N Yorkshire to Scrap Otley Road Cycleway Phase 2 Despite Majority Support
North Yorkshire County Council is set to scrap Phase 2 of Otley Road Cycleway despite majority support for it in the most recent consultation (October/November 2022).
The Otley Road project has been going on for 5 years. It is now to be cancelled without producing a worthwhile, joined-up cycle route – on the face of it because of the objections of 83 people, or 39% of respondents to the consultation.
Meanwhile 104 people, or 49% of respondents, supported Otley Road Cycleway.
For Beech Grove, the equivalent figures were 47% in favour vs 40.5% against.
The matter will be considered by the Executive at a meeting on Friday 10th February, but Executive Member for Transport Cllr Keane Duncan has already told the local paper that Otley Road will be scrapped and the Beech Grove modal filters will not be reinstated.
Consultation Results
The report submitted to the Executive is somewhat garbled and includes a number of wrong dates.
It presents the consultation results in a skewed fashion, lumping the ‘don’t knows’ in with the opponents of Otley Road and Beech Grove, but still not achieving a majority against the schemes.
212 people responded to the consultation.
For
These were the responses in favour of the two schemes:
| For | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| For both schemes | 93 | 44% |
| For Otley Road only | 11 | 5% |
| For Beech Grove only | 6 | 3% |
That makes 49% in favour of an Otley Road scheme, and 47% in favour of a Beech Grove scheme.
Against
These were the responses against the schemes:
| Against | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Against both schemes | 83 | 39% |
| Against Otley Road only | 0 | 0% |
| Against Beech Grove only | 3 | 1.5% |
That makes 39% against Otley Road and 40.5% against Beech Grove.
Don’t Know
These were the ‘don’t knows’, which include no preference because of lack of understanding and inconclusive responses:
| Don’t Knows | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Lack of understanding | 9 | 4% |
| Inconclusive | 7 | 3.5% |
The figures in the tables above are derived from the pie charts in N Yorkshire’s report.
The first chart shows how people responded overall, including 48% who had no preference for any of the proposals.
The second chart reveals that not all of the 48% were against the active travel proposals.
16% of the 48%, or 7.5% of the total responses, were don’t knows, split between ‘lack of understanding’ and ‘inconclusive comments’.
Overall
Excluding the don’t knows the results for Otley Road are:
- 49% for an Otley Road scheme
- 39% against an Otley Road scheme
Excluding the don’t knows, the results for Beech Grove are:
- 47% for a Beech Grove scheme
- 40.5% against a Beech Grove scheme
Extension of the Consultation Period without Notice to the Cycle Campaign
The report to the Executive reveals that the consultation, originally due to run from 24th October to 28th November 2022, was extended. There was also an extra public meeting, of which Harrogate District Cycle Action was not informed.
‘The consultation was extended until Monday 12 December, to allow for further letters to be distributed following concerns raised by the local councillors that a number of residents had not received letters. A second ‘in person’ engagement event also took place on Monday 5 December 2022. This was advertised on social media and was open to all.’
para 5.2 of the report to the executive
Officers knew the cycle campaign was interested in the consultation. Why did NYCC fail to inform Harrogate District Cycle Action of the extended consultation period?
Was the deadline extended without tellling the cycle campaign because not enough objections had been received by 28th November 2022 to justify cancelling the project?
Note: NYCC say they did inform the cycle campaign.
Misleading Characterisation of the Results by Cllr Keane Duncan
Executive Member for Transport Cllr Keane Duncan told the Stray Ferret that ‘none of the options have found significant favour with members of the public.’
That is a highly misleading characterisation of consultation results which show majority support for some form of active travel infrastructure. The facts cannot support Cllr Duncan’s interpretation.
An Isolated Section of Cycleway
North Yorkshire has now built an isolated section of cycleway, to poor standards, between Harlow Moor Road and Cold Bath Road.
A key aspect of an Otley Road cycleway would be to create a link to the town centre. Instead, NYCC is now saying it will stop at Cold Bath Road, and you’re on your own from there.
This is doubly true because NYCC also intends to abandon Beech Grove.
NYCC’s Post Hoc Justifications
What do NYCC have to say about this in the report? This:
‘[Phase 1] of the cycleway was delivered first as it was always seen as a route that could work in isolation.’
para 3.1 of the report
That is a post hoc justification, also known as total rubbish.
What else do they say?
‘Phase 2 would have completed a formal link between Cold Bath Road and the town centre, but it should be recognised that these links do pre-exist for cyclists to utilise various side streets for onward journeys to the wider town centre and other services.’
para 7.4 of the report
So it seems that after 5 years of the Otley Road Cycleway project, officers have suddenly realised that they didn’t need to do it all, because there is some other brilliant side-street provision that no one else is aware of.
It really is shameful.
What Is the Real Reason for Cancelling Otley Road Cycleway?
Since the majority of respondents to the consultation support Otley Road Cycleway, what is the real reason for cancelling it?
This is the financial account for NYCC’s National Productivity Infrastructure Fund (NPIF) to date:
NYCC have spent £2.2 million on their Harlow Moor junction widening project + Phase 1 of the cycleway.
They have got £565,000 left. Is that enough to build Phase 2 of the cycleway? Almost certainly not.
That may be the real reason why they held the consultation, hoping that enough people would object, and they could then justify cancelling the project.
What is the Reason for Refusing to Reinstate Beech Grove Modal Filters?
A majority of those with a view were in favour of reinstating a Beech Grove scheme. There is no justification based on public opinion for failing to make provision there.
The decision is purely a lack of political will, and a lack of support for active travel, on the part of Cllr Keane Duncan.
Next Steps
The recommendations in the report are these:
After 5 years of chaotic project management, we’re back to square one.