Draft Bradford District Local Plan - Preferred Options (Regulation 18) February 2021

Comment

Representation ID: 17298

Received: 22/03/2021

Respondent: The Great Northern Railway Trail Development Group

Station Road already has detailed planning permission. The Great Northern Railway Trail is to built alongside this housing development within the development site. However, it was struggle to get Bradford planners and the developer to assist by recognising the importance of this proposed section of the Trail as part of the National Cycle Network. We were treated as a third party with no weight to co-operate other than as a formal consultee. If planning policy is to change direction towards sustainable travel in future, then much more collaboration is needed from the outset.

Comment

Representation ID: 17299

Received: 22/03/2021

Respondent: The Great Northern Railway Trail Development Group

Route Protection
We ask that the same revised wording for Denholme applies to Cullingworth as follows.
‘Continue to protect the route of the Great Northern Railway Trail for cycling, walking and horse riding within this former railway line, as part of the National Cycle Network’.
The local strategy refers to the protection of biodiversity and landscape character but the Trail itself needs to be protected (refer to above).
Paragraph 5.19.12 states:
The Great Northern Railway Trail and National Cycle Network route 69 which, though disjointed, provides a link between Cullingworth and Queensbury and provides a local tourist attraction’.
The Trail is not just a tourist attraction. At present, it is more of a local attraction. We suggest amending this sentence with the following:
‘The Great Northern Railway Trail, part of the National Cycle Network, is a work in progress. Cullingworth is already linked to Harecroft. Essentially it is a local asset valued by the community for the community for the purpose of recreation, wildlife, railway heritage, and for journeys to work. Once connected, it will attract many more tourists, especially for the Bronte experience’.

Comment

Representation ID: 17300

Received: 22/03/2021

Respondent: The Great Northern Railway Trail Development Group

Protection should not just be afforded to biodiversity and landscape character but also to the route of the Trail itself. This needs to offer protection and extension of the Great Northern Railway Trail from its existing open section to the west of Thornton to link with the 250-housing scheme recently approved, in order to provide long-term sustainable infrastructure for recreation, wildlife, and journeys to work and school. This connection needs to be Bradford Council-led, partly using the £20,000 S106 contribution already agreed.

Comment

Representation ID: 17301

Received: 22/03/2021

Respondent: The Great Northern Railway Trail Development Group

TH8/HC - Site allocation of land west of Thornton for 250 dwellings. This site needs to link directly to the route of the Great Northern Railway Trail in accordance with strategic policies on sustainable travel. This is an opportunity to follow through with investment in infrastructure as an essential part of the housing scheme. This site is the largest of the site allocations in Thornton and would be isolated from the rest of the village. It is crucial that a sustainable travel route is established using the Trail.
We made this key point was made when the planning application was discussed at committee. Again, Bradford planners failed to recognise the importance of the Trail in considering this planning application.

Comment

Representation ID: 17302

Received: 22/03/2021

Respondent: The Great Northern Railway Trail Development Group

We support this protection. However, this specific protection of the Queensbury Tunnel is not mentioned in the Local Area Strategy. It is mentioned in para. 5.25.14 above. Please follow through by an insert in Local Area Strategy.
Also, the protected route is not correctly shown on the plan. It needs to follow the former railway line. This section is already opened to the public.

Comment

Representation ID: 17303

Received: 22/03/2021

Respondent: The Great Northern Railway Trail Development Group

We ask that reference be made of the need to connect Wilsden to the Great Northern Railway Trail at Harecroft as part of the overall route to connect Cullingworth with Keighley. This has the support of Wilsden Parish Council. This would be achieved by a spur link, of which the existing Station Road at Harecroft would form a part.

Comment

Representation ID: 17304

Received: 22/03/2021

Respondent: The Great Northern Railway Trail Development Group

Our group has been pioneering sustainable transport in Bradford District and had the privilege in the early 2000s of working in partnership with Bradford Council and Sustrans to develop the Great Northern Railway Trail. For some twenty years, we have promoted and safeguarded our vision to link Queensbury to Cullingworth using the former Great Northern Railway line for cycling and walking; we continue to do so. The Trail forms part of Route 69 of the National Cycle Network and forms part of Bradford Council’s District-wide cycle network.
We have been promoting sustainable transport long before politicians took serious note of the potential in an age of concern over climate change and environmental issues, such as loss of habitat and poor air quality.
The original aim of the Trail was linking Cullingworth to Queensbury, primarily to save the listed railway viaducts from demolition. Now that that has been achieved through the development of three miles of the Trail, opened to the public, our vision has widened to link the key settlements of Bradford, Halifax and Keighley in the same manner. This includes the Queensbury Tunnel, where a local group is campaigning to save this for cycling and walking.
Currently, we are in partnership with five town and parish councils in the Keighley area, supported by Bradford Council. We are supporting the campaign by the Queensbury Tunnel Society to save Queensbury Tunnel from being filled in because it includes a section of route forming part of our vision to use this tunnel for cycling and walking.