15 AUGUST 2007 -HARROGATE Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council have agreed in principle to support the creation of a Bridleway on a route from Bilton to Ripley using the existing disused railway track.  But constraint on the County Council's Local Transport Plan funding has led both councils to seek lottery funding for the scheme.

 

Thanks to a terrific public response from those hoping to see the Bilton to Ripley cycle and pedestrian route opened up, there is a chance of a grant from the Big Lottery Fund's Living Landmarks:  The People's Millions - £50 million of them in fact. The Bilton/Ripley route was selected to be one of the final 79 schemes, which make up Sustrans Connect2 bid, which is one of six projects competing for this lottery funding.  Sustrans aim is to support projects that encourage people to travel in ways that actually improve health and reduce harm to the environment.

 

The route has been selected for inclusion in the Sustrans bid from an original list of 400 submissions from councils and other organisations across the UK but an even bigger public response is needed if this exciting project is to have any real chance of getting a lottery award. 

 

Sustrans has told the promoters of the other 78 schemes that if they had followed the example set by Harrogate, which received 1000 pledges of support during the final bidding process, then there would already be 79,000 endorsements of the package before the final voting got underway.

 

"They are asking for the public to make contact with them, either by visiting the website or text messages, before the TV vote in December.  Sustrans will then keep you informed of the progress of the scheme and, importantly, how and when to vote, said Councillor Don Mackenzie, Cabinet Member for Planning and Transport.  "I would like to thank those who have already pledged their support, particularly local cyclists, walkers and horse riders.  A key plank of Sustrans tactics is to have a large bank of committed voters and I would urge more residents to register their support now.  Without this lottery funding it is doubtful that other funding could be found to deliver this scheme."

 

Support can be registered at the Connect2 website www.sustransconnect2.org.uk

or by texting Connect2 to 80010.

 

NOTE TO EDITORS:   In order to raise the profile of the Sustrans bid, Harrogate Borough Council has teamed up with local cyclists, walkers and horse riders to provide further information about the proposed route.  Dates for the Ripley Route Roadshow are as follows:

 

19 August The Allotment Show, Sun Pavilion, Valley Gardens, Harrogate 11am to 4pm

 

3 and 17 September   Bilton Library, 1pm - 7pm

 

24 September The Annual Nidderdale Show, Bewerley Park,

Pateley Bridge. (Heritage marquee) All day

 

Connect2 will be a blueprint for enabling people to reconnect to the places they want to go in a more healthy and environmentally friendly way.  Sustrans is the UK's leading sustainable transport charity. 

 

FURTHER INFORMATION:  Councillor Don Mackenzie is available for comment on 01423 872211.  Further technical information is available from John Burton, Head of Transport on 01423 556606.

 

 

 

"            Sustrans is the UK's leading sustainable transport charity. Its vision is a world in which people choose to travel in ways that benefit their health and the environment. It is achieving this through innovative but practical solutions to the UK's transport challenges.

 

 

"           The Big Lottery Fund will decide whether Connect2 goes through to the public vote which is currently scheduled for December 2007.  This competition is to decide which Living Landmarks project gets a single grant of between £25 and £50 million. The Connect2 project is currently being considered alongside five other projects: the Eden Project's Dry Topics Biome, Somerset Waterlinks, the National Museum of Science & Industry Collections Centre, The Black Country as Urban Park and Sherwood Forest: The Living Legend.

 

"           The Big Lottery Fund's Living Landmarks Programme will award £140 million across the UK to initiatives that have been designed to inspire communities to transform, revitalise and regenerate the places where they live, through social and community projects and major infrastructure investments.

 

"           On 1 December 2006 the Big Lottery Fund was officially established by Parliament and at the same time assumed the residual responsibilities of the dissolved National Lottery Charities Board (Community Fund) the New Opportunities Fund, and the Millennium Commission. The Fund is building on the experience and best practice of the merged bodies to simplify funding in those areas where they overlap and to ensure Lottery funding provides the best possible value for money.