Chair’s Report for 24/25 – CycleKirklees AGM 2025
As Chair, I am pleased to present a comprehensive overview of our campaigning work over the last year.
“Ambition alone doesn’t build cycle tracks.”
— Chris Knight
1. Campaigning & Advocacy
The past year has seen a shift from infrastructure consultation towards policy consultation. We have continued to respond to Kirklees and West Yorkshire Combined Authority consultations for road schemes and policy.
In December last year we responded to the second consultation for changes to the A62 Cooper Bridge junction. Our response criticised the scheme for not delivering transformational change. Despite the significance of the corridor, the proposals fell short of prioritising pedestrians and cyclists and were primarily designed to improve traffic flows, with active travel treated as an afterthought. I, as Chair, attended an engagement session hosted by Kirklees where the tone presented by a specific officer involved with the design of the scheme showed apathy toward cycling, and suggested the minimum was being done to meet funding requirements rather than designing to make cycling attractive.
In early 2025, we welcomed the publication of the Kirklees Active Travel Position Statement as a step toward recognising the role of walking and cycling in the district’s future transport mix. While the statement sets out encouraging aspirations around connectivity, climate and health, we made it clear that words must now translate into delivery.
In March we responded to the draft strategy, calling out its failure to fully embrace best practices for active travel. While the consultation was a positive start, we emphasised the need for concrete commitments backed by planning, not aspiration. We submitted comments urging the council to align all forthcoming schemes with LTN 1/20 design standards and to ensure that active travel is treated as essential infrastructure, not an optional add-on.
West Yorkshire Local Transport Plan
The most significant development since summer has been the publication of the draft West Yorkshire Local Transport Plan (LTP), a 122-page document setting out the Mayor’s vision for the Weaver Network of mass transit, rail, bus, walking, wheeling and cycling. We submitted a detailed response, highlighting that while the LTP sets the right vision, it lacks the mechanisms and commitments to deliver it. In particular, we pointed to the absence of a clear pledge to build a fully connected active travel network, the need for consistent design standards across West Yorkshire, the lack of transparent funding commitments, and the absence of a dedicated Sustainable Transport Commissioner, a role now common in other Mayoral regions.
Our response built on years of work calling for Kirklees and WYCA to move beyond aspiration and into delivery. The LTP shows that the case for change is widely accepted, but also underlines how far we still are from implementation on the ground.
2. Infrastructure Focus: Access & Inclusion
Barriers on greenways
We documented how many greenway access points remain inaccessible — fitted with narrow chicane and A-frame barriers that exclude adapted cycles, trailers, tandems, disabled cyclists and families. We invoked UK design guidance (LTN 1/20) and equality duties to demand the removal or redesign of these barriers. We noted progress: Sustrans and Canal & River Trust have begun removing barriers on the Spen Valley Greenway and Huddersfield canals. Yet Kirklees Council’s use of 1.2 m bollards at Primrose Lane ignores up to date standards, effectively excluding many users.
3. Collaboration & Partnerships
LCWIP demo
We participated in a behind the scenes look at the progress on the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP), gaining insight into Kirklees and WYCA’s emerging priorities. We have been waiting years for LCWIP2 but have found out recently that it has been absorbed into the third phase as the new LCWIP. Whilst it is good to see progress on these plans, we will still have to wait until the end of this year before any proposals are released to consultation.
Network Rail & Canal & River Trust
As reported at last year’s AGM, we have continued discussions around strategic first and last mile links and towpath improvements, most recently cycling the Huddersfield canals in February to assess upcoming works.
Better Transport Week 2025
We joined partners, including EPIKS and Campaign for Better Transport, to kick off Better Transport Week outside Huddersfield Station, supporting visibility for sustainable travel.
4. Community Engagement & Communications
Website & newsletters
Monthly newsletters (aside from Jan/Feb) have kept members informed about consultations, campaign opportunities and blog updates.
Membership
Our membership now exceeds 200. We have introduced conversations about modest membership fees to support sustainability.
Outreach
We have been present at events in Batley and Huddersfield to speak to members and non-members about how they travel around and the issues they have discovered while cycling in Kirklees.
Protest
We held a small protest in Huddersfield to highlight that the highway improvement works completed on the Shorehead roundabout did not include any of the active travel infrastructure that had been designed and consulted on as part of the Wakefield Road and Huddersfield Southern Corridors consultations, potentially wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds.
5. Ongoing Challenges
Closed greenways
Several key routes remain closed due to major works: Calder Valley Greenway at Scout Hill (estimated four more years), Birkby–Bradley Greenway at Deighton (closed approximately three months), and the Colne Valley Towpath (potential summer reopening).
Fragmented infrastructure
We continue to challenge the piecemeal approach of small-scale works that fail to align with modern design principles like LTN 1/20 or the ideals of Gear Change.
Looking Ahead:
1. Push for a fully connected network
Keep pressure on WYCA and Kirklees to move beyond piecemeal schemes. The LTP must commit to delivering a coherent, safe and accessible active travel network by 2032, not just selective routes.
2. Demand funding clarity
Expose the gap between the ambitious cycling targets (300% increase by 2027, 1,324% by 2038) and the lack of dedicated funding lines for active travel. Call for transparent, ring-fenced budgets.
3. Champion consistent standards
Hold decision-makers to the Streets for Everyone strategy and LTN 1/20, ensuring quality and accessibility are not sacrificed to local variation or driver-friendly defaults.
4. Call for leadership
Continue making the case for a Sustainable Transport Commissioner for West Yorkshire — an independent role to drive delivery and hold authorities accountable.
5. Strengthen CycleKirklees
Grow our membership and resources, including the option of fees, to sustain campaigning capacity, communications and visibility at regional level.
My deepest thanks to our committee — Chas, Daniel, Rutger, Andrew — and every engaged member. These collective efforts keep cycling visible in Kirklees and ensure that active travel remains a live issue in local policy. Let us keep pushing for the change we need. Ambition alone does not build cycle tracks.
Chris Knight
Chair, CycleKirklees
15 July 2025 (updated early October 2025)