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05
Aug
Campaigners lose legal challenge against Harrogate Station Gateway project
A campaign group has lost a legal challenge against the Harrogate Station Gateway scheme.
The Get Away group, which was formed in opposition to the project, challenged North Yorkshire Council over the scheme and took the matter to the High Court amid concern that the authority failed to consider the wider impacts of the multi-million pound project.
A two-day judicial review hearing was held into the matter at Leeds Crown Court in April, which was overseen by Recorder Mark Ockelton.
Now, in a judgement handed down this week, campaigners have lost their challenge on all grounds.
But, the Get Away group said it has instructed lawyers to appeal the ruling.
Steven Baines, spokesperson for the group, said:
This scheme has failed on every level – there is no public majority for it; the vast majority of local traders are against it; there was no consultation of the revised plans; and there has been no updated economic impact assessment. What does this decision say about local democracy?
We are so sure of our position that we have already instructed lawyers to take forward an appeal.
He added:
Serious questions now need to be asked around this latest judgement for a project that the majority of people living and trading in Harrogate don’t want. It’s time to draw a line under this project and move on. The money would be much better spent on free parking for shoppers to give a much-needed boost for local traders.
The nature of the dispute between lawyers from the Get Away group and North Yorkshire Council during the hearing centred around the introduction of four Traffic Regulation Orders in central Harrogate.
Get Away said the orders were made irrationally and were effectively implementing part of the gateway scheme without any final decision being made.
But, the council argued the orders had not implemented anything and were merely facilitating what would become the gateway scheme, should it be given the go-ahead at a later date.
Meanwhile, the judgement comes as the cost for the Station Gateway project has soared.
As previously reported by the Stray Ferret, North Yorkshire Council secured a further £2 million from York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, which is overseen by Labour mayor David Skaith, for the scheme.
It takes the cost of the project, which has been hailed as the biggest transformation of Harrogate town centre for 30 years, to £14.6 million. It was originally forecast to cost £7.9 million
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