A £12 million project to improve Harrogate town centre and encourage the use of public transport is set to proceed to the next stage after a High Court judge ruled in favour of North Yorkshire Council.
The Transforming Cities Fund scheme is aimed at improving Harrogate town centre’s public realm, provide better access to public transport, and ensure people are connected to economic and education opportunities.
In February, A&E Baines Limited began legal action to stop the scheme, led by a campaign group called Get Away.
Campaigners claimed that the required Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) were unlawful, and North Yorkshire Council had failed to consider the full impact of the proposals or consult adequately with the public.
However, following a two-day high court hearing, the judge ruled wholly in favour of the council and dismissed the challenge on all five grounds. The judge has also refused permission to appeal his decision.
In respect of one of the applicants’ grounds, the judge stated that “the points made by the applicant here are bad ones”, and “the fact that the applicant does not agree with them (the plans) and does not like the fact that its arguments were not accepted, does not make the reasons inadequate in law”.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Malcolm Taylor, said: “After many months of uncertainty, we welcome the court’s clear and unequivocal ruling in favour of the council on all five grounds.
“This decision not only vindicates the thorough and transparent process we followed, but also allows us to move forward with confidence.”
The scheme in Harrogate includes the redevelopment of One Arch and Station Square, improved traffic signals, a bus lane, a southbound cycle lane on Station Parade, new paving for pedestrians and cycle parking at Harrogate Railway Station.
There will also be improvements to traffic signals on the A61 at the junctions of King’s Road and Ripon Road, and King’s Road and Cheltenham Parade. Full details are to be published on the council’s website soon.
As the outcome of the legal challenge has been heard, a final report on the scheme is due to go to the council’s executive in October.
The scheme is predominantly funded through the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF), which is a major programme of transport infrastructure investment covering the Leeds City Region.
The aims of the programme are to provide more accessible, affordable and attractive greener transport options, connect people to employment and educational opportunities, and create happier and healthier communities.
North Yorkshire Council was awarded £38m to deliver schemes in Harrogate, Selby and Skipton. Work started in Skipton earlier this summer, with work in Selby set to begin in the autumn.
Other key findings of the hearing are as follows:
- The judge said that some of the submissions were “based on a partial view of that evidence, or a misreading of it or a misunderstanding of it”.
- The judge said that “there is nothing in the argument that it was unlawful to consider the benefits of the scheme as a whole in the making of the individual TROs”.
- The applicant claimed that “the lack of detail provided meant that it was extremely difficult for consultees to understand what the impacts would be”, and that the TROs consisted of “highly technical documents with a series of plans that were difficult to understand”. However, the judge did not agree, stating “there was certainly no lack of detail”, and that the applicant makes these claims “when it suits it to do so”.
- The applicant suggested that the council had not consulted fully with local businesses, and the information document on the scheme was misleading. On these points, the judge did not accept these arguments, and said “there does not appear to be any evidence that the applicant sought any clarification of anything in the plans”. The judge added that document “provided an accurate context for the TRO proposals, against which any reasonable reader had a proper opportunity to make any material objection to the TROs”.
