Concerns raised about carbon and traffic impact of new Haxby Station in York commuter villages

Councillors had been asked to consider two potential sites, Station Road, in the centre of Haxby, or at the edge of the settlement on Towthorpe Road, towards Strensall.

Labour’s deputy leader Claire Douglas urged the council’s executive to defer the decision over which site to choose.

She said: “I think the jury’s out on which location is better.”

Coun Douglas said that residents had raised concerns with her about access and traffic to the Towthorpe Road site and that there was no comparison of the carbon impact of both sites in the officer report.

She added: “I think that’s tremendously important for our council now that we have declared a climate emergency and we are supposed to be moving towards net zero.”

When weighing up the two options, council officers considered ownership of the land, Department for Transport (DfT) deadlines, connectivity, and ease of access.

The DfT is expected to make a decision within the first half of 2022 on whether to fully fund the station, with civil servants expecting work to be finished by March 2024.

The council has so far received development funding of £400,000 to take forward the business case.

James Gilchrist, director of environment, transport and planning, said: “The £400k is on a tight timescale for the DfT to deliver, but also completing that work gives us access to the new station’s fund. One window of that has already opened and closed and we want to to try to catch that next window of funding if at all possible.

“So potentially, not only does pausing defer the £400k, it potentially means you miss out on the funding for the station in its entirety as well.”

Andy D’Agorne, deputy leader of the council, said: “The funding window is a critical factor here in the comparison between the two sites.

“If site two is the one that is adopted then I do think that there’s potential there to ensure that there are sustainable transport options built into that.

“Certainly the proposal about carbon impact I think is something we should have in future reports.”

Councillors voted to approve the Towthorpe Road site.

Haxby’s station on the York to Scarborough line closed in 1930 with numerous attempts made in recent years to reopen a station in the town.

Council leader Keith Aspden said: “Identifying a preferred site is a major step forwards, as the Towthorpe Road site will help us present the strongest possible case to Government to get the funding to make this project happen.”