A new project aims to encourage people to get on their bikes.
The South of Scotland Cycling Strategy aims to see bikes becoming the transport mode of choice for short journeys over the next decade.
The policy, a joint effort between Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders Councils, as well as a number of other partners including South of Scotland Enterprise, was endorsed by the local authority’s communities committee on Thursday.
The UCI World Para-Road Cycling Championships are due to come to the region next year and the council sees it as “a catalyst for meaningful change and progress”.
A report for members revealed the shared vision of the strategy is that, by 2032, communities across the south of Scotland are “shaped around and include all of our people and cycling is the most popular choice for shorter everyday journeys and embedded into the daily fabric of the lives of our residents and experiences of our visitors”.
Leisure, culture and wellbeing manager Lee Seton said the strategy provides an opportunity for the region to be “recognised as Scotland’s leading cycling destination and a world-class cycling destination of excellence”.
If agreed by both councils, the strategy could be officially launched at the Convention of South Scotland’s next meeting in Hawick on September 5.
