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    05

    Jan 2023

    Last Updated: 05/01/2023
    Environment
    Environment

    Flats plan approved for Harrogate's Wetherby Road despite traffic concerns

    by Vicky Carr

    | 05 Jan, 2023
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    wayside-crescent-house

    A three-storey building of six apartments will be built on Wetherby Road despite concerns from residents over traffic problems.

    The site, at the corner of Wayside Crescent, was previously a home with a large garden, where two detached homes have been built since 2020.

    Meeting today, Harrogate Borough Council's planning committee followed officers' recommendation to approve the plans to demolish the building and create the new flats.

    They had heard from Martin Hughes, representing nearby residents on Wayside Crescent, who said the area was a "living hell" with cars regularly mounting the pavement to pass each other.

    The situation had become worse, he said, during construction of the two detached homes in the former garden of the house in question.

    Mr Hughes said:

    "We had contractor vehicles parking on double yellow lines throughout — in fact they are still parking on double yellow lines.
    "There's no policing of that and I understand why, because there's insufficient resources, but it doesn't help matters on the ground."


    The location of the site, close to the football ground, hospital, and several schools, made it a busy "rat run", said Mr Hughes.

    As a result, he said, residents had undertaken their own survey on a weekday morning in November to assess the situation.

    They found 151 pedestrians had crossed the end of Wayside Crescent between 8am and 9am, of which 26 were accompanied children and 72 were unaccompanied children.

    Meanwhile, 162 cars were driven along Wayside Crescent, and 17 of those had to take evasive action, either pulling into a driveway or going onto the pavement, in the face of an oncoming vehicle.

    He added:

    "This is already a dangerous road and are we really, seriously going to add to this madness?"





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    While Cllr Pat Marsh, of the Liberal Democrats, said she could not support the proposal because of the impact on the nearby roads, Conservative Cllr John Mann disagreed.

    He said although traffic was clearly a problem in the area, there had been no objections raised by North Yorkshire County Council's highways team to this plan. On those grounds, he said, he would support the application.

    He added:

    "I agree with the comments of colleagues and the objector. In relation to the rat-running and the amount of traffic on Wayside Crescent and the difficulty of crossing Wetherby Road apart from using the pedestrian crossing.
    "I also agree with the amount of pedestrian traffic, the school children etc. But at the same time, I don't think the addition of six flats is going to change that at all in terms of the quantity of traffic and the difficulties which people experience with that.
    "I don't think that will alter the situation one way or the other."


    Planning committee members voted by nine votes to one in favour of the plans. They also voted by the same margin to write to the highways department to ask for traffic on Wayside Crescent to be assessed with a view to making improvements, which could include making the road one way.