THE Tour de Yorkshire is a four day legacy event of the Grand Départ of the Tour de France, which took place in Yorkshire in 2014. But what is the legacy of the Tour de Yorkshire itself?

In making their decision to underwrite the 2022 Tour de Yorkshire by £100,000 Craven District councillors rightly saw that the highly publicised event would attract visitors as in previous years and give a boost to the hospitality sector which has been so badly hit by the pandemic. £100,000 would make a useful contribution to this significant event but much greater support is needed for cycling as sport and as transport.

The Tour de France was brought to Yorkshire because of our superb geography for such an event and because this county has a distinguished cycling heritage.

Great cyclists such as Beryl Burton and Walter Greaves are inspirations for today’s sporting cyclists. But these factors are not enough for the sport to thrive.

Young people need opportunities to develop their skills and grow in the confidence that the roads are safe to ride on.

Potholes, for instance, are a serious nuisance to drivers but can kill cyclists. In 2019, 13 cyclists were killed on Yorkshire's roads and highways, as well as 1,400 other incidents; only the far more densely populated South East had a worse record. In North Yorkshire cycling already accounts for only 1.25 per cent of journeys – less than half of the national average of 2.95per cent.

Road cycling will be reduced eventually to an annual spectator event if safe cycling is not more fully integrated into council highways maintenance.

In towns like Skipton, cycling should play a much greater part in planning and maintenance of roads and public spaces.

Cycle lanes and facilities are in the plans for the new Skipton Station. That’s good for commuters and visitors but what about cyclists who have no designated places to leave their bike when they want to come to Skipton for shopping, work or recreation?

Linking schools, colleges and large workplaces to roads designed for safe cycling is also needed. Creating new cycling lanes would be a heavy expense but as the climate emergency advances this is the kind of investment that is essential.

Despite the urgent need to support cycling, North Yorkshire County Council’s Local Transport Plan (2016-2045) devotes only six pages to ‘Walking and Cycling’ at the end of its 201 pages, relegating cycling to an afterthought.

And, in 2020 North Yorkshire County Council published a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for Skipton and other North Yorkshire centres.

Unfortunately, as the council says on its website: “There is currently no government funding allocated for the implementation of LCWIP's. However, if funding becomes available from the government we will have a series of bid ready projects ready to submit for funding.

Additionally, having the LCWIP in place with network plans for each area allows the council to be in a much better position to request S106 funding from developers towards new infrastructure.”

I don’t find that very reassuring and it’s certainly not the legacy local residents deserve.

Geraldine Reardon

Settle