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21
Feb
Council responds to claims of Kex Gill ‘cock-up’
North Yorkshire Council has responded to a claim that it has overseen a "cock-up" at Kex Gill as part of the £68.8 million road realignment scheme.
Three miles of the A59 are being realigned in the landslip-prone area between Harrogate and Skipton.
One of the planning conditions stated all soil on site, including topsoil, subsoil and peat, would be retained for restoration work in the area of outstanding natural beauty.
But the council applied to itself to vary this condition because the soil quality is poorer than expected — even though a soil management plan was agreed in advance.
It means 16,000 lorry loads of soil could have to be taken offsite, as previously reported here, with most going to a quarry in Skipton.
Blubberhouses resident Alistair Young, who has taken a keen interest in the Kex Gill scheme, told us last month it was “just another cock-up in the planning and surveying for the new road”.
Contractors at Kex Gill
Freedom of information request
The Stray Ferret sent a freedom of information request to the council asking how much remedial work was expected to cost, and why WSP’s soil surveys did not pick-up on the issue before work started.
We also asked how much more soil than expected had been excavated.
The response said:
The work is ongoing with costs not yet finalised and will be managed as part of the overall A59 Kex Gill project.
Despite rigorous investigations before work started, the circa 100-acre site was covered in vegetation, shrub and trees, and it would not have been possible to test the whole site without significant expense and delay.
At this stage we do not yet know the exact quantity of unsuitable material that we will need to remove from site and the figure used in the planning submission represents an initial estimate of the potential overall amount. Soils and material assessment work is on-going.
Cllr Keane Duncan on Station Parade.
One year to go
The Department for Transport is contributing £56.1 million towards the realignment; the council is funding the remaining £12.7 million.
In his latest project update, Cllr Keane Duncan, the council’s executive member for highways, said in a report to councillors ahead of a meeting next week that the latest Kex Gill road closure from January 1 to 23 was the 15th landslip-induced closure since 2000.
Cllr Duncan added:
Despite snow frustrating our efforts, we were able to repair the problem and reopen the road within three weeks. This involved removing 2,000 tonnes of debris and installing 50m of new drainage channels at a cost of £150,000. Opening the new, £68m bypass will ensure further closures are avoided.
We continue work on this major project at pace. The new earthworks season commenced this month, and subject to no unforeseen issues arising, we expect to be able open the road as planned in spring 2026. We hope the existing road does not create further problems before it is decommissioned, however we will continue to respond as required to keep this key east-west route open to the public.
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