In less than a month’s time, the curtain will come down on the career of one of the most influential — and divisive — politicians in the Harrogate district this century.

Don Mackenzie served 16 years as a Harrogate borough councillor, but will be best remembered for his current role as executive member for access at North Yorkshire County Council.

His portfolio includes transport, which means he has led on key decisions, such as the Harrogate Station Gateway, the junction 47 upgrade of the A1(M) near Knaresborough, realignment of the A59 at Kex Gill and numerous schemes to promote cycling and walking.

In an era when some politicians pick and choose which media to talk to, and hide behind press officers, Cllr Mackenzie has always been willing to pick up the phone and front up. He believes in transparency, he says. Colleagues say he’s on top of his brief, and some think he would have made a good county council leader.

But the judgement of the people is more brutal. Barely a day passes without references to ‘Dismal Don’ or calls for his resignation on social media. Complex transport schemes rarely please everyone and rarely progress swiftly and he is remarkably relaxed about the fallout:

“If I let these things upset me, I would have given up years ago. The only thing that occasionally annoys me is social media, especially anonymous posters.

“Tough decisions have to be made and all they do is sit in the comfort of their own home posting anonymous criticism. It’s cowardly.”

‘Right time to go’

On the day we met Cllr Mackenzie, who has lived in Harrogate since 1973 and represents Harrogate Saltergate, he received an email asking how dare he approve 770 houses being built on Otley Road — the decision has not been made yet and will be taken by Harrogate Borough Council, of which he has not been a councillor since 2018.

Such confusion will end when North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council are abolished next year to make way for North Yorkshire Council, which will become the new unitary authority for the county.

New weather stations have been introduced to help drivers in difficult conditions.

That looming seismic change has persuaded Cllr Mackenzie, 72, not to seek re-election on May 5. He is the only one of 10 members of the county council executive not to do so. Wasn’t he tempted to continue?

“No I wasn’t. It’s a five-year commitment. I felt that my time as a county councillor had come to a natural end. Many of my colleagues have great difficulty deciding when and if to retire. Many people say a career in politics always ends in tears so I feel this is the right time to go.”

Read more:

• Harrogate bus plans in tatters after government rejects £116m funding bid
• £7.8 million awarded to help make Harrogate Bus Company’s fleet all-electric
• Transport leader Don Mackenzie to step down next year

Nevertheless he will be sad to depart.

“I’ve enjoyed almost every minute of it.

“Most councillors set out to do something for their local community. Most people like me are in it to make a difference and sometimes it’s difficult to make that difference. There are inevitably disappointments. We’ve been disappointed this week with our Bus Service Improvement Plan.”

The county council’s plan involved bidding £116m to the Department for Transport to improve bus services in North Yorkshire. It received none. A significant chunk would have been spent easing congestion in Harrogate. But in March the government awarded the council and Harrogate Bus Company £7.8m to make the firm’s fleet all-electric.

There have been other successes, such as the Bond End double mini roundabout in Knaresborough, which eased congestion at one of the most polluted spots in the Harrogate district.

“It was a highlight because many people thought it would not work and were worried about safety and taking away the traffic lights.”

Junction 47, trains and Kex Gill

Cllr Mackenzie lauds the A1(M) junction 47 upgrade, due to end end anytime now, as a rare example of infrastructure investment coming before development.

He says train services are far better now, with more frequent direct trains to London, than before he became a councillor despite rail operator Northern’s announcement last month of cuts to Harrogate services. He says:

“Northern have assured me these reductions will be short-term only.”

He admits to being a “little frustrated” the Kex Gill realignment won’t be completed before he leaves office. Delays, he says, are inevitable when “taking a major trans-pennine highway across a sensitive area of countryside”. Peat deposits are among the vexed considerations. But the project has levered £56m from the Department for Transport and should start this year.

Walking and cycling schemes

Active travel schemes have been the most contentious, particularly the Harrogate Station Gateway. It was one of three initiatives worth £42million funded by West Yorkshire Combined Authority.

Making the case for the Station Gateway at a business meeting.

Cllr Mackenzie says the Selby and Skipton projects “have been problem free”; Harrogate has been anything but, with strong opposition from businesses and residents to reducing Station Parade to single lane and pedestrianising part of James Street. He remains a staunch advocate:

“It’s bringing £11million of much needed investment into the town centre. It will be a radical improvement to a part of town that needs improving and it will be good for the visitor economy.”

