‘We’re lagging behind in race to be cycling city’

The CTC, the UK’s largest cycling charity, has ranked Leeds sixth out of England’s eight largest city economies outside London in its support for the national Space for Cycling campaign which calls on local authorities and central Government to invest in cycle lanes and safety provision for those on two wheels.

The findings state only 16 per cent of councillors support the Space for Cycling campaign in Leeds, as opposed to 67 per cent in Newcastle.

This comes just months after the city hosted the start of the 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart and amid talk of Yorkshire securing a long-term cycling legacy through the local authority-backed Cycle Yorkshire programme.

Leeds City Council has responded by stating members of all political groups have shown a desire to improve cycling facilities in Leeds – something it is “extremely committed to”.

Robbie Gillett, CTC’s national Space for Cycling co-ordinator, said its figures reflect there has been some “hesitancy” from Leeds in backing the campaign while “there is a sense more could have been done to grasp the legacy of the Tour”.

“To capitalise on the Tour de France’s potential legacy and to harness the economic, health and congestion benefits that cycling offers – Leeds, Sheffield and other Yorkshire councils will need to make long-term commitments,” he said.

Lizzie Reather, chair of the Leeds Cycling Campaign, said: “Leeds City Council is saying all the right things, but progress is slow on the ground.”

Coun Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council’s executive member for transport and the economy, said: “Improving cycling in Leeds both now and in the future is not defined by all councillors signing up to one particular campaign, but by a real commitment by everyone in the city, including the council, to see long-lasting improvements made.”