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12
Mar
Court of Appeal dismisses Harrogate Station Gateway legal challenge
The Court of Appeal has dismissed a legal challenge against the £14.6 million Harrogate Station Gateway scheme.
The anti-gateway campaign group Get Away is trying to halt the North Yorkshire Council scheme, which involves major changes to Station Parade and Station Square.
It claims the project would harm the town centre and waste public funds.
Campaigners took the matter to the Court of Appeal after losing a judicial review in the High Court in August 2025.
The hearing at the Court of Appeal was heard by Lord Justice Lewis, Lord Justice Zacaroli and Lord Justice Dove last Tuesday (March 3).
Now, in a judgment handed down this morning, the court has dismissed the appeal.
Council leader 'very pleased'
Conservative council leader Carl Les said he was "very pleased with the result and the award of costs".
Councillor Les added:
We will be disappointed if the decision is further appealed but we will continue to defend our position although this is taking officer time away from their real roles of delivering services.
Cllr Carl Les
During the hearing last week, Victoria Hutton, planning barrister who represented the campaigners, said the case centres around the implementation of Traffic Regulation Orders in the centre of Harrogate.
She said the orders, which were introduced in January 2025, have “as a matter of law” implemented part of the gateway scheme without further public engagement.
However, the judges said it was not “unlawful” to make the orders.
The judgement said:
I would dismiss the appeal. The respondent was not obliged to carry out a consultation exercise on the elements of the revised scheme before making the order.
It was not unlawful or irrational to make the four orders whilst modifying the fifth proposed traffic regulation. The advice to officers properly dealt with the legal issues and was not in any respect misleading, still less significantly or seriously so.
Get Away campaigners (left to right): Garry Sadler-Simpson, chairman of Mainline Taxis, Steven Baines, spokesperson for the Get Away campaign, and David Waddington, a consultant with Hornbeam Park Developments
Supreme Court
In a statement in response to the dismissal, the Get Away group said it has made an application to the Supreme Court to appeal the judgement.
A spokesperson for the group said:
We are extremely disappointed by the outcome of the Court of Appeal hearing and we have immediately made an application to the Supreme Court to appeal the judgement, which our lawyers advise does not properly address the issues we raised.
We know that if the scheme proceeds it will be carbon positive, pose health and safety risks, result in longer journey times and greater congestion, as well as creating two years of disruption at a time when the local Harrogate business community is facing significant economic headwinds with rising costs.
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