Dear Friends,

We hope all of you have had a lovely summer so far and had an opportunity to enjoy the nice weather and have a restful break.

We have had a busy summer for a number of reasons. Our followers and supporters may have noticed that we did fewer public events and stalls this year. This was a deliberate policy to focus our resources on expanding political support for the Wharfedale Greenway ensuring the project is being talked about in the right places and with the right people.

This strategy was given an enormous boost when Anna Dixon MP for Burley in Wharfedale mentioned the Wharfedale Greenway in parliament during an active travel debate. This was done without any lobbying from FoWG so we are very grateful for Anna’s support. This discussion then led to a meeting with Anna, representatives from the government body Active Travel England, local authorities and other interested stakeholders. The meeting was a very good discussion on challenges and potential next steps in helping to make the greenway a reality. We are very grateful for everyone’s input and support. FoWG volunteers have a number of actions to follow up from the Anna Dixon and we are also developing the next element of our political engagement strategy.

Meanwhile we continue to lead and support working groups to develop the route between Otley and Burley and Ilkley and Addingham. We are pleased to report there have been several positive engagements with stakeholders in this respect.

At the public events FoWG did attend this summer we had many great conversations with supporters and pleased that a number of new volunteers have come forward. FoWG look forward to working with these individuals moving forward.

Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Your support, whether through volunteering, advocacy, or simply spreading the word, is what makes the Wharfedale Greenway a possibility. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Colm McCann
Chairman FoWG