County councillors have today voted to give the green light to Harrogate’s £10.9 million Station Gateway scheme.
The project, along with similar schemes in Selby and Skipton, will now move onto the detailed design stage.
The decision comes despite widespread opposition to the initiative from businesses and residents.
Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, told a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s executive today that the schemes were the “greatest investment into three of our town centres in decades”.
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He added that the council had “a mandate” to carry out the gateway scheme after residents responded to its 2019 Harrogate Congestion Study.
Cllr Mackenzie said:
“They [residents] gave a clear message to us. In order to combat congestion they did not want new highways, they wanted better measures for walking and cycling.
“The gateway schemes do exactly that.”
Business and residents criticism
However, the scheme has long been criticised by Harrogate business groups and residents.
A joint letter signed by Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, Harrogate Business Improvement District and Independent Harrogate warned that work on the scheme would create ‘another 12 months of major disruption and misery’ for businesses already struggling to get over covid.
David Simister, chief executive of Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, told councillors today:
“Sadly, the views of the business community have been continually ignored. As have those of other key organisations, in particular Harrogate Civic Society and residents’ organisations who believe what is being proposed will not bring the benefits being espoused.”
In response, Cllr Mackenzie said he and the authority had spent “a great deal of time” listening to businesses in the town.
Meanwhile, Harrogate Residents Association called on senior county councillors to “look long and hard” at the objections made against the project.
The county council’s executive voted unanimously to approve the scheme.
What happens now?
The gateway project will now move onto the detailed design stage before being submitted to West Yorkshire Combined Authority as a final business case.
From there, the combined authority will draw on government funding to begin implementing the Harrogate scheme and others, including Skipton and Selby.
County council officials said in a report that they expect to submit a business case for the Harrogate project by May 2022.
A press release issued by North Yorkshire County Council after today’s meeting said work was likely to start ‘later this year’. It added:
“Although the Department for Transport set an initial completion date of March 2023, the department has advised that completion could extend into 2024.”
