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10
Oct
New Hammerton Greenway cycle route opens after 12-year campaign
It's taken 12 years and nearly £100,000, but the latest addition to the UK's cycle network has finally been opened to the public.
The Hammerton Greenway connects Green Hammerton with Moss Hill Lane, which in turn leads to Thorpe Underwood and beyond.
It was the brainchild of local resident Jon Purday, who first had the idea when the Grand Départ of the Tour de France passed through Green Hammerton in 2014.
Jon Purday.
He told the Stray Ferret:
We're quite hemmed in here – by the A59 and the B6265 Boroughbridge Road – and having just come back from working in the Netherlands for seven years, I found the roads here quite intimidating.
There are loads of little country lanes around us, but to get to them you had to use one of the main roads.
I thought, if only we could have a back way to get to Aldwark Bridge and the Way of the Roses coast-to-coast route – it would give people so much more freedom. By building just a mile of bridleway, we could open up many more miles of cycle routes.
Part of the track before the greenway was created.
An unexpected source of money
But what seemed like a simple idea ended up becoming a major piece of work, even though it had a lot of support and no one objected.
Mr Purday said:
There are so many parts to the process – legal, planning, drainage etc – and it all has to be done sequentially, not in parallel, so it's taken a long time.
If I'd gone along there with a pick and shovel and a wheelbarrow full of stone, I could probably have made the thing myself in that time!
Two views of the new greenway.
Thankfully, there was support from the village, the parish council and the county council, and fortuitously, an unexpected source of money.
Mr Purday said:
After I first had the idea, there were a lot more houses being built in the village, and that meant more families who might want to use the route, but also lots more Section 106 money from the developers.
Section 16 money is funding contributed by property developers to local planning authorities to offset the direct local impacts of a new development.
A more detailed map of the route.
'It's all about accessibility'
The total cost of the new route as a right of way in perpetuity comes to just under £100,000, but according to Mr Purday, it was worth every penny:
Once all the signage was in place and everything was done, I cycled along the route, and the feeling was fantastic – just incredible. Being able to sail down the side of a field to the beck, and see some beautiful vistas along the way – it's such freedom. I've been cycling along it at least once a week.
But really, it's all about accessibility. This greenway means people can get out into the countryside and make the most of it – without getting run down by a truck.
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