Harrogate Station Gateway 3rd Consultation

There’s a really important consultation taking place from today, 20th July, until 23rd August 2022. We need you to respond please, and ask your family and friends to do so too!

Please Respond to the 3rd Consultation

It’s a 3rd consultation about the Harrogate Station Gateway project (also known as Transforming Cities). This is the link to the consultation, where you can scroll down to CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY. It should take around 10 minutes to complete.

Harrogate Station Gateway has already passed two consultations and should be going ahead. A recent press release from North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) mentioned the threat of a legal challenge over traffic levels, and that seems to be the reason for this 3rd consultation.

Why Should I Support the Harrogate Station Gateway Project?

The main reason to support the Harrogate Station Gateway project is that it represents a big improvement to Harrogate town centre as a place for people, and will transform conditions for active travel. The planned cycle infrastructure is, overall, high quality and to modern standards.

These are more reasons to support Harrogate Station Gateway.

£10.9 Million of Investment in Harrogate at Risk

£10.9 million of government funding has been secured to improve the look and feel of Harrogate town centre near the bus and rail station, and to improve conditions for those walking, cycling and getting the bus to town.

If the project does not go ahead that money will be lost to Harrogate, and returned to central government. Please respond to the consultation to make sure that doesn’t happen.

Background Documents

The consultation page has links to a number of background documents, which you can read if you have time. They are:

• an overview of the proposals
• four detailed plans (links in the right hand sidebar of the consultation page)
• a technical note about impacts on congestion
• the economic case for the Harrogate Station Gateway scheme and a James Street survey
• a report on air pollution and a cover note

Why We Support Harrogate Station Gateway

In response to the two previous consultations, we made detailed comments on the cycle infrastructure design. We will continue to try to ensure it is as good as it can be, but for the moment the most important thing is to support the principle of the project and make sure it goes ahead.

These are some of the reasons why we support Harrogate Station Gateway.

1) It Will Improve Harrogate as a Place for People

The purpose of the project is to improve conditions for walking, cycling and public transport, and make Harrogate a nicer place for people to spend time.

We feel this is much more important than whether it takes people driving through Harrogate (and often contributing nothing to local businesses) a few seconds more or less.

2) Harrogate Would Lose £10.9 Million

If the project were halted, instead of benefiting from a big investment, Harrogate would have to hand £10.9 million back to central government, and another town would benefit instead, to our detriment.

All the work done by the Station Gateway team over the last 3 years would also be wasted.

Future funding would also be at risk, because trust in Harrogate’s ability to implement a project would be lost.

3) Harrogate Station Gateway Will Be Good for Town Centre Businesses

The evidence is that walking and cycling infrastructure and public realm improvements are good for local businesses.

Currently the majority of trips into Harrogate are by car, but Harrogate Station Gateway will not prevent anyone travelling by car – they can still do so if they wish.

The project will simply enable people to travel by other means as well if they choose. Everyone is a winner.

4) Most People Won’t Cycle Unless You Provide Dedicated Infrastructure

66% of people agree that ‘it’s too dangerous for me to cycle on the roads’.

We want the town centre to be accessible to all – for everyone to have the opportunity to cycle, and for those that already cycle to feel safe.

Opponents of the scheme want to maintain the status quo, where only those in cars feel safe.

5) A Heating Planet

The recent heatwave, with temperatures hitting 40C for the first time in Britain, should jolt people into reality. We have to change the way we travel.

Zero Carbon Harrogate says that in Harrogate District, transport emissions make up 49% of the total. It is not possible to reach Net Zero without tackling transport. Electric cars on their own are not sufficient, and we need to reduce Vehicle Miles Travelled (VMT).

York’s draft Climate Change Strategy envisages a 25% reduction in VMT by 2030. Harrogate will have to reduce driving by at least as much.

If we were to reject this £10.9 million now, it would be a huge missed opportunity.

6) Traffic Volumes are Elastic, not Fixed

Some people have the idea that the volume of traffic is fixed, and must be accommodated. In reality, traffic volume is not fixed, as you can see from the graphic above showing increases since 1949.

Ever-expanding road capacity simply generates more and more traffic and is unsustainable.

The Harrogate Station Gateway team’s work on congestion shows that the project’s impact on congestion will be small, even in a worst-case scenario and not taking account of people switching to walking and cycling. The reality is that when roads are busy, people can and do change the time when they travel or how they travel.

People can walk or cycle to beat any congestion, or get the bus – and that is exactly the aim of the Harrogate Station Gateway project.

A Reservation about an Element of the Design

While most of the cycle infrastructure is good, the new Odeon roundabout design is poor.

Originally, it was to be a Dutch roundabout, as shown in this visual.

The new design would require cyclists to go on detours up the arms of the roundabout and make inconvenient right-angle turns.

Please respond to the consultation to support Harrogate Station Gateway.