Campaigners fighting plans for the £12m Harrogate Station Gateway scheme have seized on comments from North Yorkshire Council's leader suggesting there is doubt over the success of the project.
The Get Away group also claims the bad news contained in the government’s Spring statement highlights the need to scrap the work.
The scheme would see work in the station area to improve traffic flow, create new cycling infrastructure and improve pedestrian accessibility and public spaces.
North Yorkshire Council leader Carl Les said in a news report last year on the task of balancing the needs of pedestrians, cycle users and the business community, “whether we’ve got it right, only time will tell.”
Get Away member David Waddington, of Hornbeam Park Developments Limited, said of the comment:
“This is unbelievable and clear that the council does not know whether it’s going to work or not, but yet happy to spend more than £12m in finding out.
“It’s hardly a vote of confidence in the scheme they are pushing the town’s population to accept.”
Bur Cllr Les said the campaigners were “playing with semantics”.
He added:
“No business plan, no matter how well researched, can be 100 per cent certain of success.
“We are responding to competing demands, the demands of part of the community for a more welcoming, more traffic-free Harrogate town centre, whilst also listening to the concerns of the business community for a welcoming and thriving retail centre.
“We have made alterations to the initial scheme based on consultation feedback on those competing demands.”
Mr Waddington said this week’s gloomy Spring Statement highlighted the financial constraints facing the country.
He added:
“Enough is enough now. The time has come to pull the plug on this unwanted and totally unnecessary project which will do nothing for Harrogate except to tank the local economy.
“Our traders need all the help they can get in difficult times like this but forcing Station Gateway on the town could be the final nail in the coffin for many.”
Get Away has launched legal action in a bid to stop the Gateway scheme.
The group has instructed lawyers to challenge North Yorkshire Council over its issuing of traffic regulation orders.
But North Yorkshire Council has said it will defend the project and says work could start soon on elements not covered by the orders.
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