Few people have deeper personal and professional connections with Harrogate than Steven Baines.

He has lived in the town all his life; his family has run businesses in Harrogate for generations and his grandfather Ernest Baines was captain of the Harrogate Town team that won the West Riding Cup in the 1920s.

His love for the town has spurred him to lead the new business coalition Get Away that opposes the current £12.1 million Harrogate Station Gateway plans.

One of his properties — Baines House, whose tenants include HGPT Studio and, until recently, the café NJs, — is at the epicentre of the scheme. Located at the end of lower Station Parade, it will be directly alongside the new bus lane and close to the One Arch pedestrian tunnel, the new cycle lane and Station Square, which are major components of the project.

North Yorkshire Council’s transport chief Councillor Keane Duncan has hailed the gateway as the most significant investment in Harrogate town centre for 30 years.

Mr Baines — and many other local businesses and residents — aren't convinced, hence the creation of Get Away.

He agreed to meet this week and walk us along the gateway route to highlight the concerns, one-by-one.

The council isn’t consulting on the latest gateway proposals and although they have been watered down from the original plans to reduce Station Parade to single lane traffic and pedestrianise part of James Street, Mr Baines thinks many people are unaware of the harm they will do to the heart of the town.

Legal challenge

Mr Baines is keen to stress he welcomes investment in Harrogate, and even likes parts of the scheme. 

He describes upgrades to the dark and dinghy, flood-prone One Arch, and to traffic lights along the A61, as “fantastic”.

His family ran a bike shop and he’s keen for better cycling infrastructure, and can’t understand why the East Parade option has been ruled out, or why cycling isn’t improved on main routes into the town.

But below he lists his concerns — and warns that if they aren’t addressed, the council could face a second legal challenge.

Lower Station Parade

1 Mr Baines says creating a 36-metre long bus lane to shave a few seconds off journeys is crazy, particularly as it means getting rid of all 21 parking bays. He says this will affect 31 businesses on lower Station Parade, not least Mainline Taxis.

Gary Sadler Simpson, a business partner at Mainline Taxis, has warned the loss of parking will require accessible taxis to wheel wheelchair-user passengers across the street and on- and off-board them in the middle of the road.

The council plans to make lower Station Parade one-way for traffic to accommodate the bus lane. This, he says, will funnel more vehicles down the narrow Commercial Street, leading to more scraped cars and accidents.

Station Parade

Even cycling groups have described the creation of a short, one-way cycle route along Station Parade as pointless. Mr Baines goes further, saying it will be dangerous. The cycle lane will pass the entrance to the bus and train stations before stopping and the installation of a kerb to separate it from traffic will create a hazard for heavy goods vehicles turning right at the traffic lights on to Station Parade.

The loading bays will be lost and although businesses will be able to unload on double yellow lines at certain times, when vehicles are stopped on the double yellow lines it will funnel traffic into one lane, creating delays and danger.

Station Square

Mr Baines says Station Square needs returning to its splendour of the 1950s and 1960s, when it was a beautifully floral area rather than the hard landscaping proposed. Getting rid of trees, the tempietto and planted areas to create an open area further reduce the character of the area, he says.

We have asked the council if it wishes to respond to Mr Baines’ concerns.

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