Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

BUDGET: Green light for plan to ‘reunite’ divided Arbroath with cycle paths

An artist's impression of proposed improvement work on the A92 near the harbour.
An artist's impression of proposed improvement work on the A92 near the harbour.

A controversial plan to spend millions of pounds building cycling and walking paths in Arbroath has been given the go-ahead by councillors.

The local authority will invest at least £3m in a scheme that its proponents argue will “reunite” two sides of the town divided by the A92 – but has been attacked for its potential to create dangerous delays for emergency service workers.

Residents have also questioned the value for money in the overall £13m scheme at a time when the council is looking to cut spending.

The funding comes from the council’s capital budget, which is separate from the pot that pays for day-to-day spending.

The project also comes after the council won almost £7m in external funding for the plan from the Scottish Government and active travel groups.

Councillor Bill Duff, SNP deputy, said he was “uneasy” about the plans.

Councillor Lynne Devine, SNP group leader, added councillors had unable to fully debate the investment due to the way officials had presented it to them.

She said: “This is a lot of money for Arbroath, but in the wider scheme of things it is a lot of money for Angus. We need far more information.”

Councillor David Cheape, Independent, said: “There never seems to be an end to the money spent on Arbroath.”

He said Carnoustie continued to be the “forgotten borough” in Angus.

“There is little or nothing to benefit Carnoustie in the council plan.

“It is absolutely shocking. It goes to show that you have to be in this administration if you want to get something done for your town.”

He proposed an ultimately unsuccessful amendment to restore a waste dump facility in South Angus and to remove parking charges across the whole county.

Other key investments approved during the special meeting in Forfar’s Town and County Hall on Thursday included measures to boost economic growth, help vulnerable groups and tackle litter and fly-tipping.

Montrose won extra funding for improved road and rail links and a business park while £600,000 was set aside for apprenticeships across the county.

Two “rapid response teams” were approved to tackle fly-tipping, dog fouling and littering at a cost of £100,000.

Additional funding put a successful scheme to tackle holiday hunger on a more permanent footing and the Glen Clova project – which helps mothers and children in difficult circumstances – won £640,000 to continue its work.