He says he would be “inclined to continue’ with the closure of Beech Grove in Harrogate to through traffic when the 18-month experiment ends in August, with the caveat that he “would be guided by the data”.

As for Otley Road cycle path, he was “a little surprised to hear complaints from the cycling lobby” because “what we have delivered is exactly what the plans showed so they had plenty of time to raise concerns then”.

He says the council will conduct another round of consultation on phase two “so people are absolutely clear” about the plans this time.

Why have these schemes provoked so much anger?

“In Harrogate, when one attempts change — in this case to improve facilities for walking and cycling — you get roughly half the population behind you and half against you.

“Also, many people feel any restrictions on car driving is a bad thing whereas if you want to overcome congestion you have to have a realistic alternative.”

Conservative for 40 years

Don Johannes Josef Mackenzie was born in Germany and is bilingual — his dad stayed there after the war and met a German woman. The family moved before Cllr Mackenzie’s first birthday and he grew up in Ipswich.

He became managing director of MMP International, which supplied industrial repair and maintenance products worldwide. The job brought him to Harrogate 49 years ago.

MMP was acquired by US company ITW in 1998. Mr Mackenzie was a minority shareholder and stayed on for 10 years as business manager. He then became self-employed, “doing small things representing British manufacturers worldwide”.

A Conservative Party member for 40 years, he cut his political teeth as a Harrogate borough councillor in Pannal from 1987 to 1991 before a 15-year hiatus to concentrate on his career and raising his daughter, who would later become the agent for Andrew Jones, the Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough. Who are his political heroes?

“I liked Mrs Thatcher but I don’t have any political heroes. I also liked David Cameron — I thought he was very good.”

He returned to serve three terms in Harrogate from 2006 to 2018, during which he became the cabinet member for planning and transport for three years — a role that included oversight of the creation of the original Local Plan — a document that outlines where planning can take part in the development.

Speaking at an online county council meeting.

The plan allocated 390 new homes a year in the district — a number that was rejected by the government’s Planning Inspectorate as too low and was eventually bumped up to around 700, leading to ongoing concerns about the number of new developments. He says:

“In hindsight 390 was a little low. Now it’s nearer 700. I don’t have a problem with 700 but recently it’s been much higher than that.”

Cllr Mackenzie was appointed executive member for public health at the county council in 2013 until council leader Carl Les moved him to his access portfolio in 2015.

It’s a bruising role but says the only time he gets real abuse is when he’s knocking on doors canvassing. It doesn’t seem to bother him — he likes a good argument. Or as he puts it:

“I can’t say I enjoy it but I wouldn’t shrink from it.

“I belong to that generation when a candidate didn’t rely on social media. I relied on public meetings. But there’s far less of that face-to-face stuff and that has led to a decline in behaviour because people think their behaviour doesn’t matter as much.”

Bird watching

Cllr Mackenzie, who is 72, doesn’t intend to retire. He has applied to become a non-executive director of a British public sector organisation and wants to keep busy.

“I wouldn’t like to think I didn’t start each day without an active programme ahead.”

He’s a keen bird watcher who engages in his hobby on family holidays in Norfolk. He doesn’t cycle but walks a lot. He often catches the bus or strolls into town from his home, near Leeds Road about a mile from the town centre. He says it’s too close to go by car.

He claims not to have any major regrets. What does he think his legacy will be?

“I would like people to think that whatever decision I took, I took with the best of motives and I thought the decision was right. I can’t claim to have got every decision right – but they were all taken with the best of intentions.”

With many of his schemes set to outlast him, his legacy will be felt in the district for years to come.

The councillor in charge of highways for North Yorkshire has said a park and ride pilot scheme for Harrogate remains possible despite a £116million funding bid rejection.

The Department for Transport yesterday awarded North Yorkshire County Council none of the £116million it bid for from the government’s Bus Back Better scheme. Much of the funding was earmarked to reduce congestion in Harrogate.

Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the county council, said he was “very disappointed” with the rejection but parts of the county’s Bus Service Improvement Plan could still go ahead without government support.

Cllr Mackenzie said this included the park and ride, which is likely to operate from Pannal, although questions remained about how a permanent service would be funded.

“The park and ride trial was not part of this funding, and the pilot itself will use the 36 service so it won’t be particularly expensive to find out whether it works or not.

“I’m very anxious that this trial scheme still goes ahead irrespective of today’s result.”

