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30
Mar
Council leader responds to claims by anti-Harrogate Station Gateway group
Council leader Carl Les has accused the anti-Harrogate Station Gateway business group of “semantics” after it accused him of committing £12.1 million to a scheme that he isn’t convinced will work.
The Get Away group yesterday reiterated its call for North Yorkshire Council to scrap the scheme following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spring Statement.
It said the ‘grim’ state of the economy highlighted the folly of North Yorkshire Council continuing with the gateway, which it claimed could lead to the closure of some local businesses. You can read more here.
The group, which has instigated legal action to stop the scheme, added it was “astonished by recently unearthed comments from Cllr Carl Les from a year ago” in which he told the BBC the council was trying to strike a balance between making the scheme pedestrianised and cycle-friendly with a business-friendly environment, and that “whether we’ve got it right, only time will tell”.
Get Away supporter David Waddington, of Hornbeam Park Developments, said:
This is unbelievable and clear that the council does not know whether it’s going to work or not, but yet happy to spend more than £12 million in finding out. It’s hardly a vote of confidence in the scheme they are pushing the town’s population to accept.
Asked to respond to Get Away’s claims, Cllr Les said:
This is playing with semantics. No business plan, no matter how well researched, can be 100% certain of success. We are responding to competing demands, the demands of part of the community for a more welcoming, more traffic-free Harrogate town centre, whilst also listening to the concerns of the business community for a welcoming and thriving retail centre. We have made alterations to the initial scheme based on consultation feedback on those competing demands.
The Get Away campaign, which includes freeholders, tenants and high street retailers – has also written to local transport minister Simon Lightwood and Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, to highlight its concerns.
The council has previously said work on the gateway will start this spring but has yet to confirm a precise date.
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