Extra £1m bid for Harrogate cycle and walking routes

With this second bid for more than £1m from North Yorkshire County Council, comes accusations that it was not ambitious enough when it bid for the first phase of funding.

3 routes in Harrogate have been put forward for significant improvement: Oatlands Drive, Victoria Avenue and the A59 road connecting Starbeck to Knaresborough by Maple Close.

The money is part of the The Department for Transport’s  Emergency Active Travel Fund (EATF) and will be allocated to the county if it can meet strict criteria.

North Yorkshire County Council representatives said:

“This bid had to meet strict DfT criteria, including a maximum allocation of £1.065 million, being deliverable in this financial year, supporting both cycling and walking and replacing a well-used bus route or enabling roads to be closed to traffic. We believe the five schemes we have put forward, three of which are in the Harrogate area, present a strong submission.”

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The 2 other listed locations are in Helmsley and Whitby.

The EATF is phase one of a five-year £2 billion sustainable travel scheme announced by the government. Its aim is to create more green and alternative ways of traveling across the UK.

In July, North Yorkshire County Council was disappointed to receive only £133,000 from government, half the potential amount available in the first wave of emergency funding.

Harrogate District Cycling Action said that NYCC lacked ambition:

“It’s disappointing that NYCC has only received 50% of the Tranche 1 amount provisionally allocated to it (which was £266,000). It must be because the plans presented weren’t ambitious enough.

North Yorkshire’s Cabinet member Councillor Don Mackenzie, Executive Member for Access, this time round said :

“The bid had to be prepared quickly, with only about four weeks between receiving the DfT guidance and the deadline.”

There’s no doubt the cycling community in the Harrogate district will be waiting for the outcome of this bid. A date has not been announced for when local authorities will hear if they have been successful with funding. The Department for Transport said they will turn decisions round quickly.

Councillors prepare for return in Pateley Bridge

Councillors in Pateley Bridge are preparing for their first face-to-face meeting since March, when coronavirus brought a temporary end to physical gatherings.

Mike Holt, the town’s Mayor, told The Stray Ferret:

“Our next council meeting on August 4 is, hopefully, going to be a physical meeting in the Memorial Hall.

“Councillors and officers from Pateley Bridge Town Council and Bewerley Parish Council, assisted by staff from Nidderdale Plus, made the Memorial Hall covid-secure earlier this month.”

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The hygiene and social distancing measures enabled the hall to be used to sell resident car parking permits for the current financial year. The annual permits costing £12 are usually sold across four days, but Cllr Holt said:

“In the current circumstances it was felt that one day was enough. However, permits are still available for anyone who missed the sale day.”

The meeting in the Memorial Hall will also provide a safe venue to interview the four candidates who have put their names forward for co-option to the council.

There are two vacancies to fill, following the retirement in March of councillors Chris Hawkesworth and Christine Skaife, who between them served for more than 50 years.