Court of Appeal upholds council decision on Harrogate traffic regulation orders

In A & E Baines v The North Yorkshire Council [2026] EWCA Civ 257 (12 March 2026), Lord Justice Lewis concluded: “The respondent [North Yorkshire] was not obliged to carry out a consultation exercise on the elements of the revised scheme before making the Order. It was not unlawful or irrational to make the four Orders whilst modifying the fifth proposed traffic regulation. The advice to officers properly dealt with the legal issues and was not in any respect misleading, still less significantly or seriously so.”

Under the TROs, part of the town’s Lower Station Parade would become a bus and cycle lane with the whole road converted to one-way traffic southbound, while there would be other restrictions on traffic movements in adjacent roads.

In August 2025, CMG Ockelton, sitting as a judge of the High Court, dismissed all five grounds argued by local property firm A&E Baines against them.

The applicant had argued amongst other things that the TROs were unlawful due to inadequate consultation, misleading publicity, and flawed decision-making.

However, Judge Ockelton emphasized that the TROs were part of a broader, lawfully adopted transport scheme and that objections to the scheme itself were outside the scope of the challenge. As a result, the application was refused and the TROs remained valid.

A&E Baines appealed, submitting that the judge was wrong:

• to hold that it was lawful to make the Orders in circumstances where additional public consultation or engagement had not occurred;
• to conclude that it was lawful to make the Orders which implemented part of the revised scheme (a) without any certainty that the remainder of the revised scheme would be delivered by further traffic regulation orders and (b) while taking account of the benefits of the wider revised scheme which included traffic regulation orders which had not been made; and
• to conclude that the respondent's decision was not unlawful by virtue of the fact that it (a) relied upon conclusions unsupported by adequate evidence or contrary to available evidence (b) failed to take into account material considerations or (c) was unsupported by adequate reasoning.

Dismissing the appeal on all three grounds, Lord Justice Lewis stated that “the appropriate arrangements for the regulation of traffic in Harrogate is a matter for the local authority to decide”, and found that the advice to officers “properly dealt with the legal issues and was not in any respect misleading”.

Lord Justice Zacaroli and Lord Justice Dove agreed.

Cllr Malcolm Taylor, North Yorkshire's executive member for highways and transport, said: “We welcome the Court of Appeal’s clear decision, which confirms that the council acted lawfully and appropriately at every stage of this process.

“This is the second time we have had to defend our position in the court and both times we have won all points convincingly. While our costs are recouped from the applicant, we have wasted a significant amount of time and energy on these two unjustified appeals.

“This would have been better focussed on delivering a scheme that is about improving access, safety and reliability for everyone using this key part of Harrogate, and has broad support in the town.”

Lottie Winson