Call to ‘maximise’ Keighley's Tour de France opportunity (From Keighley News)

Call to ‘maximise’ Keighley's Tour de France opportunity

9:00pm Saturday 23rd February 2013 in Keighley

The arrival of the Tour de France is likely to be the biggest event to happen in Oxenhope in the next five to ten years, according to one parish councillor.

Coun David Ashcroft said it was important to begin preparing for the Tour, which is due to pass through the village on July 6 next year.

The stage two route – which also takes in Silsden, Keighley, Haworth and Stanbury – is scheduled to enter Oxenhope parish via Moor Side Lane, Shaw Lane and Hebden Bridge Road.

Speaking at Tuesday night’s parish council meeting, Coun Ashcroft said his previous experience of the Tour de France passing through Sussex gave him an idea of the size of the event and the impact it was likely to have.

“We need to think about how we can maximise this – it’s something we must take seriously,” he added.

He and his colleagues agreed to liaise with the village’s different community groups to try to make sure local events taking place at the same time of year – such as the Straw Race and fete – do not conflict with the race.

Parish council chairman, Coun David Cameron, said he wanted the parish to avoid the kind of congestion problems that affected Haworth during its own well-attended 1940s Weekend.

Coun Tony Jones said he was concerned that the poor state of some of the roads in the village could cause problems for the cyclists.