882 or by email at or by post at:

Outdoor Access Officer
East Renfrewshire Council
Roads Planning and Transportation
2 Spiersbridge Way
Spiersbridge Business Park
Thornliebank
East Renfrewshire
G46 8NG

The consultation form can be used for submitting comments on the Candidate Core Paths Plan and the draft Environmental Report.

Please contact the Outdoor Access Officer if you have any difficulties.

Consultation feedback and reporting

All comments received will be acknowledged. A database will be set up to record all responses and this database will be used to produce a report summarising comments and responses received. Personal details will not be used when publishing any documents or reports. A series of reference numbers will be used in lieu of personal details i.e. LM001 (Land Manager one), CG001 (Community Group one), PI001 (Private Individual one) etc. The consultation report will be mailed to all respondents and made freely available to the public and interested parties.  

Please be aware that East Renfrewshire Council is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and is required to provide information when requested. However, information provided, in response to such requests, will be released on an anonymous basis.

What happens next?

The comments received will guide the production of a Draft Core Paths Plan. The Draft Core Paths Plan is subject to statutory procedures, including a formal 12 week consultation period during which formal objections are invited. It is expected that this consultation period will take place later this year. Thereafter the Council will proceed towards the adoption of the Core Paths Plan.

The diagram contained within Table 1 at the end of this report illustrates the process to be followed in preparing the Core Paths Plan and the accompanying SEA. It outlines the key stages in the dual processes.