Campaigners outraged as council announces it will be starting the town’s Station Gateway development after Christmas
Campaigners against the Harrogate Station Gateway scheme are in uproar against North Yorkshire Council, following its decision to announce that works will begin after Christmas, despite major question marks still hanging over its future.
The move by the council comes fast on the heels of the Court of Appeal decision to grant permission for the review of the judge’s original decision to dismiss a legal challenge brought against a number of Traffic Regulations Orders (TROs) made to implement the scheme.
Says Steven Baines, spokesperson for the Get Away campaign: “The council want to take a hard long look at themselves. They need to ask themselves whether this is morally right. If there was a review relating to any other development in the town, would they let it go ahead? There seems to be one rule for them and another rule for the rest of us.
“Enough is enough. The business community and the people of Harrogate now need to be asking serious questions of the council as to why they are prepared to risk significant amounts of tax payers’ money by going ahead with a development that may not see the light of day, and at a time when councils across Yorkshire are under huge financial pressure; there is a continuing cost-of-living crisis which could be set to get much worse following the Autumn budget; and businesses are struggling to keep their heads above water in the present challenging economic climate.”
David Waddington, a consultant for Hornbeam Park Developments, added: “It seems incredulous that a scheme that a Freedom of Information Request has identified as ‘poor value for money’ based on a benefit-to-cost ratio; and has been classified as high risk by the council due likely to the uncertainty caused by the opposition against it, has now decided to play a high stakes game by going ahead when an appeal is pending.
“The council has shown a complete disregard for the people that this will impact most – it is simply not listening to the concerns from the vast majority of traders who are incredibly worried about their future prospects as a result of two years of construction and the proposals to greatly reduce parking in the town centre.
“This latest development is proof of this and is a massive kick in the teeth for the town’s business community.”
The Get Away Group has instructed lawyers to advise whether the decision is lawful.
It will also be writing to both West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the Department for Transport, who are responsible for the funding of the scheme, to challenge the lawfulness of any decision to release the monies given the current state of play. Added Steven Baines: “It’s laughable that the council has accused a small group of campaigners for disrupting this scheme. The message is clearly not getting through that the vast majority of traders in the town centre have grave concerns about the scheme on business and safety grounds and do not want it to go ahead.”
