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29
Nov
Does council report deliver fatal blow to Nidderdale Greenway extension?
An extension to the Nidderdale Greenway would cost £8 million and is “not a priority”, council officials have said.
The greenway, a cycling and walking route which extends for four miles between Harrogate and Ripley, opened in 2013 on a former railway route between Harrogate and Pateley Bridge.
Campaigners have long called for the route to be extended to Scar House Reservoir north of Peteley Bridge.
However, officials at North Yorkshire Council now appear to have poured cold water on the prospect of the plans being progressed anytime soon.
'Not a priority'
In a report due before councillors on North Yorkshire Council’s Skipton and Ripon area committee, Alexander Kay, senior transport planning officer at the council, reviewed the project — including a feasibility study produced by transport charity Sustrans in 2021.
Mr Kay said as part of the review, council officers updated the key metrics with respect to estimated costs and value for money for the scheme.
He said:
This review has highlighted an overly optimistic assessment of the benefits, missing risks and cost items and therefore, an underplaying of the likely overall project costs. Officers have also highlighted any significant challenges with delivery of this project.
A study by Sustrans suggested the extension could be built at a cost of £4.45 million and provide an uplift of 295 additional cycle trips per day and 345 additional walking trips per day.
However, Mr Kay said after reviewing the study and obtaining an “updated position of the viability of the scheme", the estimated cost of the extension would be in the region of £8 million.
He added that the new estimate was before any landowner compensation costs or maintenance costs were factored in.
In his report, Mr Kay said the project at this stage was “not a priority” for the council as current funding for active travel schemes were already directed at other local projects.
He said:
Revenue funding to develop significant active travel schemes are currently directed at priority Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructire Plans corridors. This project, which is outside of an LCWIP network, will need considerable resource and funding to progress further, including a dedicated FTE and/or consultant to deal with Creation Orders and further development of routing options and designs.
It would therefore be prudent to await the Combined Authority Active Travel Strategy to understand if this scheme may be more of a priority for CA funding.
In conclusion, the Nidderdale Greenway development is not currently a priority for North Yorkshire Council due to the reasons outlined in this report.
‘Makes no sense’
However, campaigners in support of the extension plans have criticised the council's report and its position on the proposal.
Malcolm Margolis, of Harrogate District Cycle Action and the former Nidderdale Greenway Extension Steering Group, said the council report “makes no sense”.
Malcolm Margolis.
Mr Margolis said the report made no mention of the “enormous benefits” of the extension, including enabling children to cycle safely on a flat, traffic free path to school.
He added:
The report to North Yorkshire Council’s Skipton and Ripon Area Committee makes no sense to me.
It concentrates, not entirely accurately, on actual and possible problems, seemingly designed to construct a case against the Sustrans project to extend the greenway through Nidderdale while making no mention of the enormous benefits, including enabling children to cycle safely on a flat, traffic free path to school and to friends, adults to cycle to work and to shop, people of all ages and abilities to walk, run, cycle and scoot through this beautiful dale where now they have little choice but to go by car or bus.
It would be transformational, good for the environment and good for the health and wellbeing of local residents, also as a magnet for sustainable tourism. Tourism may become a much more important source of funding with local mayors now likely to introduce a tourism tax.
Councillors on Skipton and Ripon area committee will consider the report at a meeting on December 4.
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