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02
Sept
Harrogate Station Gateway: the town centre transformation stuck in neutral
The opening of the Kex Gill bypass — albeit with roadworks and traffic lights ongoing — has triggered questions about what has happened to another major local infrastructure scheme overseen by North Yorkshire Council.
The Harrogate Station Gateway has, like Kex Gill, run over-budget and taken far longer than expected.
But although there is light at the end of the tunnel for Kex Gill, it is still hard to detect any light at the start of the tunnel for the gateway.
The scheme, which will see major changes to Station Parade and Station Square in the centre of Harrogate, was first proposed in February 2020 — six-and-a-half years ago.
Flowers lining Station Parade.
Since then, the project has been scaled back, withstood a legal challenge, and seen its cost almost double from £7.9 million to £14.6 million. Consultants have pocketed about £3 million but almost 2,400 days later, shovels have yet to hit the ground.
Numerous deadlines have been and gone, so what is happening?
The last update came in July, when Councillor Malcolm Taylor, the Conservative cabinet member for highways, indicated a start date was approaching.
In a report ahead of a full council meeting, he said funding had been released at the end of June, adding:
We are currently on course for a start on site in late summer / early autumn 2026. Works will likely commence with utility diversions and we are working with the utility providers to co-ordinate activity to minimise disruption to the local road network.
Station Square will be re-landscaped as part of the gateway scheme.
Since then, silence.
The Stray Ferret emailed Cllr Taylor on July 31 and August 12 for an update on when and where work will begin but did not get a response on either occasion.
We subsequently contacted the council press office with a series of questions about the project, which is one of three gateway schemes overseen by the council and funded mainly by the Department for Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund. Skipton and Selby were also chosen.
Here are our questions and the council’s answers.
When will work start on the scheme?
We are still awaiting a confirmed cost and programme dates and will provide an update soon.
Why has it been delayed?
As above.
What is the management plan and anticipated timescale for the project, i.e. when will work take place and when?
As above.
What is the latest estimate cost of the project?
As above.
This is a major scheme for Harrogate yet there has been virtually no update from the council for months. Is the council able to provide a full update?
Details of the Transforming Cities Fund schemes, including the Harrogate project, are available on the council’s website here. As mentioned above, an update on the Harrogate scheme will be provided once costs and programme dates are confirmed.
The Transforming Cities Fund page the link takes you to does not appear to contain any new information about the Harrogate scheme.
With autumn upon us, it appears another gateway deadline is set to come and go, with no clear roadmap forward.
The Stray Ferret will continue to ask questions about a project the council has hailed as the “biggest transformation of Harrogate town centre for 30 years” — yet one that appears to be progressing at glacial pace.
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