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08
Nov
Call to protect Harrogate railway paths and extend greenway
A Harrogate cycling campaigner has called on Harrogate Town Council to back the protection of paths near railway lines from development.
Malcolm Margolis, of Harrogate District Cycle Action, said the paths could be “crucial” for the creation of traffic free routes such as the Nidderdale Greenway.
The greenway, a cycling and walking route which extends for four miles between Harrogate and Ripley, was opened in 2013 and uses a former railway line that ran between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge.
However, Mr Margolis pointed out that the Harrogate district Local Plan, which guides where development can take place, included protection for paths on former railway lines where there was a "reasonable prospect" of them being used for new transport infrastructure.
At a full council meeting, he called on the town council to support the protection of those plots of land in the upcoming North Yorkshire Local Plan — which is currently being drawn up and will replace the Harrogate plan.
Mr Margolis said:
The Nidderdale Greenway is only four miles long — a little under six miles including the extension to Clint near Hampsthwaite.
It could and should be the first in a network of traffic free paths on former railway lines around Harrogate, for example in Pateley Bridge, Ripon, Wetherby and Boroughbridge. For this to be possible, it is crucial that the routes remain clear and undeveloped.
We ask that you advise North Yorkshire Council that you strongly support the protection of these paths from development in the new local plan.
Cllr Chris Aldred, mayor of Harrogate, said the issue over former railway lines would be brought back to the town council to be discussed as a “position statement” at a future meeting.
He said:
It seems a very sensible proposal and way ahead. The greenway is a tremendous facility in Harrogate. It is heavily used and I'm sure nobody would object to former railway lines being used in that way.
The move comes as extensions to the Nidderdale Greenway have been proposed in the past.
In 2023, a survey was launched to assess the popularity of extending the greenway to Scar House Reservoir north of Pateley Bridge which would follow an old railway track.
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