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Apr 2023

Last Updated: 12/04/2023

Transport

£3m from parking fines won’t be spent on Harrogate Station Gateway if costs rise

by Thomas Barrett Local Democracy Reporter

| 12 Apr, 2023

Up to £3m collected from parking fines will not be spent on the Harrogate Station Gateway should costs rise — despite calls from the outgoing Harrogate Borough Council.

The £11.2 million project has been in development for three years after funding was won from the government’s Transforming Cities Fund to make the town centre more accessible to cyclists and pedestrians.

However, the rising cost of building materials and high inflation has led to concerns that the project, if approved, could go over-budget.

When the gateway scheme was first announced it had an anticipated cost of £7.9m.

North Yorkshire County Council had responsibility for on-street parking in the Harrogate district until April 1.

According to a report that went before councillors on the new North Yorkshire Council today, it has a parking enforcement surplus for the new financial year of £3m, which includes £2m collected in the Harrogate district.

As part of local government reorganisation, the outgoing borough councils, including Harrogate, were invited to suggest what it should be spent on.

The report includes a letter sent by Trevor Watson, Harrogate Borough Council’s director of economy, environment and housing to Barrie Mason, assistant director of highways at North Yorkshire County Council.

Dated April 2022, the letter says some of the surplus should be put aside for contingency if Station Gateway costs rise.

Mr Watson said:

“With inflation rising it would be prudent to budget for additional match funding from civil parking enforcement surplus expenditure.”

However, the report pours cold water on this request and says match funding through the surplus “would not be possible.”

Instead, it lists projects such as the Whitby and Scarborough park-and-ride schemes, the A1 (M) junction 47 changes and other highways improvements as beneficiaries.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Council said “it’s too early to speculate about final costs” of the Station Gateway.

Next steps

A final decision on the scheme will be made in the summer before a full business case is submitted to the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which made the original bid for government funding.

The council hopes work, if approved, could begin by the end of this year.

Conservative councillor Keane Duncan, who has responsibility for highways on the council’s decision-making executive, has in recent months twice spoken to business leaders at Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce about the controversial scheme.

In September last year, he discussed what impact inflation might have on its overall budget.

Cllr Duncan said:

“My aspiration is that we will have a high quality scheme.

“The last thing I would want to happen is us compromising on the public realm because that is a key part of the scheme and what we are wanting to deliver.

“If there are inflationary pressures with this particular scheme, then we are going to have to look at potentially what we can do around those costings. But that is not something we have discussed or are expecting at this point in time.”

But in March he said a £500,000 water feature planned for Station Square had been scrapped from the scheme “due to practical and cost constraints”.