Speyside Way near Craigellachie

Most of the Speyside Way, which runs from Aviemore and Ballindalloch to Spey Bay, is in Moray. However part of the Aviemore branch, which opened in 2000, is located within Highland Council’s jurisdiction.

The National Park have offered to pay 70% of maintenance costs if Highland Council funds the remainder and takes over responsibility for the route. The Council is arguing that it is not legally obliged to manage it and does not have the staff to do so.

Highland Council currently has an agreement with Moray Council to contribute about £7,000 towards the maintenance of the 30-mile Ballindalloch to Aviemore stretch each year.

In the current financial year the National Park is expected to contribute £69,000 to the upkeep of the route, with some fencing needing to be replaced and stiles and other barriers removed to assist cyclists. The National Park is expected to argue that legal responsibility for the route lies with the relevant local authority. The issue is to be discussed at a Highland Council planning meeting later this week.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 1:14 pm and is filed under Access issues, Walking News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.