At 27-years-old, Keane Duncan has been made responsible for one of the largest road networks in the country and an array of multi-million pound highways projects.

It’s been a baptism of fire for the young politician, who has gone from the debates of student politics to the senior councillor in charge of highways in a short space of time.

His new role includes the £10.9 million Station Gateway project, a £60 million scheme to realign the A59 at Kex Gill and the newly incorporated highways company, NYHighways, which will oversee thousands of miles of road.

For Cllr Duncan, the position is an opportunity but he’s also aware of that the role comes with intense scrutiny – particularly in Harrogate.

Youngest county councillor

A resident of the village of Norton and a councillor for seven years, Cllr Duncan began his political career while studying at the University of York.

He got involved with the local Thirsk and Malton Conservatives and asked to stand for council.

“I hadn’t really been politically active until that point.”

He was elected to North Yorkshire County Council and then later to his local district council in Ryedale.

For two years, he was leader of Ryedale District Council – one of the six districts which will be abolished next year to make way for North Yorkshire Council.

However, he stepped down in February 2021 over what he described as a “cruel and unnecessary” council tax hike.

He said:

“It’s a very challenging political landscape over in Ryedale. 

“There was no overall control for any party and that represents difficulties in sometimes getting decisions through and doing what we need to do for local people.”

Ahead of the abolition of the county council and districts, Cllr Duncan was a key figure in the debate over what should replace them.

He backed an east/west model for North Yorkshire, while current council leader, Cllr Carl Les, was a proponent of the single unitary model.

Cllr Duncan said:

“I was very much in favour of what was called the east/west proposal.

“I believed passionately in that proposal at the time. I believe passionately in unitary local government, so I wanted to deliver that.”

New highways chief

Fast forward to May this year and Cllr Duncan has been appointed the the executive and will now have a key role in the county’s highways department going into the new council.

While he is now both the youngest member of the council and the executive, Cllr Duncan said he had no expectation of being given the brief.

Read more:

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He said he had “no hopes or expectations” of being given a senior position until he was asked by Cllr Les.

He said:

“I was focused on getting myself here on these seats in the council chamber. The leader asked me to join his executive and I was very happy to accept.”

Cllr Duncan added:

“My portfolio area is probably the most public facing. It is the area where we get the most public comments and complaints.”

Multi-million pound Harrogate schemes

One of Cllr Duncan’s pledges since becoming the highways chief is to visit each area of the county.

Earlier this week he visited Ripon and planned to do the same with Harrogate in the near future.

The Harrogate Station Gateway scheme.

The role in the district will prove to be challenging for Cllr Duncan, who will oversee schemes such as the Otley Road cycle route, Beech Grove low traffic neighbourhood and the Kex Gill realignment.

Perhaps the most high profile locally will be the £10.9 million Station Gateway scheme, which is earmarked for a further round of consultation later this year.

When asked for his view on the scheme, which has proved controversial in Harrogate, Cllr Duncan said:

“I’m personally supportive of that scheme and we are wanting to progress it.

“We are going out to a third round of public consultation to ensure that everyone can have their say and their opinions.

“For me, my test on the ground is what do the local councillors think and feel? They are the representatives of their local community.”

Cllr Duncan said he felt that that “on the whole” the council was trying to get the balance right on the various schemes across the district.

However, he added that he was aware of concerns over some of the schemes such as the gateway project.

His new role will also be to field complaints and criticism from the public, but Cllr Duncan said he is determined to do his job well.

“It is a difficult portfolio to manage, but I’m determined to do that by hopefully ensuring that we’re listening to people on the ground.”

A final decision on whether to make the Beech Grove low traffic neighbourhood in Harrogate permanent is looming, according to the new county council highways chief.

Cllr Keane Duncan, who succeeded Don Mackenzie as the executive member for access at North Yorkshire County Council, said a decision was “upcoming” on the closure.

The measure was controversially introduced in February 2021 as a temporary one-year to closure in an effort to encourage walking and cycling.

County council officials later extended the trial until August this year.

Cllr Duncan told the Stray Ferret a decision will be taken in the coming months as to whether it stays or not.

