Time is running out for residents to have their say on how to make their streets greener, healthier and more attractive.
In September 2020, Calderdale Council launched a survey to gather people’s views on a £1 million ‘Streets for People’ project focusing on Park ward, with Illingworth, Ovenden, Mixenden, Lee Mount and Pellon set to benefit from wider improvements.
The project is being delivered by the Council in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, as part of a ‘Streets for People’ programme aimed at creating safe, healthy and more inclusive places where people choose to walk, cycle and use public transport. The areas where the project is focused are experiencing traffic congestion at peak times, pockets of poor air quality and fewer walking and cycling facilities.
Responses to the online survey will help to shape the improvements. The survey closes on Friday 16 October and can be completed at www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/calderdale-sfp(external link)
Cllr Jane Scullion, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Strategy, said:
“Thank you to everyone who has had their say so far. The survey is a great opportunity to make a difference. Nobody knows their neighbourhoods more than the people who live there, so it’s important that as many people as possible complete the survey.
“We are determined to tackle climate change and for Calderdale to be the most active borough in the North by 2024. We want sustainable travel to be the easiest option for everyone, due to the amazing benefits it has for our health, wellbeing and the environment.”
Cllr Kim Groves, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Transport Committee, said:
“We’re delighted to be working in partnership with Calderdale Council on this exciting project, which demonstrates how we are putting local people at the heart of our work.
“Our Streets for People projects, of which this is one, will help make walking, cycling and public transport the natural choice for short, everyday journeys, helping to reduce air pollution, and increase road safety and physical activity.
“We want to create welcoming, safer, quieter and attractive places where people want to spend more time. It goes without saying that nobody is better placed than local people to tell us how we can do that.”
Calderdale Council and the Combined Authority are working in partnership to make wider improvements as part of Leeds City Region’s £317 million Transforming Cities Fund – a major new programme of transport infrastructure investment announced as part of the West Yorkshire devolution deal earlier this year.
The Leeds City Region Transforming Cities Fund Programme aims to provide around 627,000 people in the most deprived 20% areas in the country with better access to employment and skills opportunities. Through investment in high-quality, sustainable transport infrastructure, the programme aims to enable inclusive growth, boost productivity, support clean growth and create a modern transport system.