Liberal Democrat Helen Flynn responds to Cycle Harrogate's questions

This from Helen Flynn in response to my recent questions in the run up to the Council elections.

1. If elected how will you work to get more people in Harrogate cycling as part of the Cycle Yorkshire 10 year plan? The whole agenda rests largely around behaviour change which takes time. Think how long it took to stop smoking in public places--a long public information campaign to describe the benefits and get "buy-in". So, much of the work will be about having an ongoing "conversation" (achieved through PR, poster campaigns, partnership working, etc) with people about the benefits of cycling both for them from a health point of view and from an environmental point of view. Engaging with young people through schools and with employees through the workplace will be critical. I am sure the council can do more, but needs leadership and priority setting.

2. What are your priorities for new infrastructure and funding in Harrogate and Knaresborough to make cycling and walking easier? I would like to take forward the idea of Harrogate and Knaresborough as a cycle town with the necessary investment in infrastructure to make it a reality, rather than incremental change. The problem with incremental change is that it is not joined up, so you can end up spending more money than if you have a big plan. Like all these things, it's about having a vision and then a timetable for achieving it that is realistic (in this case quite a long one, I would imagine). I would ideally like a private/public partnership to make it a reality, and to make it more sustainable, and get more buy-in.

3. Are you in favour of 20 mile per hour speed limits on minor residential roads around our towns?
Yes

4. Will you support our plan to double the spending on cycling locally from the current 2% to 5% of the road budget for the next ten years?

Yes,

5. What initiatives will you bring forward to get more people active and impact on heart disease and stroke rates as part of local government's responsibilities under the recent NICE guidelines? This would involve partnership working with the HaRD CCG and probably the Health and Wellbeing Board as well, to see what monies they have to bring to the table and what other funds might be available, and to work out achievable initiatives that will make a difference. To me the health agenda is the really important agenda driving the need for people to cycle more, so this is an area that is particularly important to get right.

6. Will you support the funding of £15,000 to fund a feasibility study into cycling and walking in Harrogate?
Yes and am actively working on getting private sponsorship even as I write!