He said:

“There’s an upcoming decision on Beech Grove as to whether it is made permanent or whether it comes out. We can’t really extend it any further on a temporary basis.

“It is either that it is there or it isn’t.”

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive councillor for highways on North Yorkshire County Council.

He added that further consultation would be carried out if the decision to make the closure permanent and seek a traffic regulation order was taken.

Cllr Duncan said:

“For me, with the benefit of the time that it has been in place, it’s about seeing what people think about it now to see if their views have changed.”

Station Gateway

In a wide-ranging interview, the Stray Ferret asked Cllr Duncan about his views on the many multi-million pound highways schemes in the district.

On the £10.9 million Station Gateway project, Cllr Duncan said he was fully supportive of the the scheme.

He added, however, that he was willing to listen to cyclists, businesses and people ahead of the the third round of consultation this year.

Cllr Duncan said:

“I’m personally supportive of that scheme and we are wanting to progress it.

“We are going out to a third round of public consultation to ensure that everyone can have their say and their opinions.

“For me, my test on the ground is what do the local councillors think and feel? They are the representatives of their local community.”

Read more:

• Another consultation to take place on £10.9m Harrogate Station Gateway
• Under-fire infrastructure plans for west Harrogate will cost taxpayers £25,000

Meanwhile, Cllr Duncan said he was keen to press ahead with the second phase of the Otley Road cycle route.

County council officials were due to go out to tender on a construction contract this month with a view to starting work in the autumn.

Cllr Duncan said:

“We are pushing ahead with delivery of the Otley Road scheme.

“It is important to recognise that there is £4.6 million of funding for that scheme. It does connect in with all the other schemes ongoing within Harrogate.

“It is important to not look at every individual location in isolation. We have got to look at how this adds up to the bigger picture.”

‘Getting the balance right’

Cllr Duncan said he felt that that “on the whole” the council was trying to get the balance right on the various schemes across the district.

However, he added that he was aware of concerns over some of the schemes such as the gateway project.

He added:

“It’s about getting that balance right and recognising that at the moment most journeys are via car in and around Harrogate.

“It’s people trying to get to work, people trying to see friends and family and people visiting the town because Harrogate is a major tourist destination.

“We’re trying to encourage where we can for people to use other modes of transport. That’s not always possible, so we have to make sure we get that balanced approach.”

Look out for an in depth profile with Cllr Keane Duncan on the Stray Ferret later this week.

A machine that can repair potholes and other road damage in minutes could be coming to the Harrogate district.

Highways engineers are trialing the JCB Pothole Pro, which is said to be able to repair a typical pothole more quickly than conventional methods.

The machine has different heads, which can plane off areas of road surface, chop out sections of carriageway and clear up debris when the repair is complete, providing options to deal with different types of repairs.

Because the processes are automated the risk of health problems caused by hand / arm vibration from using power tools is eliminated.

NYHighways, which is the arm’s-length company responsible for maintaining roads on behalf of North Yorkshire County Council, is evaluating the machine in the Hambleton district.

The Stray Ferret asked how much the machines cost, how many the council was thinking of buying and when it would make a decision.

A council spokesman said it had nothing further to add. However, the machines have been widely reported to cost £165,000 each.

Council leader Carl Les (left) watches the machine in operation.

Keane Duncan, the Conservative councillor for Norton who is also the executive member for highways, said in a statement:

“We are putting this machine to the test so we can evaluate how it works in real-world conditions and a decision will be made later on whether NYHighways should add it to their fleet.

“Whatever the outcome, road users can be confident we are always aiming to provide them with the best service possible.”

Ross Bullerwell, managing director of NYHighways, said in a statement:

“The JCB Pothole Pro system is just one innovation we are trialling, with many more planned over the next year in order to find solutions that are the right place, right time, and right price for the county’s roads.”

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North Yorkshire County Council has said the layout of a 53-home development in Bilton is ‘not acceptable’ and the plan should be refused unless the developer agrees to pay for the widening of Knox Lane.

North East firm Jomast wants to build the homes on a field on Knox Lane in an application that has been reduced from 73 homes.

