Legal advisers for the Get Away campaign have written to West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority (YNYCA) urging them not to release public funds for the Harrogate Station Gateway scheme while key legal challenges are ongoing.
The campaign, which represents town centre businesses opposed to the project and backed by a majority of Harrogate traders, is calling on WYCA to refuse approval to release millions of pounds from the Department for Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund at a forthcoming decision meeting on the 4th December. It is also pressing YNYCA not to proceed with its £2 million contribution to the scheme.
In the letters sent, the campaign’s legal advisers highlight that the Court of Appeal has granted permission for a review of the four Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs 1-4) underpinning the revised Harrogate Station Gateway Scheme, explicitly stating that the grounds have “real prospects of success”. Further proceedings are planned in relation to a subsequent TRO and North Yorkshire Council’s (NYC) recent decision to proceed with the scheme.
The letters point out that NYC’s own business case acknowledges an estimated 75% risk of a successful legal challenge, yet the council is still seeking around £11 million from WYCA and has publicly indicated it intends to start construction in the New Year. The legal team argues that, in these circumstances, it would be irrational and “extremely risky” for the combined authorities to sign off funding.
They also warn that YNYCA’s £2 million contribution is understood to be conditional on the Harrogate legal challenge being “satisfactorily concluded”, a test that is plainly not met while the Court of Appeal case and further claims are outstanding. Without that contribution, they say there is no guarantee that any money released by WYCA would actually enable the full scheme to be delivered.
Beyond the litigation risk, the letters set out detailed concerns about the substance of the scheme. The business case is criticised as partial and unevidenced, with NYC’s own documents indicating that the revised Harrogate Station Gateway represents low value for money even before fully accounting for harms to local businesses, congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, heritage assets, protected species and road safety.
A WSP carbon report is cited as showing that the scheme would increase carbon emissions overall, contrary to Transforming Cities Fund guidance and the region’s net zero ambitions. Transport modelling is said to show longer journey times and greater congestion for both private vehicles and buses, while traders face reduced parking and loading, a single loading bay serving more than 30 businesses and prolonged construction disruption.
Steven Baines, the spokesperson for the Get Away campaign, said: “No responsible funding body should sign off millions of pounds of public money for a scheme that its own promoter accepts is high risk and low value, and which is facing a Court of Appeal challenge with real prospects of success. WYCA and YNYCA must not give North Yorkshire Council the monies to start works in the New Year while the courts have yet to decide whether the underlying traffic regulation orders are lawful.”
The campaign’s legal advisers have asked both combined authorities to confirm that they will not release any funding for the Harrogate Station Gateway, or at the very least to postpone decisions until all current and forthcoming legal proceedings have been dealt with and the true risks to the public purse are clear.
