A North Yorkshire councillor says he has not given up hope of an extension to a popular multi-user route in Nidderdale despite doubts over how the project would be funded.
Nidderdale Greenway opened in 2013 as a walking and cycling path between Harrogate and Ripley, with the route later extended to the village of Clint.
A study by travel charity Sustrans was compiled on the possibility of extending the route further to Pateley Bridge.
It concluded that the majority of the proposed 20.92km route would be traffic-free using a mixture of disused railway, a riverside path, existing track/route, and public road.
The study suggested that the route would provide an uplift of 295 additional cycle trips and 345 additional walking trips per day, and would be high value for money with a cost of around £4.45m.
But a new North Yorkshire Council report has concluded that the study included an “overly optimistic assessment of the benefits, missing risks and cost items and therefore, an underplaying of the likely overall project costs”.
Officers also highlighted significant challenges with delivery of this project and said it would cost around £8m to deliver, although this did not include landowner compensation or maintenance costs.
The report, prepared for the Skipton and Ripon area committee on Thursday, said the development was not currently a priority for the authority.
It concluded:
“The potential costs of the scheme are significant and subject to a significant degree of risk.
“There is currently no funding available to develop this scheme further or to undertake the works.
“Furthermore, once completed, the project would result in significant ongoing maintenance costs, for which no budget currently exists.”
But Councillor Andrew Murday, who represents the Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale division, stressed that it would be councillors who decided whether the extension was carried out.
“We’ve done quite a lot of surveys and it’s a very popular concept, and it fits the bill of active travel, health, well-being, opening up the national landscape to the public and so forth. There’s lots of good things about it.
“Building the path is the most expensive bit, but actually, there’s funds from various different sources available, particularly Sustrans, and there’s lots of very successful multi-user pathways throughout the country.”
He added:
“So, despite the report, I still have some optimism that we can bring it to fruition at some time and in some form, and I’m just looking forward to the discussion on Thursday when we meet.”
The meeting will be held at Belle Vue Suite, Skipton.
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