Email from Ryedale Cycle Forum 17th July 2020

Dear Helmsley Town Clerk and Helmsley Councillors,

Your help is much needed to support and create safe cycling routes to Ryedale School from Helmsley and Kirkbymoorside.

In the “new normal” of Covid-19, social distancing will be impossible on the buses to Ryedale School, and the school lane is too narrow for 700 pupils to come by car, so a cycling alternative is needed, and quickly. Education is very important, but many families mix in school. Many organisations, individuals and businesses are working together in Ryedale to reduce the risk of the virus spreading between families, to reduce the risk of infecting vulnerable people who have been shielded so far. It seems that this virus threat is going to be with us for quite some time.

You may have seen in the national news that cycling is now getting a real push from Government as a safer way to travel. It is also a way of reducing traffic congestion, air pollution and carbon footprint. Active lifestyles improve health, so reducing pressure on the NHS. With many electric-assisted bicycles now available, people can cycle further and much later in life than before. There are also many styles of 3-wheeler cycles to suit disabilities. The whole route would link Kirkbymoorside with Helmsley, so supporting sustainable tourism recovery for Ryedale. There is a lot of public support for safer cycle routes in Ryedale, as well as for improved disabled access.

Please find attached some multi-user path ideas which include the parish of Helmsley. We are writing to ask whether you would support these ideas in principal? We have agreement from some but not all landowners to date, but we have suggested routes and fences to keep path users well away from homes and from potential farming hazards.

In this rural area, Ryedale Cycle Forum would suggest the Sustrans.org.uk "paths for everyone" idea. The paths would be really beneficial as routes to Ryedale School twice a day on school days, and the whole community can benefit from the paths for all the rest of the time.

Regarding design, it is useful to think in the long-term, and think of everyone; the very young, the very old, and all of us in between! The new paths would benefit wheelchair users, mobility scooters, parents with prams and small children, dog walkers, joggers, the occasional horse-rider, and some touring cycles passing through. On road-sides, tarmac in preferable, because then NYCC Highways will look after it in the long term. For off-road sections, tarmac is the most durable, but many communities favour very hard wearing rolled stone. The ideal width is 3m, and wild-life areas along side can be considered. Sometimes hedges and trees need to be replanted to make a safe space. Appropriate signs are helpful too.

We also wanted to let you know that Kirkbymoorside Town Council are intending to put a funding bid to the AJ1 Fund to make a start on finding the funds needed for the route. I have supplied most of the information that Lisa Bolland needs to make the funding bid. The maximum bid is £22,000, so it would be made to attract further funding. We are also waiting for news on some NYCC Covid-19 funding for active travel, again, probably a match-fund amount. Would Helmsley Parish Council be willing to assist with funding applications, if Ryedale Cycle Forum gave you lots of help? Would you be willing to accept public donations? We are asking because Ryedale Cycle Forum is a forum of many, with Terms of Reference, and chaired by RDC Councillor Michael Cleary, but we do not have a bank account.

James Hare of Duncombe Park Estate has said they would allow a permissive use of the railbed. At the Helmsley end of the rail-bed, a wider bridge would be needed to enable disabled access to the route. Your help would be needed to get the best onward routes within Helmsley Town, possibly with some "cyclist dismount" signs in certain places!

I would be happy to talk to you all, on behalf of Ryedale Cycle Forum, either by video link or outside.