North Yorkshire’s bid for £3.19 million from the Active Travel Fund 4 (ATF4) has been rejected altogether by Active Travel England (ATE).
The bid was made up of the three schemes:
- £1.081 million for cycle tracks and improved pedestrian crossings on Victoria Avenue, Harrogate
- £1.654 million for cycle tracks on the A59 Knaresborough Road, to link High Bridge and Starbeck
- £458,500 for a scheme on Darlington Road, Richmond
The £1.081 million for Victoria Avenue was North Yorkshire’s ‘indicative amount’, and that bid might have been expected to succeed even if the others did not. However, the Victoria Avenue bid failed along with the others.
Comments from Cllr Keane Duncan
Executive Member for Transport Cllr Keane Duncan told the Stray Ferret:
‘We are inevitably disappointed that our ambitious £3.19 million bid to enhance facilities for cyclists and pedestrians through the fourth round of the government’s Active Travel Fund has not been successful.
We believe we put forward strong proposals for the three schemes – Victoria Avenue in Harrogate, Darlington Road in Richmond and the A59 Maple Close from Harrogate to Knaresborough.
We are seeking detailed feedback from Active Travel England so we can understand the reasons behind their decision. We hope to work with them to progress schemes in these areas and elsewhere in the county successfully in future.’
cllr keane duncan
While North Yorkshire have not had detailed feedback from ATE, Cllr Duncan does know the reasons for the failure of the bid in broad terms. It is a deliberate choice not to disclose them to the local papers.
Liaising with Active Travel England
We know that North Yorkshire officers have been in touch with ATE about this bid, because they said so in a report in February 2023.
Why then didn’t North Yorkshire use their ATE contacts to double-check that their bid met the criteria before submitting it?