North Yorkshire County Council’s Executive will be asked at its meeting on Tuesday (24 July 2018) to rescind part of an approved route for a Harrogate outer relief road to clear the way for housing development.
The part of the route recommended to be rescinded is that which lies to the east of the proposed Killinghall bypass and runs north of Knaresborough to Goldsborough.
The alignment of the northern route was identified in the 1990s. At that time, it was hoped a road could be built within a decade, but changes to government funding meant this was not possible.
A planning application for housing development on Boroughbridge Road, Knaresborough, has now been submitted and is being considered by Harrogate Borough Council. The line of the outer relief road route runs through the development plot, which is among sites proposed for potential residential development in the Borough Council’s latest consultation document for the emerging Harrogate District Local Plan. Therefore, the route conflicts with this application and with proposed housing allocations in the draft Local Plan.
The route is not among options running between Harrogate and Knaresborough that are being investigated as part of the Harrogate congestion study. Initial assessments already made as part of that study indicate that any outer relief road would have a negligible impact on congestion in Harrogate and would not be a favoured approach to addressing the problem.
County Councillor Don Mackenzie, Executive Member for Highways, said:
In this recommendation to our Executive, we are taking a realistic view. Evidence shows that this relief road alignment is no longer considered fit for purpose. Therefore, we do not see a benefit in retaining this alignment and, in so doing, putting an impediment in the way of development in Knaresborough.
Should the route be rescinded, the County Council, as local highway authority, will be in a position to give a positive recommendation in response to the planning application for housing development in Boroughbridge Road.
The Executive is being recommended to retain a current approved route for the Killinghall bypass pending the outcome of the Harrogate congestion study.
