Path : Stakesby Vale

Status : Proposal

Stakesby Vale green space (often referred to as Bagdale Beck) provides natural open space for residents alongside a beck. It has had little maintenance / development since the 1970s. It connects High Stakesby Road (locally “Switchbacks”), with Stakesby Vale road and the start of the Cinder Track. The current path is an assortment of poor quality aging tarmac, decaying concrete, and small paving stones, and is covered in mud for many months of the year. The Stakesby Vale road end of the path would fail any disability access assessment.

The path is currently suitable for : Walking, Scooting (muddy, narrow).

This project would be suitable for : Walking, Cycling, Wheeling, Scooting.

Route

The markers on the map (above) highlight particular points where we have an image (below) showing the view from that position.

Stakesby Vale (1) - Land adjoining High Stakesby Road

1

High Stakesby Road end. Steps to footpath. Sloping grass path behind hedge

Stakesby Vale (2) - End of Mickleby Close

2

End of Mickleby Drive. Grass separating area from path. No lighting present on this section

3

Wilder section of path, with grassy area and trees. No lighting on this section.

Stakesby Vale (4) - Approaching footbridge

4

Tree section, approaching connecting bridge. No lighting on this section.

Stakesby Vale (5) - Sunningdale Grove bridge access

5

Connecting bridge to Sunningdale Grove. Path up to Dundas Gardens. Lighting present, but some lights not working.

6

Narrowing of track, with retaining wall. Path up to end of Dundas Gardens.

Stakesby Vale (7) - Approaching Stakesby Vale unadopted road

7

Concrete steps down to Stakesby Vale unadopted road. Disabled access unfriendly.

Land Ownership

The Stakesby Vale green space area is owned by North Yorkshire Council.

Design

A suitable path for this area would, most likely, be of a compacted gravel (UltiTrec) surface. Ideally 3m wide would be suitable for a shared use path, with appropriate shared path / keep left signage. Connecting to the Stakesby Value road end would be straightforward, though perhaps requiring the removal of the gate, and addition of a removal bollard. The connection at the High Stakesby Road end would be more problematic, with the need for an inclined path behind the hedge.

Lighting would be essential as an integral part of the project, ideally providing an ecologically sound solution that is LED based, perhaps solar powered (but may not be possible due to the tree covered nature of some of the area), that is relatively inobtrusive for wildlife.

The path would be the order of 700m in length, ideally 3m wide for the majority of the length.