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22
Feb
Harrogate Station Gateway: ‘Battle commences’ as legal threats fly
Battle lines hardened this week between the two camps at war over the £12.1 million Harrogate Station Gateway scheme.
The scheme, championed by North Yorkshire Council, represents either the biggest regeneration of Harrogate for 30 years or a backwards step that will harm businesses, depending on your point of view.
It would see a bus lane and a cycle lane created on Station Parade and overhauls of Station Square and One Arch pedestrian tunnel.
The issue has been rumbling for almost 10 years, but the temperature went up several notches this week.
Firstly, the Stray Ferret revealed the anti-gateway business group Get Away had instigated legal proceedings in London’s High Court of Justice that could see the project halted.
Get Away claims the council’s failure to consider the wider impacts of the proposal and to consult fully with the public have rendered the scheme’s Traffic Regulation Orders illegal.
“Battle has now commenced!” said Get Away spokesperson, businessman Steven Baines.
A south facing visual of how Station Parade will look.
A matter of democracy?
Cllr Keane Duncan, the council’s Conservative executive member for highways, previously branded Get Away’s pre-action protocol letter “weak and spurious”.
He showed little sign of backing down yesterday (February 21) when he issued a statement saying the council will robustly defend the challenge.
He claimed the scheme had been subject to “extensive consultation over many months, above and beyond what is required” and would provide “key benefits”.
Cllr Duncan said Harrogate risked losing out on a multi-million-pound investment. He also suggested it was a matter of upholding democracy:
“We have made a democratic decision to support this scheme and we remain focussed on working to deliver it for the benefit of our residents and businesses."
One Arch
We asked Mr Baines to comment on Cllr Duncan’s democracy claim.
He said:
As far as Station Gateway is concerned, North Yorkshire Council has not followed a democratic process as evidenced in its lack of consultation and open discussion with Harrogate’s business community, the very people that this proposal effects most.
We have seen further evidence this week when it was reported that at a recent budget meeting, several councillors staged a mass walk out in protest at what they considered to be a lack of democracy and allegations of withholding of information.
'Spades in the ground'
The council is pursuing gateway schemes in Harrogate, Selby and Skipton using money allocated by the Department for Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund, which supports sustainable transport schemes that improve town centres.
The Harrogate scheme was watered down when the council admitted it breached public law in 2023 following a legal challenge by Hornbeam Park Developments. Plans to reduce Station Parade to single lane traffic and partly pedestrianise James Street were dropped. Chris Bentley, the owner Hornbeam Park Developments, is among those backing Get Away this time.
Cllr Duncan said in a report ahead of next week’s full council meeting in Northallerton that the gateway schemes had reached “a landmark moment”.
He said the council “expect to have spades in the ground in March for Skipton and in June for Selby”. But Harrogate continues to frustrate. Cllr Duncan said:
While we are progressing in these two locations, a fresh legal action relating to the Harrogate project has been mounted by a group called Get Away. Legal counsel is currently engaged to defend against this latest challenge. It is right we defended this robustly and ensure the council’s democratic decision can be delivered.
The saga may finally be reaching its denouement. But which side will win remains far from certain.
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