The county council, which is in charge of the Harrogate district’s roads, has submitted a response to the application as part of the consultation process.

It warned the development does not comply with standards it sets around roads and new housing schemes.

The section of Knox Lane where the homes would be built is narrow and leads towards a popular beauty spot.

Residents have long argued the road is unsuitable for any extra traffic the homes would bring but the developer’s transport report concluded the development would not lead to congestion.

Read more:

• Residents say 53 homes at Knox Lane will ‘decimate’ idyllic scene
• Developer reduces Knox Lane scheme from 73 to 53 homes

Paul Roberts, the county council’s highways officer, wrote to Harrogate Borough Council last week and said the development should be refused unless changes are made to Knox Lane as well as private roads within the site.

He wrote:

“The highway authority therefore advise that the application should be refused unless further information is provided by the developer. The layout of the site is not acceptable and will need to be amended to comply with the highway authority guidance/standards.”

Mr Roberts said Knox Lane should be widened to 5.5 metres with a two-metre footpath.

He added:

“This work shall be implemented as part of the project and if the application is approved implemented under a S278 agreement with the highway authority which the authority may wish to lead on.”

Residents’ concerns

The Stray Ferret met a group of Bilton residents in February who raised their concerns about the development and its impact on local roads.

With the busy Skipton Road nearby, and Knox Lane itself a narrow thoroughfare, Bob Wrightson said the roads surrounding the development would soon be gridlocked.

Mr Wrightson said:

“Fifty-two houses — a lot of people have cars, which has not been addressed. There might be another 100 cars using these roads and it will be gridlock.”

In February, Jomast and planning consultants Spawforths issued the following joint statement to the Stray Ferret:

“The planning application is supported by a number of specialist technical reports, including a transport assessment, which demonstrates the proposed development would not lead to any additional congestion of the local roads.”

Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee will decide on the application.

A partially sighted Harrogate man has said it’s ‘shameful’ that many pedestrian crossings in Harrogate town centre do not make a beeping noise to let blind or visually impaired people know it is safe to cross.

John Raho, 80, relies on the noise to help him cross the road safely when vehicles stop and the green man appears.

But from the top of Cheltenham Parade up Station Parade and to the Victoria Avenue junction, 9 out of 10 crossings did not make any noise at all when the Stray Ferret tested them yesterday.

Similarly, the crossing by the Odeon cinema does not make a beeping noise.

Mr Raho said:

“I rely on the beep as a reassurance but I noticed that so many of them are not working.

“They are an essential bit of kit. It’s not big science.”

This crossing on Station Parade does not currently make a beeping noise.

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North Yorkshire County Council, which is in charge of highways in the district, is not legally obliged to add beeping noises to pedestrian crossings.

To avoid confusion, it might not have two machines beeping that are close together.

Some crossings may also have a small plastic or metal cone that can be touched. It turns when the green man lights up to indicate it is safe to cross.

This pelican crossing is the only one that beeps on Station Parade.

‘A reassurance’

However, Mr Raho said the beeping noise should be essential to improve town centre access for visually impaired people.

He said:

“It’s a reassurance for me, for others with worse eyesight it’s absolutely essential. You have to be careful.”

Mr Raho said he can just about make out a blurry green man on the other side of the road, but without a sound to guide him, he tries to take his cue from other people.

“It’s alright if other people are crossing, but people do rush across the road. 

“If someone gets knocked down, then it is bad news.”

A North Yorkshire County Council spokesperson asked Mr Raho to report any machines that are not working correctly via its website. They added that until he did so it was unable to comment.

Roadworks are set to begin tomorrow morning on North Park Road, which is one of the main routes serving Harrogate town centre.

The works, which involve replacing street lights, are set to continue until Friday next week.

Stop and go boards will be used to control traffic along the street.

The works, carried out on behalf of North Yorkshire County Council, are likely to cause delays.

Further works are set to arrive further up the road on September 9.

A county council spokeswoman said:

“The work is part of a street lighting column replacement programme. It will be closed from Marlborough Road to Knaresborough Road.”

Read more:

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• Hull company awarded £827,000 Otley Road cycle route contract

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