A SENIOR York councillor has hit out at his own authority for its failure to deliver on a much-vaunted cross-country cycle path.

Christian Vassie says it is now a year and a half since a route for the Wheldrake to Heslington cycle path was agreed, with the help of landowners. In January, Forest England agreed for the route to pass through Wheldrake Woods, he said.

Yet now he says the scheme has been further delayed - because the council insists more feasibility studies need to be done.

A progress update given to members of City of York Council's Transport executive on Tuesday says 'preliminary design and feasibility work' is due to begin next April - with the path not scheduled to be finished until as late as 2023.

"Fourteen months ago a hundred local people participated in a photo call for the route," Cllr Vassie said.

"Over 200 people are supporters of the cycle path. A consultation organised by the Civic Trust and the York Cycle Campaign in the summer of 2020 demonstrated that large numbers of people want a wider cycle network across York and want this route in particular. Yet now council officers are pretending that further consultation and a feasibility study is required. It is a joke."

As reported in The Press on Thursday, cycle and transport campaigners are warning that failure to deliver on cycling projects - the Wheldrake to Heslington cycle route among them - means the city council is in danger of losing hundreds of thousands of pounds of government 'active travel' funds allocated to improve cycle routes in the city.

"A year ago the government awarded City of York Council £250k to deliver this scheme," Cllr Vassie said. "In this year's council budget the administration pledged £200k to get the scheme implemented and the national cycling organisation Sustrans pledged to help implement the scheme, drawing on their wide experience of getting things done.

"It is tragic for the people of York therefore that council officers have not done the work over the past year to prepare the scheme for implementation.

"If we fail to deliver the scheme by next summer the monies government has pledged will be lost and this city council will gain a reputation for failing to deliver sustainable transport improvements."

Tony Clarke, the council's head of transport, said: “City of York Council is developing potential options for the delivery of a cycling/walking route between Heslington and Wheldrake but need to ensure that there are viable continuous routes prior to consultation with the public.

"Whilst some sections of the route were agreed at the beginning of 2021, there remain other lengths which need to be secured. The council needs certainty that landowners involved are supportive of the approach prior to progressing the scheme further.

“We are aware that public support for the scheme is high within the local area and will continue to work to progress the work. The council have engaged with Sustrans, who are working on an associated scheme, to help deliver the route.”