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'Difference of opinion' halts work at rail station

Spencer Stokes
BBC News, Yorkshire business and travel correspondent
Reporting fromWhite Rose Centre, Leeds
Spencer Stokes/BBC A building site where no work appears to be taken place. Metal barriers are lined up across part of the land. Some building materials can be seen to the left of the picture. Some grey blocks can be seen in the mid-distance.Spencer Stokes/BBC
Work on the new White Rose Station was halted last year

A "difference of opinion" between the public body funding a new railway station and a key landowner has led to an impasse at the site and work being paused, according to an MP.

Work on the White Rose Station between Cottingley and Morley, near Leeds, was halted in March 2024 after the cost of the project rose above the original £26m budget.

Mark Sewards, MP for Leeds South West and Morley, said the stakeholders needed to find an "amicable solution" but that both sides were keen to "resolve issues" so that construction could resume.

£22m of investment has come from West Yorkshire Combined Authority, with landowner Munroe K, the operator of the White Rose Park, providing £4m.

Sewards said: "I've been frustrated with the lack of progress on the station, and it's really important that WYCA and Munroe K get together and find an amicable solution."

He said that there was a difference in opinion between the two sides but having spoken to both parties it was clear "they wanted to resolve issues".

Other major infrastructure developments have seen costs inflate by 20% due to the surge in prices for building materials.

Gemma Dillon/BBC MP Mark Sewards, a young-looking man wearing a grey suit jacket, burgundy tie and a red rosette. He is smiling into the camera while other people mill about in the background.Gemma Dillon/BBC
Mark Sewards said he was "frustrated" with the lack of progress

The scheme began in March 2022 with the station originally due to open in 2024.

It was designed to serve White Rose Business Park, the shopping centre and Elliott Hudson Sixth Form College.

In a joint statement WYCA and Munroe K said: "Following the temporary pause in construction at White Rose Station, we've been working with partners to resolve issues so that work can restart on the site.

"The station is a major priority for West Yorkshire and an update is anticipated in the coming months."

West Yorkshire's mayor Tracy Brabin was also asked about the scheme and said that the Combined Authority was "in the process of sorting out the next steps and we'll get to a good position soon".

White Rose Station would be served by trains on the Transpennine route between Leeds, Huddersfield and Manchester.

The Combined Authority is also developing three other new railway stations in the region at Elland, Thorpe Park and Leeds Bradford Airport.

Work at Elland is scheduled to start next year following a 25-year wait.

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