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27
Jul
Interview: 'Harrogate is a big priority,' says new transport chief
It is, perhaps, the most thankless job in North Yorkshire — being responsible for 6,000 miles of roads and a myriad of other issues ranging from markets to cycling.
“It’s probably a job that you will never, ever win because it’s relentless. But I will give it 100%,” says Councillor Malcolm Taylor, who succeeded Cllr Keane Duncan as North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transportation last month.
Nobody departs a hero. Cllr Duncan was given the moniker Captain Pothole; the previous highways chief, Don Mackenzie, became known as Deadly Don.
Cllr Taylor knows the score:
This role isn’t for the faint hearted. I’ve been round the block, I’ve got some wool on my back and I’ve got some scars. I will do whatever I can to work for the public of North Yorkshire. That is my motivation. I am not a career politician. You’ll probably notice I’m a different animal to my predecessor.
The contrast is indeed stark. Cllr Duncan, 30, was a Daily Star journalist before switching to his current role in PR. Cllr Taylor is a retired police officer in his early 60s.
He insists the fellow Tories are cordial. “I was involved with his mayoral campaign, we’ve spoken and he’s wished me all the best. We are good friends.”
Local challenges
One of the first places Cllr Taylor visited after taking up the highways brief was the council’s area six highways depot in Boroughbridge. Area six is the council’s name for the former Harrogate district, and Cllr Taylor says he made it his first port of call because Harrogate is a “big priority” area.
Endless roadworks, blocked gullies, multi-million pound price hikes for the Harrogate Station Gateway town centre transformation scheme and the A59 road realignment at Kex Gill, and council inertia during the winter freeze are among the current grumbles.
He says it would be sub judice to comment on the gateway as a High Court ruling that could determine whether it proceeds is awaited. But he says: “Harrogate needs investment. It’s a great town but every town needs to be reinvigorated.”
Regarding the compensation claims at Kex Gill that increased the price by £13.7 million, he says it’s unrealistic to suggest the council could have got a civil engineering company to take on all the risk for a project of that size. He adds:
The scheme is going well. We are above ground now. We are going over Blubberhouses Moor. It’s a challenging engineering project, the biggest we have ever done.
One thing off the agenda after endless talk and feasibility studies is a Harrogate park and ride. Cllr Taylor says:
I used to be a trustee of the Police Treatment Centre and had to get into Harrogate for 9am meetings. I know how challenging the roadwork is. I’m a big advocate of park and ride, I’ve seen it work in York but it is not on the radar in Harrogate. Harrogate is a different type of town with a challenging road network.
Roadworks have been rife this year.
Regarding roadworks, he says the underground infrastructure needs upgrading “but it needs to be managed”, adding:
That’s where I step in. If there is going to be inconvenience it needs to be done as quickly as possible and managed in sections rather than shutting big parts of Harrogate down.
The council has applied to the government to introduce a lane rental scheme which would enable it to charge daily rates to companies carrying out roadworks and fine them for over-running rather than pay for permits that can be extended, as is the case now. Cllr Taylor says:
I don’t want these open-ended permits because nothing frustrates the public more than when there are roadworks and nothing seems to be being done. We need to impress on utilities companies that they are causing inconvenience and need to get the road done in the shortest possible time.
Cllr Malcolm Taylor
From police to politics
Cllr Taylor rose to the rank of sergeant during his 36-year police career.
He also became secretary of North Yorkshire Police Federation, which negotiates pay and conditions for police officers, and became legislations secretary on the federation’s national executive. As part of this role, he worked on the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, which paved the way for police and crime commissioners. He says:
That’s when my political journey really began. We used to lobby in Westminster. I went to some home affairs select committees, started to interact with politicians and I was coming to the end of my police career and thought this was something I had an interest in. I enjoyed the robustness and the lobbying and trying to get results.
He became a councillor in 2019 when he was elected to represent Easingwold on Hambleton District Council. Three years later he won the Huby and Tollerton seat on North Yorkshire Council. He lives in Alne.
Council leader Cllr Carl Les asked him to chair the local government reorganisation scrutiny committee that oversaw the transition to a unitary authority. He then chaired the housing and leisure overview and scrutiny committee until Cllr Les gave him the highways role last month. “The brief is to try with the limited funds we have to deliver for the public of North Yorkshire and that’s a significant challenge,” he says.
'I’m pragmatic and hard working'
Cllr Taylor uses the phrase “significant challenges” throughout the interview. He wants people to understand how the job looks from the inside.
We have 6,000 miles of road in North Yorkshire, which just for context would stretch from Harrogate to New Delhi. We also have 2,000 bridges and parapets many of which are very old. One of the difficulties with highways is you can’t reduce demand. If you have less money the first thing you usually look at is how to reduce demand, but demand is incrementally increasing because our roads are not in great shape in certain parts of the county.
Finishing Kex Gill is on his agenda.
He’s also keen to highlight that operational matters are overseen by Karl Battersby, the council’s corporate director for environment. Mr Battersby is paid £159,178 a year whereas councillors aren't formally paid but receive an allowance of £17,430 to compensate for their time. Executive members like Cllr Taylor receive an additional £19,561.
He says:
There’s this perception that the executive role for highways is a job for someone who knows how to engineer roads and bypasses but that sits with the operational officers. Councillors have policy oversight and scrutiny.
Besides highways, Cllr Taylor, who joined the Conservatives when he left the police in 2013, also has oversight of areas as diverse as coastal erosion, markets, active travel and parks and gardens.
What kind of politician are we getting?
I’d like to think I’m pragmatic and hard working. I joined the police service to serve and I’m a councillor to serve. If you don’t come in with a view to make a difference, then it’s not for you. I’ve had my career in policing. I’m now focused on delivering.
With the next council election less than two years away, he will soon feel the pressure to achieve that.
Hot Seat: Farewell to the Harrogate district's transport chief‘Beggars belief’: Whitehall emails lay bare true cost of Harrogate Station GatewayHarrogate Station Gateway: A High Court battle four years in the makingQuestions remain as soaring cost of £82.5 million Kex Gill scheme comes under spotlight today
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