At The Craven Area Committee on 29/5/08 members discussed and voted on the proposed schemes.

What a stitch-up! Considering the geographical area of the study and number of schemes discussed at 1st stage it was a blow to see proposed schemes distilled down to so few and in such a reduced area (just Crosshills and Sutton).there were  bus/public transport infrastructure bids(not just moving of stops on a629) thrown out - but depressingly for me similar proposals in Settle study progressed to proposal stage.

 I have been advised by highways area office that Jacobs are looking at a cheaper scheme re. A629 bus stop issue and I would hope that this could be reinstated on the study proposal(as only reason for throwing it off was cost - a whopping great £100,000. Just to move a bus stop!). 

Other schemes seemed inexpensive and practical - traffic calming on grange road Kildwick, pedestrian safety accessing bus stops on Cononley lane end, road markings a6068 cowling - Lancs border - in light of fatalities). Whereas some of schemes that were put forward look pretty lame and possibly overpriced.

If there cannot be any movement on schemes then I would hope that there might be some movement to accommodate the rejected projects on the general highways list of proposed schemes.

The Police Authority met today to discuss their “Estates Transformation Strategy”. To you and me that probably means closure of police stations. The press have highlighted 4 potential sites for closure - Crosshills, Settle, Ripon, and Knaresborough and it was confirmed last night at Kildwick Parish Meeting by a local Police Inspector. The worrying aspect of this latest development is the linking of it to the review of workforce structures also taking place.

Last year our area suffered through the net loss of 2 officers after a restructure. It seems if the crime statistics point to the marshaling of resources towards Harrogate and york we will suffer again. Therein lies the problem. Reported crime may be down but unreported crime will not have dropped and probably risen. If our local station closes how much harder will it be for us to report incidents of crime(an easy question to answer for those who have tried to wrestle with police phone system), I anticipate many will give up trying.

The morale of our officers is low, Settle officers living in police houses have been given notice of eviction. Whilst I recognise the need for the police to review all aspects of its service I wonder what financial imperative could be behind this. I hope that the multi million £ cost of Harrogates “super station” will not influence the decision, especially in light of the potentially large capital receipt from the sale of 4 pieces of prime real estate.

It seems our community is about to take another hit. First a reduction in our bus service, then post offices and now our police stations are about to go the same way. Surely enough is enough. We deserve as much of a police service as urban areas - crime whatever the perceived level of severity - has a long lasting affect on the victim.

The Police Authority states the following as objectives -

Promoting safer neighbourhoods through - Increasing levels of public satisfaction with the police service

background 

The Metro Ticketing Scheme, administered by METRO, provides unlimited rail and bus or bus only travel in West Yorkshire.  The area is divided into 5 zones that are centred on Leeds and the cost of the ticket varies depending on the zone you want to travel from.  The most expensive ticket covering zones 1 to 5 is approximately £1,000 pa.  The first “quick win” of the Leeds City Region was to expand the METRO Ticketing scheme to a new zone 6 which would cover Cononley to Gargrave and also to Harrogate and Knaresborough.  The central aim of the Leeds City Region is to remove the barriers within a coherent economic area to allow for growth.  The most important of these is the flexibility of the labour market and the removal of barriers for cross border travel both into Leeds/Bradford etc and also into Craven. 

Funding of a Zone 6 

The aim of the Zone 6 development was to make the scheme cost neutral as the basis of the scheme is that revenue from the ticket is divided between bus and rail operators based on the proportion of usage.  Growth in the scheme for Zone 6 would increase the revenue for the operators.  Total revenues for 2007/8 were £28m. In developing a zone 6 there needs to be a balance between attractiveness for the public and also for the operators.  A key issue here is the price differential between a rail season ticket for Skipton to Leeds (35.60 pw) and the expected cost of a rail only zone 1 to 6 ticket (£36.50).  If bus was then added the operators would only accept a zone 1 to 6 rail plus zone 1 to 5 bus at about £43.30 pw.  The key question here is why switch from a rail season ticket to rail only metro card and would the inclusion of buses in zones 1 to 5 be prohibitively expensive? If a public sector subsidy from NYCC was introduced this could make the product both more attractive for the public and the operators therefore delivering the labour flexibility and a possible shift away from the car.  NYCC have said that they will look at any proposals and discuss the costs and benefits of a subsidy. 

Alternative Products 

It is not certain whether creating two products, a zone 1 – 6 rail only, and a zone 1 to 6 rail plus 1 to 5 bus would be taken up by the public or would it be largely symbolic.  There is the opportunity to develop different more specific products that could support businesses, students, tourists, the social excluded or groups that can travel off peak all at discounts from the main offer.   An example of the business product could be that a company purchases 20 tickets at a 15% discount for any of their staff to use therefore reducing car usage etc.  Students currently pay £5.50 per week for METRO tickets and this could be expanded to zone 6 so allowing students from West Yorkshire to come to Craven College or for outdoor pursuits in the Dales but also Craven Students to go to other colleges and universities and leisure activities in Leeds etc.  The tourist card could allow travel anywhere in the City Region plus discounts to attractions for a week.  

Next Steps

METRO are aiming to introduce a Zone 6 on the 1st January 2009 although what that will comprise of is uncertain.  They will be developing a range of options based on the issues set out above and this should be produced by September. So watch this space for further developments.

Due to change of job and a increased number of evening council meetings attended in last few weeks the website has not been updated. This will be remedied in next few days and will be regularly updated from then on.

Sorry once again to those who have visited site and only come across out of date news.