Request for ratification of decision to close Cottingley Station
| Section | Closures |
Peter Coello
West Yorkshire Combined Authority
40-50 Wellington Street
Leeds
LS1 2DE
18th March 2022
Dear Sir or Madam,
Ratification request for closure of Cottingley Rail Station
The closure of Cottingley station has been considered due to the construction
of a new, fully accessible station near the White Rose Office Park. The White
Rose Railway Station forms part of a wider transport investment and
regeneration programme, the Leeds Public Transport Investment Programme,
and represents significant investment in south Leeds. It will be a destination
station that also connects local communities at Cottingley, Churwell and
Millshaw, with jobs, training and education opportunities.
The new rail station in south Leeds is located on the Leeds to Dewsbury
section of the main Trans Pennine rail route, 800 metres south of the existing
Cottingley station, immediately adjacent to the White Rose Park and 200
metres from the White Rose Shopping Centre. The White Rose Park has a
working population of 5,300 people and the Elliot Hudson College serves
more than 900 16-19-year-old pupils. The shopping centre is home to a
further 4,500 retail, leisure and hospitality employees.
The White Rose Rail Station will offer all 10,000+ of these people the ability to
use a train to get to and from work or college, the beneficial effect of which will
be felt by all concerned as well as the wider community by taking cars off the
road and reducing the city’s carbon footprint. The project team explored
building the new station next to the White Rose Shopping Centre. This,
however, is not feasible due to both the curvature of the track in this location
and the proposed location is deemed to be the best strategic option,
optimising accessibility for workers, students, and surrounding communities.
Detailed work has been undertaken to understand the potential implications of
this development for Cottingley Rail Station, the least used station within
Leeds, because the two stations so close together cannot be fully sustained.
This included exploring a range of options to ensure people in Cottingley and
neighbouring areas can access the rail network and other transport links.
Substantial consultation has been undertaken with the community to
understand their needs to help inform and develop a scheme at White Rose
that best meets their requirements.
The new White Rose Rail station addresses the key pitfalls of
Cottingley Rail Station: accessibility and compliance with the Equality Act and
the wider strategic catchment to serve more passengers.
Throughout the course of this, and previous consultations regarding the new
station, we have engaged with thousands of people through face-to-face and
virtual events, as well as social media channels and the YourVoice website.
Prior to the consultation regarding the future of Cottingley Rail Station, our
messaging had been focussed on the new White Rose Station, the station
buildings and the benefits it would bring to residents, as well as education and
business communities. Throughout these engagements, the positive feedback
received far outweighed any negativity, with the station buildings gaining full
planning approval in 2020.
In accordance with the 2006 Railways Closures Guidance, we have provided
a link to the below documents for your review:
• 1. Cottingley Case for Closure Appraisal
• 2. Cottingley Rail Station Consultation Report
• 3. Cottingley Mitigations Report
• 4. White Rose and Cottingley Equality Impact Assessment and
Diversity Impact Assessment
If you require anything further as part of this station closure application please
do not hesitate to get in touch.
Yours faithfully,
Peter Coello
Project Manager
CSC
JANUARY 2022 CONFIDENTIAL
Munroe K
COTTINGLEY STATION CLOSURE
Consultation Document
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