This page is for idea about Killinghall & Hampsthwaite ward. Comments are open to supporters who are logged in. Find Killinghall & Hampsthwaite ward on the map of Harrogate District wards.
Routes in Killinghall & Hampsthwaite ward
Routes that local people would like to see created include:
- a safe cycle route along the B6161 Otley Road to the Spring Well pub, with access from there to the cycle routes through the Jennyfield estate
- a link from Killinghall to the Nidderdale Greenway
We also suggest protected cycleways either side of the A61 from Killinghall to the centre of Harrogate at the Royal Hall.
Request to Councillor Harrison
On 1st August 2020, HDCA emailed Michael Harrison, who is Councillor for the area on both Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council. We asked if a cycle path from Killinghall to the Old Spring Well can now be made a priority; we requested a timetable.
We had a prompt intial reply from Councillor Harrison, explaining the efforts he has made on this (without success). We’ve replied again suggesting a meeting involving HBC Planning and NYCC Highways.
See the correspondence between HDCA and Councillor Harrison.
After considerable delay, he came back with a totally unhelpful response. It can be summed up as follow:
- “I don’t see the point in organising a public meeting in the village – as it would raise expectations of residents unfairly.”
- He simply accepts that the county council have no intention of doing anything about active travel in Killinghall, and doesn’t intend to lift a finger to change that.
It is clear from the Councillor’s contribtution at a Council transport meeting that his main interest is in driving and road-building.
Killinghall Bypass
The idea of a Killinghall Bypass was decisively rejected by the Harrogate Congestion Survey, but it seems North Yorkshire County Council wish to ignore the answer they got to the question they asked. They are obstinately pursuing the Bypass scheme.
In reality, the council’s Killinghall Bypass project would not reduce traffic and congestion in Killinghall. North Yorkshire appear to be planning a new main road route in addition to the existing A61.
This appears to be part of a wider scheme to send more heavy good vehicles thundering through our District, creating extra noise, pollution and congestion – at a time when national government acknowledges that we should be reducing road traffic.
More road capacity has been shown to induce more traffic – which spills over onto existing roads and junctions that don’t have more capacity, making congestion worse.
Read more about the council’s Killinghall Bypass project.
I feel as a parent and resident in Killinghall its so important that a safe cycling route between killinghall and Harrogate is now prioritised. Killinghall has doubled in population over the past few years, the fact that there is no safe cycling or walking route to a shop, high school or towards the town centre is just completely unacceptable.
High school children are all being urged to walk or cycle to school however for those living in Killinghall who could and want to cycle to their local school this is not an option due to the safety of cycling out of the village in any direction. The small stretch of Otley Road from Grainbeck Lane to the Springwell roundabout would link up a very safe and accessible route for both cycling and walking this now needs to be made a priority.
I am also a resident of Killinghall and would like to see a cycle path introduced on Otley Road between Killinghall and the old spring well pub. This would provide a safe link for families between Killinghall and the old spring well, as well as a cycle path through to the coop in jennyfield, and Harrogate town. Otley road is a 60mph road, so this cycle path is essential as a safe route to these wider Harrogate areas. Surely given the significant traffic issues in Harrogate, and the global warming emergency, that funding for this path should be made a priority.
I am a resident of Killinghall and would very much like to see a cycle path between Killinghall and the Old Spring Well pub. I have a teenage son who cycles and it worries me that there is no safe path for him to cycle along, especially with it being a 60mph road. I often see other cyclists on this stretch of road, so it is a popular cycling route but I feel that it is currently very unsafe. I think more people would be encouraged to cycle if there was a safe path here.
Killinghall desperately needs a cycle route to connect it other established routes such as the greenway and Ripley and the top of jenny fields that starts at the spring well roundabout on Otley Road. If these were in place commuters would be able to leave cars at home as would young people getting to school and college and those just going to the shops. Surely this is the greener future we need to be aiming for especially with the number of developments in killinghall which add to the already full roads. The roads through killinghall have huge vehicles and 60mile speed limit up to the spring well round about so without new cycling infrastructure in place there will be no behavioural change.
I’m a resident of Killinghall and agree this cycle way would make a huge difference linking the village with Harrogate. A cycle way between Killinghall and the Greenway at the Killinghall bridge would provide a circular loop and also a safe route cycling into Harrogate.
I commute into Harrogate daily on a bike and risk turning right on ripon road through the fast moving traffic and hgv’s to reach the greenway.
Fingers crossed that this is addressed.
I’m a local cycling and environmental campaigner. I live in Harrogate. I couldn’t agree more with these posts from Killinghall residents. With others, I’ve been trying to get them built since the Nidderdale Greenway opened in 2013.
These vital links will happen only when the local councils, Harrogate and North Yorkshire, decide to make them happen. Harrogate Council, the planning authority, could and should have insisted on the various developers who are making a fortune from the new estates in Killinghall contributing funding (S106 developer funding) for these paths but failed dismally to do so. North Yorkshire, the highways authority, could and should have made the cycle paths priority projects and produced feasibility studies to lay the groundwork for their construction, to make them ‘shovel ready’ schemes for when funding became available, but have shown no interest in them. I still find this extraordinary.
Cycle links from Killinghall costing a few hundred thousand? Not interested. A relief road costing £100m plus, now you’re talking. This mentality has to be fought and has to change. Please tell your councillors and your friends and neighbours. As you have said, there’s a climate (and health) crisis. The need for these links has always been, and still is, urgent.
I agree with all above comments and wanted to show my support as a Killinghall resident. I have 2 young children and encourage them to cycle but would really appreciate, and use, a safe environment to do so.