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24
Jan 2022
Crunch vote tomorrow on £10.9m Harrogate Station Gateway
A key decision on progressing the £10.9 million Station Gateway scheme in Harrogate is set to be made tomorrow.
Senior North Yorkshire county councillors have been recommended to approve the plans and move them on to the detailed design stage at a meeting at 11am.
The move could mean that work on the project starts in the spring or summer.
The decision comes despite widespread opposition to the scheme from businesses and residents.
The results of the second phase of consultation, published last month, revealed that of 1,320 people who replied to an online survey, 55% feel negatively, 39% positively and five per cent neutral towards the scheme. One per cent said they didn’t know.
Read more:
- In depth: What is the economic case for Harrogate’s Station Gateway?
- Business groups claim they’ve been ignored in Station Gateway consultation
- Harrogate set for colourful fountains and WiFi-charging benches
Nevertheless the scheme is expected to proceed with only minor amendments.
However, Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, said last week that the project represented a major investment in Harrogate town centre. Similar schemes are in the pipeline for Selby and Skipton.
He said:
Calls for a delay
Despite the recommendation, business groups in Harrogate criticised the project and called for a delay to the vote.
In a joint letter to members of the county council’s executive, Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce, Harrogate Business Improvement District and Independent Harrogate warned that work on the scheme would create ‘another 12 months of major disruption and misery’ for businesses already struggling to get over covid.
The letter added:
The groups also criticised the county council for publishing an economic case for the project just days before the vote.
They said they have had no opportunity to comment on the paper and called for a vote on the scheme to be delayed until they have had chance to scrutinise it.
The executive meeting can be watched tomorrow on the North Yorkshire County Council website.
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