Parking space losses paused over business fears

Hebden Bridge has become a popular tourist destination in recent years

Plans to remove parking from a stretch of road between tourist hotspot Hebden Bridge and neighbouring Mytholmroyd are to be put on hold.

The loss of spaces had been proposed from Fallingroyd to make way for a cycle route as part of Calderdale Council's £5m A646/A6033 scheme to increase "active travel".

But after concerns were voiced by local businesses about the possible impact on trade, the authority said it would “briefly pause” that part of the scheme until the findings of a wider strategy looking at parking options in the area were known.

The council said it was committed to helping people get to the town as safely, easily, actively and sustainably as possible.

Last month, business owners said more than 1,000 people had signed a petition over concerns about the plans to cut parking spaces.

Traders said they feared they would be particularly badly hit because the work was planned for the same time as a car park was being taken out of use for flood alleviation works.

'Complex task'

The authority said the findings of its Parking Area Plan for Hebden Bridge were due out later this year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

It said it was still proposing to deliver other parts of the scheme, including an upgrade of the pedestrian crossing at Station Road and reducing the speed limit from 40mph to 30mph between Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge.

The council’s cabinet member for regeneration and transport, Councillor Sarah Courtney, said the authority had been working behind the scenes on the different options for the A646/A6033 project in Hebden Bridge for many months.

She added: “The narrowness of our valley makes this a complex task, and there are lots of different factors and feedback to take into account.

“That’s why we’ve decided to pause the proposed Fallingroyd scheme for the moment, and we’ll be continuing to look into options."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.