Cllr Mackenzie also said the on-demand bus service, YorBus, which is being trialled in Ripon, Bedale and Masham could be expanded.

He added:

“One of the things in our Bus Service Improvement Plan was to expand the on-demand response service, YorBus, and of course that pilot continues.

“If it continues to be successful, we will roll it out in other areas.

“We will also continue to work in close partnership with bus operators.”

Read more:

• Harrogate bus plans in tatters after government rejects £116m funding bid
• Council could sell Harrogate district grass verge cuttings

The Bus Service Improvement Plan included £23 million for new bus lanes, £74 million for other infrastructure changes and £14 million for support for bus services.

‘Plans didn’t lack ambition’

The government claimed areas that failed to get the cash had not shown “sufficient ambition”. In total, just 34 of 79 areas which applied were successful.

In Yorkshire, this included the West Yorkshire Combined Authority which submitted a bid for £168 million, but was given £70 million, while City of York Council wanted £48 million and got £17.4 million.

Cllr Mackenzie said he believed the plans for North Yorkshire were ambitious enough to win funding and that he was now keen to speak to government officials to understand their decision. He said:

“I don’t think our plans lacked ambition. They were worth £116 million over eight years – that doesn’t lack ambition or aspiration.

“Until such time we have spoken to ministers or senior civil servants, I can’t say exactly what was lacking from our submission.

“We knew the Bus Back Better budget had been severely curtailed… but I expected to get some money, not nothing at all, so I’m very disappointed.”

The county council and Harrogate Bus Company have been successful in a separate bid for £7.8 million to make the firm’s fleet all-electric with the delivery of 39 zero-emission buses.

The project will cost almost £20 million in total, with more than £12 million being invested by Transdev – the parent firm of Harrogate Bus Company.

It will see 20 single-decker and 19 double-decker buses bought over the next three years, as well as the supporting charging infrastructure.

Harrogate Bus Company and North Yorkshire County Council have been awarded £7.8 million as part of a joint bid to make the firm’s fleet all-electric with the delivery of 39 zero-emission buses.

The project will cost almost £20 million in total, with around £11.5 million being invested by Transdev – the French parent firm of Harrogate Bus Company.

It will see 20 single-decker and 19 double-decker buses provided over the next three years, as well as the supporting charging infrastructure.

All the new vehicles will have next stop announcements, USB power and free Wi-Fi.

The joint bid was originally made for more than £8 million, and the £7.8 million received will be used to improve vehicles on routes, including the high-profile 36 from Ripon through Harrogate to Leeds.

The money is coming from the government’s £200 million Zero Emission Bus Regional Area fund, which is delivering almost 1,000 new buses across the country – including 221 in Yorkshire.

Criticism of Harrogate’s level of funding

Councillor Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at North Yorkshire County Council, said the successful bid signalled the authority’s intent to foster a more environmentally-friendly generation of public transport.

His comments follow repeated criticism against the county council over its high proportion of bids for travel-related funding being focused on Harrogate, due to the town being the largest centre of population.

When asked if other areas of the county would see similar schemes, Cllr Mackenzie said:

“Clearly we would be keen to convert all buses that are used in North Yorkshire eventually to electric.”

Earlier this month, Cllr Mackenzie also said he was “confident” that Harrogate would still be able to trial a park and ride service despite funding cuts to a separate government scheme.

Read more:

• Highways chief orders study into Harrogate’s Prince of Wales roundabout crossing
• Otley Road in Harrogate to face six weeks of roadworks

The Bus Back Better initiative is seen as key to the government’s “levelling up” agenda, but has seen its funding more than halved from £3 billion to £1.4 billion.

New bus lanes

North Yorkshire County Council has bid for £116 million from the scheme to fund its Bus Service Improvement Plan, which also includes new bus lanes, more cash support for services and other upgrades across the county.

However, Cllr Mackenzie previously said it was unlikely that the county council would get “anything near” the full amount it bid for. He added:

“Even if we get reduced funding – which is likely – I’m confident there will be money for the various interventions we want to make in Harrogate, including a pilot for a park and ride.”

The county council’s Bus Service Improvement Plan includes £23 million for new bus lanes, £74 million for other infrastructure changes and £14 million for support for bus services.

There is also an aim to increase the 12.1 million passenger journeys in North Yorkshire in the year to March 2019 to 14.3 million journeys by 2030.