Active travel strategy to be created for county

North Yorkshire Council has already secured funding for active travel schemes

An active travel strategy is set to be produced for North Yorkshire to make walking, cycling and other sustainable transport options a priority.

North Yorkshire Council agreed to look at setting out a vision for the strategy after the idea was put forward by Liberal Democrat councillors at a recent meeting.

Hannah Gostlow, who raised the issue, said childhood obesity rates in North Yorkshire were now higher than the national average.

"This isn't just about transport - it's about healthier people, healthy places, stronger communities and a thriving local economy," the councillor said.

Gostlow, who represents Knaresborough East, called for active travel to be made a "priority, now".

"If we want people to lead healthy lives and be healthier in later life, we must enable healthier choices from the very beginning," she said.

"We are these children's local authority, their schools, their communities, their environment and it's on us."

'Welcome step forward'

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, councillors agreed to form a working party to look at the issue and its findings will be fed into a new local plan.

"This is a small but welcome step forward," said Gostlow.

"We need to stop waiting for national directives."

Keane Duncan, the council's executive member for highways and transport, said the authority was committed to developing the strategy.

"We're going to work with the combined authority on this key strategic document," he said.

"They will take the lead and we expect work on this to start this year."

Duncan said the authority had secured two pots of funding - worth £1.23m and £370,000 - for active travel schemes.

"We have schemes ready to be delivered and we have local cycling and walking infrastructure plans agreed already in all major settlements in North Yorkshire," he added.

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