Shipley choked on traffic event: your day out

Enjoy free community stalls, craft activities with Sponge Tree, refreshments, and tell us what you think of our ideas for less traffic, beating pollution, and a Shipley that’s easy to get to and easy to get around. Families welcome. All the action takes place at Shipley Kirkgate Centre, Saturday 5th March, 10am-4pm.

Come any time during the day, or register now for these timed sessions:

10.15: Plans for bigger roads, and alternatives
11.00: Traffic, climate, health: Bradford Council’s vision
12.00: Clarifying the Clean Air Zone
12.00: What makes a successful local transport campaign?
13.00: How does air pollution affect our health
13.15: Plans for bigger roads, and alternatives (repeat)
14.00: Much better buses
15.00: What is climate change?
15.00: How does air pollution affect our health (repeat)This is a joint event with Shipley Town Council.

The day aims to be a great time out, to help you learn more, and to get your views of our proposals for better travel. Our alternative proposals to the current plans to spend £48m on widening Canal/Valley roads coming into Shipley from Bradford are here. You can leave comments on our alternatives at any time by using the ‘Add your views’ menu on this website.

Bradford Beck consultation – have your say by 16th January

The Council plans to open a culvert that covers the Bradford Beck alongside Valley Road, between Poplar Road and Briggate, and landscape that part of the greenway between Bradford and Shipley. This was originally part of the Bradford-Shipley Road Scheme but separate funding has been found for it.

You can see the plan, and please comment on it up to 16th January via the survey at https://www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/BradfordBeck.

There is very little change from the current pathway and grass, but among the general welcome for tidying up the area and enjoying the Bradford Beck, there have been some comments you might wish to consider.

  • Include a cycle track separate from walkers.
  • Put in lighting for walkers and cyclists so the greenway is usable after dark including for commuting in winter.
  • Include a bridge or two for residents on Valley Road.
  • Dual carriageway on Valley Road will be to the detriment of this scheme.

Monthly BSTA meetings and a Public Consultation event

The next two BSTA meetings are this Wednesday 5th January 7pm on Zoom https://zoom.us/j/93473523040, and Thursday 10th February 7pm at the Tambourine Café at 38 Bingley Road, Shipley BD18 4RU. At these meetings we will plan our next steps, all are welcome.

Saturday 5th March 2022: a Public Consultation on the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s road development plans for Bradford and Shipley, hosted jointly by BSTA and Shipley Town Council.  Kirkgate Centre, Shipley – a unique opportunity for Bradford and Shipley residents to listen to and question key stakeholders in the current plans and have an impact on how this important development turns out.

BSTA puts our alternatives to widening the roads leading up to Shipley

Following three meetings to discuss ‘How would you spend £48m if not on widening roads?’, BSTA has sent details of alternatives to Bradford Council, for them to consider in what we understand to be an imminent reappraisal of the scheme.

It is relatively cheap to put in a clean air zone as planned next year for commercial vehicles in the Aire Valley to Shipley which is Bradford’s worst-hit pollution sink. Why not extend it to all cars, and give the grants that allow families to convert to cleaner engines? Why not do it hand-in-hand with all the measures that help people to avoid using cars for shorter trips: co-ordinated cycle routes with priority and places to keep bikes safe. Safe and well-maintained routes to walk to schools and shops.

Through-traffic of heavy lorries contributes a lot of Bradford’s pollution. Weight restrictions would keep heavy loads on the M62 instead of cutting through Bradford to get to the North West. At the same time, a rail freight terminal in the Shipley area could link up with ‘last mile’ van delivery of parcels and shopping.

Park and ride schemes are well-tried and would suit the Aire Valley with rapid bus and train routes into Bradford. They would work well with deterring long-stay parking in the city. It would make such a difference if West Yorkshire buses were much cheaper.

The full list of our alternatives is here. Please comment on your own priorities.

Join the debate on what Bradford Council should do to decarbonise the District

Bradford Council has funded an online platform for residents to suggest and comment on initiatives to reduce carbon emissions in the District. It is only available until the end of November, so use it now. There will be a workshop with Councillors and businesses to discuss the suggestions.

This is the link to make suggestions and comments: https://yorkshire-climate.org/

Registration is straightforward, and on logging in you are able to

  • Click on an initiative already proposed, and then support it, express an interest, make a comment or propose an alternative.
  • Click on an issue (eg. Transport), see the existing issues and initiatives proposed, or propose a new issue and an initiative that would address it.

The process is rapid – progressing through discussion of initiatives for a fortnight, and then voting for them. So if you have some space to contribute and agree or disagree with initiatives, get going now!

It is a system that has been used in Germany and elsewhere to asses support for initiatives and the reasons for support or opposition. Use it to express your views and be heard.

Of course there is no commitment to take any of these suggestions on board, but it is a means of recording your views, and those views being independently recorded by the University of Leeds. Your comments are anonymous – your details are only used for registration, and you can choose a nickname for your comments.

https://yorkshire-climate.org/