Angus Rural Mobility Hub - Public Consultation
What is a mobility hub and why Brechin, Angus?
Public Consultation Contents:
Why Brechin, Angus?
As a key rural town within Angus, accessed off the A90 and a gateway to the Glens, with a large amount of zoned commercial land close to the A90 grade separated junction, Brechin is ideally located to host the Angus Rural Mobility Hub and showcase the potential to the wider Tay region and Scotland.
There are currently 12,500 vehicles a day using this section of the A90, of which 4,500 are vans, trucks and buses. Furthermore, 3,500 vehicles a day travel on Castle Street, of which 1,100 are vans, trucks & buses. These journeys are vital for people’s lives and the economy, but bring with them significant environmental impact, notably carbon and air quality emissions.
Building on the success of Brechin Business Park as a location for local business, alongside the amenities available at Brechin Castle Centre, and access to the town centre, the location has the potential to make a meaningful impact on decarbonising these transport impacts and enhancing services for local communities.
Artist impressions of the Angus Rural Mobility Hub
What is a mobility hub?
The mobility hub is a relatively new concept which is being used to create space designed specifically to bring together public, shared and active travel modes alongside other facilities such as clean fuel for cars (EV charging) to light and heavy duty vehicles and buses (such as bio Compressed Natural Gas and hydrogen), electric vehicle (EV) charging and consolidating goods for more efficient and sustainable deliveries.
Mobility hubs can take different forms, from large city centre hubs to suburban mini stations and those tailored to rural contexts as proposed for Brechin. The concept is widely applied in many European and North American cities and increasingly spreading in the UK.
Active travel is the term used to cover interchangeable travel, including walking and cycling, but active travel can also include trips made by wheelchair, mobility scooters, adapted cycles, e-cycles, scooters, as well as cycle sharing schemes.
Our emerging thinking on a mobility hub at Brechin
Example of the core uses of a mobility hub
Source: CoMoUK Community Mobility Hub Accreditation – Setting Quality Standards Dec 2022
Funding partners
Angus Council and Dalhousie Estates have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, entering into an agreement to work together to develop a clean growth business park, with supporting infrastructure, in Brechin, Angus.
Angus Council’s ambition, along with the private sector, is to deliver an Angus Rural Mobility Hub, within a regional business park to provide the infrastructure, services and skills programme needed to enable the Tay region’s transition to a low carbon, inclusive economy through a range of smart mobility and energy services.
Angus Rural Mobility Hub has the potential to deliver a step change in clean transport infrastructure on the national trunk road network and in doing so, create skills and new career opportunities within Angus and the Tay Region.