ROAD safety campaigners are furious this week at what they claim is the Government's shirking of responsibility over a long-awaited bypass scheme for Manor Park Bends.

District and ward councillors along with Burley Community Council were shocked at a joint statement from the Government and Bradford Council, which was read out to them at Ilkley Town Hall last Friday.

In it Bradford Council announced it would be not be re-submitting a bid for a scheme at Manor Park Bends until a future financial year. The council originally submitted a bid for realignment of the Manor Park section of the A65 to the Department of Transport in July 2002.

The Department of Transport deferred a decision on the bid in December 2002 until less expensive and less intrusive measures were put on trial and assessed.

In February of this year a 40mph speed limit was introduced on the Bends.

Now Bradford Council has decided not to resubmit the bid as full monitoring of the effect of the 40 mph signs has not taken place.

However full assessment cannot take place without speed cameras which the council say they cannot afford to install until next year.

Councillor Anne Hawkesworth said: "The Department has said there is no point in putting in another bid for the realignment of the road until they know if the current measures work. If another bid were sent in it would be refused. We would also lose credibility.

"My view is that if you put speed limits in you need cameras as well."

Coun Hawkesworth said that a joint West Yorkshire consortium covering Leeds, Halifax and Wakefield, as well as the Bradford area allocated funding for speed cameras.

"The programme for the financial year was worked out six months ago and it has all been allocated. There is no money left for this year for cameras at Manor Park and I am very cross about this," she said.

But MP Chris Leslie believes the money for cameras should be found now..

"It is up to Anne Hawkesworth if she wants to prioritise this. The council should find the money straight away for cameras in order to monitor the situation so that a new bid can go in next year. The council need to pull their finger out and spend money on cameras now.

"It is the council who have decided not to resubmit the bid - but unless the 40mph limit is enforced by cameras, it's a half measure. By not installing cameras now the council are elongating the evaluation process."

John Traynier of the A65 Road Safety Committee said: "Certain people are following a totally misguided path on this issue. Accidents are a major part of the problem but are not the most significant problem.

"Residents have a right to enjoy their surroundings. Noise levels have gone up remorselessly. Young mothers are afraid to push their children along that stretch of road. Anne Hawkesworth is the chairman of the Environment Committee but has no knowledge of human rights.

"The road needs realigning. We have been promised this for nearly 70 years now.

"We are very disappointed and feel very let down. The matter is being dealt with by a very small group of ill-informed people.

"The widows of those killed are not impressed either."

The injury accident rate on Manor Park Bends over the period 1997 - 2001 was double the national average for similar classes of roads.

The section of A65 was the responsibility of the Highways Agency but was 'detrunked' in April 2003 and is now the responsibility of Bradford Council.

Coun Chris Greaves (Con, Rombalds) said: "Effectively, this announcement is the Government saying 'go away and have a speed camera' rather than doing what we all know really needs to be done. I am not at all impressed.

"My own view is that we have been here before. We had bad accidents, they did some road calming work, which brought the numbers down for a little while, but they came back up again.

"Now we're going to have some cosmetic improvements and cameras but when people get used to them and know where the cameras are, they'll start going faster again.

"The Government is making a big issue out of the fact that the road has been 'de-trunked', and trying to shift all the responsibility onto the council, but it is the same road with the same volume of traffic.

"This is just delaying, for the sake of the Treasury, what has to be done."