Gracias por todos los consejos. Aquí está mi guión final que funciona un encanto. Tenga en cuenta que no necesité usar os.path.join en absoluto ... ¿Es la mejor práctica usarlo? ¿O no es siempre necesario? De todos modos aquí está (note que los directorios son mis directorios de la vida real)
print "Script started..."
print "***"
print "This monthly script will back up all grounds maintenance feature classes as shapefiles."
print "***"
print "The backup folder is:"
print "K:\GIS2016\GIS_Data\Curo_data\Estates_data\Grounds_Maintenance\Grounds_Maintenance_Backups"
import arcpy
import os
import datetime
from arcpy import env
Cur_Date = datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%d%B%Y")
print Cur_Date
print "***"
print "Setting script to overwrite previous files..."
# Overwrite pre-existing files
arcpy.env.overwriteOutput = True
newpath = r'\\somernt\curo\GIS\GIS2016\GIS_Data\Curo_data\Estates_data\Grounds_Maintenance\Grounds_Maintenance_Backups\GM_' + Cur_Date
if not os.path.exists(newpath): os.makedirs(newpath)
print "***"
print "Starting backup process..."
env.workspace = r"\\somernt\curo\GIS\GIS2016\GIS_Data\Curo_data\Estates_data\Grounds_Maintenance\Grounds_Maintenance.gdb"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("LITTER_BINS", newpath + "\\LITTER_BINS.shp")
print "Bins"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("AMENITY_GRASS", newpath + "\\AMENITY_GRASS.shp")
print "Amenity grass"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("AMENITY_GRASS_SHELTERED", newpath + "\\AMENITY_GRASS_SHELTERED.shp")
print "Sheltered grass"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("HEDGES_1SIDE_ONLY", newpath + "\\HEDGES_1SIDE_ONLY.shp")
print "Hedges- 1 side only"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("HEDGES_1SIDE_TOP", newpath + "\\HEDGES_1SIDE_TOP.shp")
print "Hedges- 1 side and top"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("HEDGES_2SIDES_TOP", newpath + "\\HEDGES_2SIDES_TOP.shp")
print "Hedges- 2 side and top"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("LEAF_CLEARANCE", newpath + "\\LEAF_CLEARANCE.shp")
print "Leaf clearance"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("MEADOW_GRASS", newpath + "\\MEADOW_GRASS.shp")
print "Meadow grass"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("ROUGH_GROUND", newpath + "\\ROUGH_GROUND.shp")
print "Rough ground"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("SHELTERED_GRITTING_AREAS", newpath + "\\SHELTERED_GRITTING_AREAS.shp")
print "Sheltered gritting areas"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("SHRUBS_ORNAMENTAL", newpath + "\\SHRUBS_ORNAMENTAL.shp")
print "Shrubs"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("SHRUBS_WALL", newpath + "\\SHRUBS_WALL.shp")
print "Shrub wall"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("SOMER_GRIT_BINS", newpath + "\\SOMER_GRIT_BINS.shp")
print "Grit bins"
arcpy.CopyFeatures_management("SWEEPING", newpath + "\\SWEEPING.shp")
print "Sweeping (hard surfaces)"
print "Script finished"