Readers' Letters: Councillors are 'hell bent' on Harrogate Gateway 'gamble'

Readers’ Letters is a free weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. Send your views to letters@thestrayferret.co.uk.

This letter came in response to our article on Thursday, in which North Yorkshire Council's executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Malcolm Taylor, said the council was right to robustly defend its controversial £13.4m Harrogate Gateway scheme against legal challenges, because of its importance to the town’s economic future.

As someone who has praised the high-quality work Rushbond PLC has delivered in the past, including the recent refurbishment of the Herald Building on Montpellier [Parade], I was somewhat surprised and disappointed to read that as owners of The Exchange building on Station Parade they welcomed the investment in improving connections between the railway station and the town. 

As someone who has worked with experienced urban designers during my professional career, I totally fail to understand why Rushbond has made such a profound statement. Or is it the case that Cllr [Malcolm] Taylor has massaged their statement to suit North Yorkshire Council, who are desperate to justify the ill-conceived Gateway Project in the face of strong public criticism?

From the birth of the Gateway Project following the 2019 Congestion Study I have, at the risk of becoming boring, always maintained the project is a highway engineer's solution, two-dimensional in concept with no sense of spatial quality, which sits at the heart of a cohesive Conservation Area, a three-dimensional urban space.

Having read what Cllr Taylor has recently been reported to say I just begin to question what understanding and knowledge he has of the Gateway Project and of Harrogate itself. 

There are serious concerns for the implications on Harrogate now and in the future. We are told that our town centre is to be fundamentally changed, but we aren't permitted to see the details despite asking for them over two years ago. That's outrageous. What are North Yorkshire hiding? What are they frightened of? It appears we have a totally incompetent council hell bent on boosting their own names by the delivery of schemes that nobody wants.

With that in mind, I'm reminded once again of a media broadcast a few years ago by Cllr Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire Council, and subsequently reported in the press, when he said: "There is no guarantee the Gateway Project will be a success. Only time will tell."

What a gamble to take with Harrogate!

Barry Adams

These comments were left below our article about campaigners calling for the US base at RAF Menwith Hill to be closed down.

It speaks volumes for the rank stupidity of these idiots that they describe it as "Trump's spy base". It is a NSA facility and part of the US government. It has existed through numerous Presidents, none of whom owned it or managed it but utilised its capabilities. As future presidents still will many years hence.

Paul Reynolds

Of course the base should close, should never have been there in the first place. It never protected Britain, spied on us as much as anywhere else. It was only ever designed to protect the USA. 

Local jobs are entirely beside the point. The USA today is no ally, and probably never will be able to be relied on again, even if (praise be) Democrats return to the White House. Little danger of that, though, as presumably Trump will cancel elections by executive order as being anti-democratic.

Roger