Leisure

East Ayrshire Core Path Plan

In February 2005 the Land Reform Scotland Act (2003) was enacted, putting several powers and duties on East Ayrshire Council to enable them to maintain responsible use of the outdoors, both land and inland water. These include the duty to produce a Core Path Plan that will meet the needs of the community, providing a framework of routes sufficient for the purpose of giving reasonable access throughout the area.

The consultation period for the Core Path Plan is open for 12 weeks between 14 July 2008 and 6 October 2008. You can make a representation or objection on the Draft East Ayrshire Core Path Plan as a whole or on parts of it.

A representation can;

• Welcome and support particular routes, or the plan as a whole
• Suggest any minor changes in a path route or point out any errors you have spotted
• or let us know your concerns and problems with the Plan

You can make suggestions or comments on individual routes or any other aspects of the Plan.

An objection can be made when you feel very strongly about an issue in the plan or a particular core path route. You should state the full reasons for your objection and the change you are seeking in the core path plan.

Running alongside the consultation on the Core Path Plan, we are also looking for people to have their say on the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) - Environmental Report. These comments can relate to any aspect of the Report.

Freedom of Information & Data Protection

Please note your comments will be available to the public and may form part of future committee reports. Remember if you make an objection to the Draft Core Paths Plan you may need to take part in a public inquiry if your objection cannot be resolved any other way. All respondents should be aware that East Ayrshire Council are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act for information relating to responses made to this consultation. For further information go to  http://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/corpres/Admin/freedom.asp.  All information is held by East Ayrshire Council in accordance with its registered entry under the Data Protection Act 1998. For independent advice about data protection go to the UK Information Commissioner's website at www.ico.gov.uk

 Everyone who makes representations and objections on the Draft Core Paths Plan and comments on the SEA Environmental Report will receive an acknowledgement during the 3 month consultation period.