AIRPORT link road proposals have been condemned as "ill considered" by Rawdon Parish Council.

The council is accusing Leeds City Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority of pressing ahead with their link route plans despite the "weight of evidence against them".

Rawdon councillors say a 2005 report from infrastructure consultants Scott Wilson, commissioned by Leeds, had already looked at the link road routes which are now on the table.

The parish council says: "Their conclusions were damning, stating that airport traffic alone could not justify it and that it contributed nothing to the wider road network. They based their conclusion on a higher level of passengers at LBA than the current figure.

"Scott Wilson undertook traffic modelling studies to come to their conclusions. Leeds City Council’s representative admitted at one of their ‘drop in’ sessions that they had not undertaken any traffic modelling as part of their current proposals.

"The fact LCC and WYCA chose to ignore the conclusion of unquestioned experts is bad enough but they have also ignored the evidence presented them by Rawdon Parish Council from our own traffic survey which confirmed Scott Wilson's conclusion."

Rawdon Parish Council has undertaken a further traffic survey of roads around the airport - completed in the last few weeks - which it says shows that the link road would benefit only a tiny proportion of airport traffic.

It says the proportion of traffic arriving on Harrogate Road at Bayton Lane Traffic Lights that originates from the A65 south of Harrogate Road is 15.73 per cent.

The parish council argues that the proposed link road would replace the least congested roads in the area, and that traffic using the new link would be expected to use the "extremely congested" Horsforth roundabout when travelling to or from the airport.

It says: "Surely the airport would be far better served by using the money to address the problems of the Ring Road. £100 million represents very poor value for public money.

"£100 milion that would make a difference to tens of thousands of commuters every day if it were to be spent in the right place."

A Leeds City Council spokeswoman said: "We’re currently having a major consultation exercise to ensure as many people as possible express their opinion on these proposals and welcome all views. Extensive modelling work has informed the proposals to date. The consultation runs until Friday, April 12 and the survey and full information can be found here: https://www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/airport .”

The LBA link route road proposals include two which would see a new road created from the A65, with the first option running along the eastern side of the airport before joining the A658 while the second option would run to the south west of the airport before joining the A658. The third option would see upgrading of existing junctions on the A65 and A658.

The parkway station is planned for the existing Leeds to Harrogate line between Scotland Lane and Cookridge and would include a 350-space car park and a bus interchange.