Dragon Road Car Park to be Resurfaced not Developed

The Dragon Road car park near Asda, owned by Harrogate Borough Council (HBC), won’t be developed for housing for the time being. Instead, it is to be resurfaced as a car park at a cost of £140,000, reports the Stray Ferret.

Prioritising Parking over Housing

It follows an HBC decision in November 2022 to pause plans for development at Dragon Road.

According to the newspaper report at the time, HBC Executive member for planning Cllr Tim Myatt said that the council should ensure that:

‘…adequate parking for Harrogate Convention Centre-associated vehicles take primacy over site redevelopment.’

cllr tim myatt quoted by the stray ferret

Routemap to Carbon Negative

The Routemap to Carbon Negative for York & N Yorkshire sets ambitious goals for reducing car travel and increasing active travel.

Part of that involves 15-minute neighbourhoods, which reduce the need for longer distance travel.

Nearly all the recent housing developments that have been approved by HBC have been on the edge of town, and 99% car-dependent with no meaningful active travel facilities.

Dragon Road was the only one that fitted with the Routemap goals, and would allow walking and cycling to be the natural choices for most residents’ trips. That’s because the site is in the town centre, with easy access to amenities and the bus and train stations.

To find that development has been paused in order to prioritise cars is very disappointing.

There is a chasm between the rhetoric of HBC and N Yorkshire County Council and their actions.

Improvements to Dragon Cycleway Access

HBC agreed to procure technical drawings and a contractor to improve the access through the Dragon Road car park to the Dragon Cycleway. The Dragon Cycleway links to the Nidderdale Greenway at the Dragon Junction bridge over the railway.

Other HBC Development Projects

As well as Dragon Road, two other HBC development projects were considered at a council meeting on 9th November 2022. The other two sites are:

• Harlow Nursery and
• Pannal, by the A61 S of Almsford Bridge

Harlow Nursery

HBC decided to press ahead with a plan to sell Harlow Nursery for housing development, provided the council nursery can be relocated.

Pannal

The report to the HBC meeting in November said that the Pannal site could be redeveloped for employment, but it would need the council’s direct involvement in delivering it. As HBC ceases to exist on 1st April 2023, that decision will rest with North Yorkshire Council.

Cllr Myatt said he did not wish to proceed with options for the Pannal site, as there was little hope of achieving the quality he wants to see.