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11
Dec 2023
Council scraps 'waste of money' £100,000 Harrogate cycle plan
A £100,000 project to make a minor Harrogate road better for cycling has been scrapped after being criticised as a “waste of money”.
North Yorkshire Council revealed in September it planned to upgrade Nursery Lane, which is a minor road off Otley Road, into an off-road leisure route.
The scheme came as part of 10 proposals put forward to reduce congestion in west Harrogate.
However, a council report due before Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for highways, next week shows the plan has now been dropped.
The project was criticised by cyclists at a meeting of Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee in September.
David Mitchell, of Harrogate District Cycle Action, told councillors that spending £100,000 on Nursery Lane was “not sensible because it would not make a meaningful difference to the cycle network”.
Meanwhile, Cllr Paul Haslam, a Conservative who represents Bilton and Nidd Gorge, told the meeting the cycling community had told him the proposal was “a complete waste of money because that lane is already safe”.
Read more:
- 10 schemes proposed to reduce congestion in Harrogate
- Latest £100,000 Harrogate cycle plan branded ‘a waste of money’ — by cyclists
- Council has failed cyclists in Harrogate, says campaigner
The report, which will go before Cllr Duncan on December 18, says the scheme has been scrapped as feedback showed it “was not supported and the funding could be better utilised on other projects”.
It has been replaced with a £60,000 plan to resurface the footpath and cycleway between Green Lane and Blenheim Way, which is known as Rossett Cycle Path.
The report said the move would “enhance the off-road route and encourage its use as an alternative route to the Otley Road corridor for walkers and cyclists”.
The Stray Ferret reported the proposed congestion-reducing initiatives when they were published in September. You can read them here.
Funding for the overall project has increased to £854,000 after the authority received further section 106 contributions.
The cost for the improvements is now estimated at £715,000 - an increase from £585,000.
The council said any remaining money would be kept as a contingency to cover design work, which is expected to start in January 2024.
A further report on the proposals will be brought before Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee in the spring.
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