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    10

    May 2023

    Last Updated: 09/05/2023
    Transport
    Transport

    Council in discussions with Harrogate Station Gateway contractor

    by Calvin Robinson Chief Reporter

    | 10 May, 2023
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    richardbinks
    Richard Binks, head of major projects at North Yorkshire Council.

    North Yorkshire Council has been in early discussions with a contractor over the £11.2 million Harrogate Station Gateway scheme.

    Richard Binks, head of major projects at the authority, revealed the council had held initial talks, known as "early contractor involvement", with national highways firm Galliford Try.

    Mr Binks said the company, which employs 3,700 staff, had been consulted on potential construction costs ahead of work starting on the scheme.

    The project was backed by the Harrogate and Knaresborough area constituency committee, which advises North Yorkshire Council, by 10 votes to three at a meeting on Friday.

    It paves the way for the council’s ruling Conservative executive to give the project the go-ahead on May 30.

    Mr Binks told the area constituency committee:

    “We are working with a tier one contractor called Galliford Try.
    “We are getting monthly market valuations on potential construction cost coming forward before the final tendered price.”


    The Stray Ferret has approached North Yorkshire Council to ask about the nature of the discussions with the company and whether Galliford Try is the preferred contractor for the scheme.



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    The move comes as the company has also been appointed to similar projects, funded by the government's Transforming Cities Fund, in Stoke-on-Trent and Sheffield.

    Galliford Try also took over the construction of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass scheme in 2018 from Carillion, which collapsed.

    The appointment led to the project running over Lincolnshire County Council’s budget by £24 million.

    'Piecemeal vanity project'


    The scheme will see Station Parade reduced to one lane of traffic so a bus lane and cycle route can be built and James Street partly pedestrianised.

    Cllr Pat Marsh, who was one of the three councillors to oppose the project last week, described it as a “piecemeal vanity project”.

    Cllr Marsh — who is leader of the Harrogate and Knaresborough Lib Dems — said the scheme had been characterised by poor consultation and lack of any business impact assessment.

    But Mr Binks and fellow council officers said it would rejuvenate the area around Harrogate's train and bus stations and boost the local economy.

    Senior North Yorkshire councillors are expected to ratify the gateway plan on May 30.