Community consultations carried out by Our Community Local Place Plan consultations showed footpaths and cycle routes to be rated of high importance to local residents – for several reasons, including safer local travel, leisure, health and as an attraction to visitors. 

The Footpaths Group decided to carry out a survey to elicit the views of locals. By carrying out the survey (both on-line and paper copies left in local business premises) in the winter period Dec 2024/Jan 2025, we ensured it was mostly locals rather than visitors who responded. There were 197 responses. Details of the survey questions and the resulting responses are at https://www.coveandkilcreggancommunity.com/s/Footpath_survey_results.pdf.

The survey demonstrated a clear need for more and better footpaths with access around the coast being a priority choice (over 65% marked this as 8 out of 10 or higher). Also interestingly, the top-ranked area for improvement was for better surfacing and drainage, indicative of the poor state of our existing paths.