Pembrokeshire County Council has received a £1.2 million Active Travel grant from the Welsh Government.

The grant will be used to develop new traffic-free paths, improve existing routes and create better connections between networks.

Cabinet Member for Infrastructure Councillor Phil Baker welcomed the funding, he said: “The County Council Active Travel Team have once again been successful in securing funding from Welsh Government to extend our active travel routes. I look forward to working with local members, communities and user groups to deliver these improvements.”

The £1.2m grant has been allocated to developing the Narberth to Haverfordwest multi-user route, the Saundersfoot and Tenby Active Travel package of schemes and other work.

The £448,000 funding for the Narberth to Haverfordwest multi-user route will be used to create a traffic-free section between Blackpool Mill and Slebech Park which will be part of a 17km route running from Narberth to Haverfordwest.

Wherever possible, the multiuser route will be accessible to walkers, cyclists, people with impaired mobility and equestrians. The rest of the route will be on quiet lanes following highways, tracks, bridleways and footpaths.

The £495,000 Saundersfoot and Tenby package of active travel schemes will include preliminary design work and assessment on a new shared use path and tunnel between the Salterns Car Park and South Beach, Tenby, a new shared use path from Twy Cross Roundabout to Park House on the A478 from Tenby to Saundersfoot, to include improved crossing facilities. It will also include widening and resurfacing the Stammers Lane to Swallowdale footpath, Saundersfoot and connecting the residential estate with the bus stop on the B4316, as well as improvements to the link between Rushy Lake and Scandinavia Heights connecting with the Plantation, Saundersfoot – including a new crossing point and some resurfacing and widening.

The Active Travel core allocation of £260,000 will go towards improving existing routes in Haverfordwest, Narberth, Tenby, Milford Haven, Fishguard and Goodwick, Neyland and St Dogmaels, and plugging gaps in the networks.

Funding will also be used to audit the County’s active travel areas (Fishguard and Goodwick, Narberth, Johnston, Neyland, Pembroke Dock and St Dogmaels), with the aim of improving the connections within and between the communities.