The new station for Haxby ‘may as well be on the moon’ as its planned location is so inaccessible, a councillor has claimed.
Tony Richardson, who is one of the members of Haxby Town Council, voiced his own views about news that the preferred site for the new station is on Towthorpe Road.
Many have welcomed the idea of a station that side of town, closer to Strensall, but others say it’s in totally the wrong place.
City of York Council officers are recommending the location because of factors including the ownership of the land, deliverability within the Department for Transport’s required timescales, potential connectivity, and ease of access.
But Cllr Richardson criticised the proposal. “The leader and fellow ward councillors have sold Haxby out again,” he told YorkMix.
“The local plan states the town’s needs and that the best place is on Station Road closer to the centre, in walking distance, with access by bus not cars – as cars will bring the area into deadlock.
“The reason for this site is it’s cheaper, but it may as well be on the moon!
“This is not what residents want. Parking on each side of the road at the new site will close the road off, traffic from Strensall will make the area even worse.
“We want a station that’s clean, accessible, has good bus links and not lots of cars from all over.”
Why site was chosen
City of York Council leader Keith Aspden told David Dunning on YorkMix Radio: “Today’s announcement of a preferred site, which is a new site to the north of Haxby that the council’s purchased, really makes sure that we can put our foot on the gas, talk to Network Rail, talk to the government, and make sure a train station happens.
“But we do have a lot of work to do.
“Ultimately, we have to convince the government to put the final amount of money in to make sure station can then happen at that new site.”
He said the other location considered had a number of constraints, including allotments either side which would have to be relocated or destroyed.
Site 2 has more room for parking, and “you can put active travel such as pedestrian and bike routes in quite easily”.
Now the council will consult on its plans for Site 2. He said the new station “isn’t just about Haxby, but will be able to serve Strensall and many other areas and to the to the north of York”.