Menu
We are the Get Away group – a coalition of proud Harrogate business operators and residents who are united against North Yorkshire Council’s disastrous £12 million Station Gateway scheme; a project which threatens to derail local trade and jeopardise livelihoods at a time of immense economic hardship.
Our mission is to give a voice to those most at risk and stop the council from steamrolling over local businesses in pursuit of these harmful plans.
North Yorkshire Council’s controversial Harrogate Station Gateway Scheme is a £12 million Transforming Cities Fund project.
Its stated goal is to ‘boost access to Harrogate’s rail and bus stations for pedestrians and cyclists’ and improve public spaces in the town centre’.
However, there are big concerns amongst local traders about the business impact of the scheme. Currently there are some 10% of shops now vacant, a situation that will be made even worse by the reduction in car parking spaces together with two years of construction disruption.
There are also serious misgivings about the safety of the scheme caused by plans for the stretch of road by the station. It will mean users of taxis with sliding doors, which are on the near side of the vehicle, will have to get out in the middle of the road.
There is also a strong consensus that the council are just driving ahead with the scheme with no clarity on what it will look like, how much it will finally cost and how it will positively impact the town’s businesses and people.
In response to a legal challenge, North Yorkshire Council decided to scale back the scope of the project in 2023, however, this scheme has not been subjected to consultation. The council faces a deadline of March 2025 to allocate the TCF money.
“Harrogate deserves investment that enhances the town, not plans that risk hurting its economy.”
Get Away spokesperson and local business owner
Would you also like to see the Gateway scheme scrapped? If so, why not take part in our ongoing survey about the plans or download and share our campaign assets:
