Over the past month, Harrogate businesses and residents group have responded to a consultation on the town’s £7.9 million Station Gateway proposals.
The plan, outlined by North Yorkshire County Council, Harrogate Borough Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority, seeks to encourage sustainable transport in the town centre.
Two of the most contentious proposals are to reduce Station Parade to one lane with cycle routes and a full pedestrianisation of James Street.
The responses over the past week suggest that not everyone is on the same page about what to do with the schemes.
As the consultation closes, the Stray Ferret has looked over the views of organisations, including business groups and climate change bodies, to see if there is any consensus.
Station Parade: one lane or two?
Organisations which represent businesses across Harrogate all agreed that Station Parade needs to be two lanes.
Both Independent Harrogate and Harrogate Business Improvement District have opposed the one lane option.
Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce and Harrogate Civic Society have also opposed the proposal.
Read more:
- James Street pedestrianisation back on the cards in major town centre scheme
- Harrogate cycle groups back one-lane Station Parade plan
- Harrogate BID “urges caution” over Station Gateway project
However, the groups which campaign for climate change and better cycling in the district have backed the one lane option.
Zero Carbon Harrogate has backed the option as a means of reducing traffic in the town centre.
Meanwhile, Harrogate and District Cycle Action (HDCA) have also supported the measure as it would improve cycling infrastructure.
How Station Parade might look under the new “Station Gateway” proposals.
Should James Street be pedestrianised?
The proposal to pedestrianise James Street has been a long and controversial topic in the town.
North Yorkshire County Council had planned to temporarily pedestrianise the street up to Princes Square last year.
However, it backtracked on the proposal after backlash from local businesses. Council officials then promised to delay the issue until 2021.
Now, the topic is back on the table as part of the gateway project.
Two of the groups, Independent Harrogate and Harrogate BID, have renewed their opposition to full pedestrianisation of the street.
Read more:
- Harrogate Civic Society calls for Station Gateway to remain two lanes
- Independent Harrogate fears Station Gateway could damage economy
However, they have said that widening of the pavements and narrowing of the junction at Station Parade to improve pedestrian access would be supported.
Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce has said it would support a “semi-pedestrianisation” of the street.
Meanwhile, both Zero Carbon Harrogate and HDCA back full pedestrianisation.
What happens now?
The consultation into the Station Gateway project has closed.
The project will now consider the responses and move onto the detailed design stage.
Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive councillor for access at North Yorkshire County Council, told the Stray Ferret that the authority had received thousands of submissions to its consultation.
He said:
“We had over 1,000 responses for the Harrogate consultation, far more than the two to three hundred for the schemes in Skipton and Selby.
“The major question mark is around one lane or two lane and the pedestrianisation of James Street. We want to get cracking on it and we don’t want to hang about.”
Cllr Mackenzie added the consultation results would be published “in the next couple of days”.
According to the Transforming Cities website, any major changes proposed would require another stage of public consultation.
Construction for the schemes is earmarked for 2022.
