What N Yorkshire Told Active Travel England, and What They Did

North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) has made a number of statements and commitments to Active Travel England (ATE) recently.

Some of them were in a self-assessment submitted in August 2022, and others in a December 2022 application for money from the Capability and Ambition Fund.

Self-Assessment

The self-assessment included commitments on active travel from the Council Leader and the Executive Member for Transport.

What NYCC told ATE	What NYCC did
NYCC agreed that they would not remove active travel schemes unless there was substantial evidence to support this (Q14).	NYCC removed the modal filters on Beech Grove & Lancaster Road without any evidence at all (August 2022)
NYCC stated that Members including the council leader and transport portfolio lead were supportive of active travel and committed to increasing active travel in line with Gear Change (Q17).	NYCC cancelled its Otley Road project, removed the Beech Grove modal filters, and has failed to make any progress on the ATF2 schemes funded in 2020. The only glimmer of hope is Harrogate Station Gateway, which they have not cancelled so far.
NYCC claims active travel delivery is a key element of its business plan, and that it is embedding active travel in new developments, with a ‘decide and provide’ approach, and clear decisions to adopt LTN 1/20 and Manual for Streets in local development standards (Q21).	There has been no meaningful active travel provision at any of the recent or current developments in Harrogate. The West of Harrogate Parameters Plan looks likely to prioritise ‘traffic flow’ above all else.
NYCC co-owns the Routemap to Carbon Negative, and has a strategic priority to develop the infrastructure to rapidly increase the use of active travel for short journeys (Q22).	No meaningful improvements to Harrogate’s cycle network since 2014 (Yorkshire Showground Greenway). Otley Road Phase 2 cancelled. Beech Grove scheme ripped out. No significant on-the-ground improvements in 2022 or likely in 2023.
NYCC is developing an off-road cycle route on Otley Road which aims ‘to encourage cycling to and from Harrogate town centre and will link to important destinations within the town’ (Q42).	They have cancelled ‘Phase 2’ of the cycleway which would have linked to Beech Grove and the town centre – leaving an isolated stretch of cycleway between Harlow Moor Road and Cold Bath Road.
Although modal filters on Beech Grove were removed at the end of an 18 month trial, NYCC ‘remains committed to providing active travel infrastructure’ and will consult on ‘a wider package of permanent measures’. ‘This will provide the opportunity to bring forward a detailed and coordinated plan connecting the various active travel initiatives within Harrogate…’ (Q45).	North Yorkshire removed the Beech Grove scheme (August 2022) and stated that it would not be reinstated (February 2023). It cancelled Otley Road Phase 2 in February 2023. There are no alternative plans, just some vague statements about perhaps sending cyclists onto imaginary side road routes.

Capability and Ambition Fund Application

The Capability and Ambition Fund bid was submitted on 22nd December 2022. It included a (successful) request for £55,000 for behaviour change initiatives, partly focused on the developing active travel infrastructure on Otley Road.

What NYCC told ATE	What NYCC did
‘We will focus [behaviour change] intiatives on locations where walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure is being developed such as Harrogate NPIF [i.e. Otley Road cycleway]…Evidence shows that it is more effective to develop both behaviour change and infrastructure projects, rather than either one in isolation.’	The commitment was made in December 2022; NYCC accepted the money in January 2023. NYCC scrapped Otley Road cycleway in February 2023.