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12
Sept 2024
Anti-Harrogate Station Gateway petition gets 1,000th signature
A petition by a Harrogate town centre resident and business owner calling for the £12.1 million Harrogate Station Gateway to be scrapped has received its 1,000th signature.
Rachael Inchboard not only opposes the scheme but also feels it is being imposed undemocratically by councillors in Northallerton.
Final plans will not go out to public consultation and previous consultations have shown considerable opposition.
Cllr Keane Duncan, the Conservative politician with oversight of the scheme, has described it as the first major investment in Harrogate for 30 years.
It will see a bus lane created on Lower Station Parade, a cycle lane on Station Parade and major changes to Station Square and the One Arch pedestrian tunnel.
Ms Inchboard told the Stray Ferret:
Many people still have no idea that we are heading towards up to two years disruption and for what? They are trying to push the scheme in through the back door with no real interaction or consultation.
For businesses to thrive we need to prioritise cars and ease of parking on street, not in multi-storey car parks. Our topography is wrong. Harrogate people are an older population and not a university town. It is a fact that the majority don't cycle or use buses.
This petition is really to bring this all to people’s attention. We need a campaign to inform everyone and get the real message across about how detrimental the new scheme could be on the shops and town centre.
Cllr Keane Duncan on Station Parade in Harrogate.
'Moving towards delivery'
In an email exchange with Ms Inchboard, seen by the Stray Ferret, Cllr Duncan defended the gateway and provided considerable detail on what it will entail.
He said the project, which is funded by the government’s Transforming Cities Fund, is supported by local councillors and “has been shaped heavily by the three previous rounds of community liaison in optimising the project towards a deliverable position taking into account all the respective stakeholder comments”.
Cllr Duncan added:
The project has had an elongated development period, however we are now moving towards works delivery, with main commencement early in 2025.
I hope, having absorbed the new design, you will recognise the substantive steps taken towards ensuring the investment has significant benefits, and that that having reached an optimised design solution, upon completion Harrogate’s reputation as a destination of choice will be further enhanced.
He said the project now:
• retains two vehicle lanes in Station Parade
• removes pedestrianisation of James Street
• removes making Cheltenham Mount one-way (or any changes to the side streets to the north of Cheltenham Parade)
• reduces the two-way cycle lane on Station Parade to one-way southbound
• removes the East Parade roundabout upgrade
• regenerates two-thirds of Station Square, with the northern quadrant adjacent Victoria Shopping centre remaining untouched
• introduces signal upgrades to the Cheltenham Parade/Station Parade junction
• introduces a bus lane still in Station Parade north (Bower Road to Station Parade junction)
• introduces signal upgrade at the Station Parade junction/Station Bridge
• links signals along the A61 from King’s Rd to Station Bridge junctions with MOVA technologies to optimise network management
• upgrades pedestrian signal crossing adjacent to the bus and rail stations
• prioritises disabled parking, the taxi rank and loading as much as possible, with existing resident parking on Cheltenham Mount no longer affected.
Cllr Duncan said Station Square “has been designed to be flexible for events” following “focus group sessions and representations from the business community”.
Ms Inchboard described Cllr Duncan’s comments as “surprising and outrageous” and said neither she nor other local businesses she knew of had been consulted or seen any detailed plans.
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