I refer to North Yorkshire County Council’s decision not to renew the ban on traffic from Skipton High Street on market days. I have to say, I couldn’t believe it when I read it in the paper.

Many folk in the North Country blame the politicians in London for making poor decisions about what happens in the North, and it has to be said that sometimes they are right. More often however it’s the decisions taken or not taken by some of the third rate Local Authorities that we are blessed with up here, and this decision not to retain our traffic-free High Street on Market Days is a classic example.

There is no such thing as a static town – they are either on the way up or on the way down. The new thinking in and around Skipton regarding impending improvements to the public realm, including the HAZ and traffic-free Market Days, shows that Skipton is on the way up. At least it was. Highways are not always a problem – look at their positive contribution to the great improvements in the public realm in Leeds City Centre. We know what we have to do to make out High Streets viable again, and it isn’t about favouring cars.

As John Scharr so rightly pointed out, “The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination”.

So come on North Yorkshire Highways, move on from yesterday’s thinking, start looking to the future and keep Skipton High Street traffic free on market days. Better than that, keep it traffic-free on Market Days and let’s have Shared Space for the rest of the time!

Prof Dr Alan Simson

Skipton