Colliston Paths Design Project
Client
Aberdeenshire Council
Sector
Active Travel / Placemaking / Behaviour Change
Location
Collieston, Aberdeen
Planning Authority
Aberdeenshire Council
Services Provided
Study Description
Appointed through our contract service framework, we provided contract lead appointed by Aberdeenshire Council through UKSIP funding to support The Collieston group develop a design solution to improve a short, steep and narrow section of hillside path, critical to the local community’s access.
A key ambition of the design was to improve access for walking cycling and wheeling. The existing coastal path is well used by the local community and meanders through the town of Collieston linking to a scenic view point. The topography is challenging with a steep slope limiting the design options. The existing path is narrow a less than 1m wide in paces and a combination of bound and unbound surfacing and experiencing a number of challenges including surface degradation as a result of uncontrolled surface water run-off whilst the Narrow widths limits access by some user groups. The local community group would like to undertake an option feasibility study to benchmark and improve the path making it more suitable for users’ groups. The path should be developed to improve its resilience to the weather and improve all year-round accessibility.
Our Approach
The biggest challenge in undertaking this project was the limited study budget and which required the project to be concluded within 8 weeks. The project had been promoted by the community alongside a number of other projects and no screening assessment had been undertaken to evaluate the projects and determine which could be realistically delivered and to what stage they could be progressed. The management of community expectations was a key challenge as the proposed path design would require planning approval and a host of surveys to provide data essential to the design process. Noting these challenges, we worked with the client to outline the design process and agreed to provide a concept design.
Key Successes
• Working collaboratively with our client and funder to develop a deliverable study brief with measurable outcome
• Mobilised a multi-specialised team to deliver the service within the 8 weeks allocated.
• Undertook site investigation and examined how the route improvement could fit within the existing wider network.
• Produced concept design layouts.
• Working with our sub-contractor Narros [https://www.narroassociates.com/], we developed a deliverable concept layout.