Hello Friends,

We hope you enjoyed the summer. Although it was a little hot at times, the dry weather was great for getting outdoors. 

As you can see from the updates below, FoWG have been busy behind the scenes holding discussions on how to move the greenway forward. A key element of this was the production of a strategic assessment and an outline business case to help progress the project with district councils and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA). FoWG and the wider greenway stakeholder group are enormously grateful to our volunteers for the countless hours spent producing these documents. 

Over the past few years, FoWG volunteers have been having conversations with various stakeholders about what needs to happen to help justify investing in the project and how to take it forward. 

One of the suggestions from the Active Travel officers at Leeds and Bradford Councils was to gather data on potential users. We weighed up our options on how to get an idea of current user numbers on the publicly accessible sections of the preferred route. At one point, we considered asking for volunteers to do manual counts and data collection at strategic points. After some research and approval of funding from the greenway steering committee, we purchased three electronic counters. These were installed this summer along the proposed route and will provide accurate data on the current user numbers. Thanks to the steering committee for funding the equipment and to our volunteers for installing the counters. 

Another discussion point has been how we get the greenway on the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s list of projects and the steps required to do this. Again, after discussions in the greenway steering committee and working groups, it was suggested that an outline business case was needed. Fortunately for FoWG, we have two volunteers who had experience in producing these types of documents and were willing to give up their time to do so. 

Volunteers produced a draft outline business case which summarised all the previous feasibility and design work on the route. In discussions with council officers about how to finalise this document, it was suggested that a document known as a strategic assessment (SA) might be more useful for progressing the project with WYCA. 

A draft SA has been written and, along with the draft SOC, has been submitted to the relevant council officers for review, feedback and submission of the SA to WYCA. The Active Travel team at Bradford have passed this document on to consultants for review and feedback. This is potentially an important first step in getting the project into the development pipeline. 

A massive thank you to our volunteers who have worked on or helped produce both these documents. It is worth noting that if consultants were being paid to produce these documents, it would cost tens of thousands of pounds. 

Producing these documents helped illustrate the need for greater political and community support. For example, the SA needs a named project owner, which may not be possible under current governance arrangements. Discussions with council officers also illustrated the need for prioritisation and support from district councils. 

To demonstrate support for the project, we received letters of support from various supporters. These included letters from local MPs Anna Dickson and Katie White to accompany the letter received some time ago from Robbie Moore. We are also grateful to Ilkley Grammar School and the Manorlands education trust for letters of support. We also received letters of support from various town and parish councils and community groups along the route. Thank you all for documenting your support. 

The greenway steering committee membership was made up of parish and town councils along the route plus relevant council officers. Recent discussions about taking the project forward have illustrated the need for greater involvement from district councillors in the project. For this reason, we have very recently held meetings with district councillors from both Leeds and Bradford to outline the need for support and the challenges faced in developing the greenway. These have been positive discussions, and we look forward to receiving feedback from elected representatives. 

For many years, Otley Town Council hosted and facilitated greenway steering committee meetings. Due to changes in personnel, they ceased fulfilling this role in the spring. Thank you to the staff and elected members at Otley Town Council for providing this service. This presents an opportunity to establish a new governance structure for the greenway with wider stakeholder involvement, which has also been part of discussions with district councillors. 

Colm McCann
Chairman FoWG