School paths project lands �500k

Children will be able to walk to school in safety

Two safe school routes for children are to be built after a grant of �530,000 was awarded to a council.

The paths, which will also cater for cyclists and people with disabilities, are to be built in Forden, near Welshpool and in Ystradgynlais.

Powys Council has received the money from the Welsh Assembly Government to fund the two safe routes and work is expected to start soon.

A council spokesman said it was "excellent news for the county".

Thomas Addey, who has worked on the Ystradgynlais footpath bid, said it had been a community-led project.

"This project has been in the pipeline for 10 years, but we've never had the funding to follow it through.

'Cycling projects'

"It will open and link the communities in and around Ystradgynlais. The route will also join with the national cycle route," he added.

A spokesman for Powys Council said: "This is excellent news for the county.

"The allocation will fully fund these two important walking and cycling projects and builds on the important work already undertaken in other parts of Powys."

Last year the council received a �400,000 grant towards three safe routes to school schemes.

Local authorities in Wales bid annually for money from the assembly government for community transport schemes.

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