Plans are afoot to extend the marvellous Nidderdale Greeenway through Hollybank Woods to Hampsthwaite. This is a beautiful broad leaved wood and if you haven't been you should, its cool. It's a right of way at the moment but its not in the best of states for bikes. This from Malcolm Margolis
....This is the lane which leads west of Ripley Castle over the little bridge with the waterfall next to it, through Hollybank Woods for a mile or more and comes out on Clint Bank Lane above Hampsthwaite. In its current state it is unsuitable for cycling for most of the year, except for mountain bikes. It is no use as a family route, or for wheelchair users.Sustrans wants to bring the path up to standard. Everything is, or was, in place for the work to go ahead. The budget is £160,000, which is to be paid for jointly by Sustrans and North Yorkshire. The funding is available for this financial year only, so the path has to be built in the next few months, or it will be lost. Sir Thomas Ingilby, who owns the land, has given his permission, as has English Heritage whose permission was needed as it is an ancient way.
Trouble is the plans are looking like they might be thwarted by local resident objections. The same sort of views that hampered the Stray cycle path routes and nearly did for the Greenway before it got started. Apparently some people don't like cyclists. I'm not much keen on 20 tonne HGV's myself but they bring me stuff and come past my house so I have learned to live with them. I'm not sure a few bikes will necessarily be the vanguard of the new apocalypse but I know the people of our area can takes strong views about these matters.
It looks likely that at a soon to be held Ripley village meeting, there will be a split between those who are pro and those who are anti the cycle route.
How You can help
We need to demonstrate to North Yorkshire that there is strong support for this route from the people of the area who will use it. If your in favour that's you.
Update Lunchtime 22/8/2013
A few hours a go we were asking for people to email in to NYCC to say they supported the Greenway extension. We have just heard from NYCC that they get the message and an inbox is overflowing with support, so please no more emails. I think that is a win for making our views known. Hopefully somebody's inbox will calm down now.
I have emailed, but I feel that a greater benefit to cycling and sustainable transport in the region would be the upgrade of the Beryl Burton at the south end of the Greenway. At the moment it is a surface composed mostly of broken bricks at the Harrogate end and a narrow strip of deteriorating tarmac at the Knaresborough end.
ReplyDeleteSurely there are more people wanting to cycle between Harrogate and Knaresborough than between Ripley and Hampsthwaite? Given that Skipton Road was highlighted in the top 10 worst roads in the country for congestion, a viable cycle route between Knaresborough and Harrogate would not just benefit cyclists, but also help to reduce congestion on the roads.
I understand the funding implications of of the Hollybank Lane extension, but maintaining existing routes to a high standard must also be a priority. How do we go about getting the Beryl Burton upgraded?
We are on the case on the Beryl Burton. See my earlier posts for the full story. In summary NYCC gave a commitment but have partially reneged. A few councillors have championed the cause and an article has run in the local press. Currently state is this: Councillor Richard Cooper to meet NYCC highways in the next week to try and get this back on track. He is hopeful something can be done and he seems a fairly direct individual, lets hope he can un-lock funding.
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