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Nov 2022

Last Updated: 08/11/2022

Transport

'Real solutions' needed to west of Harrogate congestion, say residents

by Calvin Robinson

| 08 Nov, 2022

Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council says 'new or vastly improved roads are required' to cope with up to 2,500 homes set to be built.

Some of the sites allocated for housing in the west of Harrogate.

Residents in Pannal have called for “real solutions” to congestion amid an upcoming “explosion in housing” in the west of Harrogate.

Thea area is set to see up to 2,500 new homes built over the next two decades.

North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council are currently working on the West Harrogate Infrastructure Delivery Strategy, which looks at how the area will cope with increased homes.

The strategy is part of the wider proposals for the area and builds upon the West Harrogate Parameters Plan, which sets out how the area’s infrastructure and services will look.

However, Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council has said some of the measures planned by the county council, which include junction modifications, “will do nothing” to ease congestion and called for “real solutions” to the problem.

John Mann, a Conservative county councillor representing Pannal and Oatlands, spoke on behalf of the parish council at a county council executive meeting today.

Cllr Mann (pictured) said an increase in homes would have an impact on local road infrastructure, including the A61 towards Leeds and Bradford.

He said:

“New or vastly improved roads are required, not merely a few modified junctions.

“Previous consultation meetings have been little more than Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council outlining a few junction modifications plans plus a great deal of promotion for cycle and pedestrian paths, plus increased bus services that would not come into operation until all the developments are finished.

“Active travel and buses in and out of Harrogate from the west of Harrogate developments will do nothing to alleviate the daily commute, rat running and school runs through our parish.”

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In response, Cllr Keane Duncan, executive county councillor for access, said

“The county council is working to address congestion in and around Harrogate now and in advance of the planned development in the west of Harrogate, which will see an extra 2,500 homes constructed between now and 2035.

“This major strategic development is key to providing much needed housing and promoting Harrogate’s future economic growth, as is the proposed Maltkiln development.

“It is vital therefore that the council continues essential work on both of these schemes in parallel.

“While the west of Harrogate development is spread over several sites and a number of separate planning applications, a unified approach is being taken for the delivery of essential infrastructure and mitigation of traffic impacts.

“We are working with the land promoters and their consultants, who have been instructed to look at traffic impacts cumulatively and this will be documented in a transport strategy.”

Cllr Duncan added that a "number of junctions" had already been identified for improvement, which would be paid for by developers.

He said further consultation on infrastructure would be held with resident groups and parish councils.

The move comes after the Stray Ferret revealed that North Yorkshire County Council appointed RPS Consulting Services Limited to oversee a review of junction improvements in the west of Harrogate.

The Oxfordshire company was awarded £200,000 as part of the contract.

Park and ride plans still in the works

Meanwhile, Cllr Duncan said work on a park and ride for Harrogate was "still in the feasibility stage" and no decision on its site had been made.

The scheme has long been seen as part of the solution to congestion in the town.

The county council said previously that the plans would take around six months to assess and could be published next year.

Cllr Duncan said today:

"Given this, it would be wrong to rule out or rule in any particular site at this stage"

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'Real solutions' needed to west of Harrogate congestion, say residents

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Park and ride plans still in the works