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11
Oct
Government could pull the plug on Harrogate Station Gateway, says council leader
The leader of North Yorkshire Council has said there is a chance the government could pull the plug on the £12.1 million Harrogate Station Gateway scheme.
The scheme, which is being led by the council but is mainly funded by the Department for Transport's Transforming Cities Fund, has been beset by delays in the face of strong opposition.
Work is due to get underway in spring but Carl Les, the Conservative council leader, said in an in-depth interview with the Stray Ferret there was a risk the new Labour government may choose not to proceed.
He said:
We are OK for the deadline. As far as I’m aware the money is still available. I don’t know what the new government is going to do as they have inherited a commitment. They could yet decide not to proceed. It would be a shame if they did because an enormous amount of time, effort and money has gone into getting us to this point.
The funding situation may be clearer after Chancellor Rachel Reeves' budget on October 30.
The council is pressing ahead with the project after it admitted its previous plans breached public law.
We asked Cllr Les if he supported the latest watered-down proposals, which have been criticised by cyclists for reducing the commitment to active travel.
They include creating a southbound cycleway on Station Parade, creating a bus lane, junctional signal improvements and public realm improvements to Station Square and the One Arch foot tunnel.
He said:
It was a scheme that we inherited. I suppose we could have killed it straight away in which case we would have satisfied half the people and dissatisfied the other half.
What we are trying to do is arrive at a compromise, which is an improvement to the perspective as people arrive at the train station without interfering with the traffic and if anything the traffic flow could be made better by the improvement that will be made to the traffic lights.
There’s certainly a need in Harrogate to have some cycling provision but I don’t think we are ever going to see a time when we go as cycling friendly as the Dutch.
Harrogate Convention Centre future
Cllr Les also suggested Harrogate Convention Centre could be run as a joint venture between the council and a private company.
The convention centre faces an uncertain future: in spring the council paid London consultants 31Ten £23,000 to devise options after shelving plans for a major refurbishment due to the cost.
Harrogate Borough Council, which owned the conference and events venue until it was abolished last year, maintained control of the building for 40 years.
But North Yorkshire Council indicated from the time it took charge of the asset it was open to other arrangements and nothing was off the table.
Cllr Les said:
It’s a huge business asset for the town but it is also a big property liability. There’s a lot of money going to have to be spent on it. The solution is what we are doing at the moment. We are putting part of it right and then thinking about what the future is going to be, and I think the future is quite possibly some sort of joint venture with people who perhaps know more about operating conference centres than the council does.
Cllr Les added that the council would also consider selling it “if someone comes along with the right sort of offer”.
He added:
The essential think is to maintain the asset in Harrogate for the benefit of Harrogate and the region.
Look for the full interview with Cllr Les on the Stray Ferret this weekend.
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