North Yorkshire Council will not have to repay government money it spent on consultants for the Harrogate Station Gateway project if it is scrapped.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed in June that the council had paid global consultancy WSP more than £2 million to draw up its business case and undertake designs for the Harrogate active travel scheme.

All costs so far incurred on Station Gateway, including the consultants’ fees, have been paid for by the council and reimbursed by the government through its Transforming Cities Fund.

But, according to a council spokesperson, the government would not ask for the money back, which is one less headache for the under pressure authority when it comes to the troubled project.

The gateway has been in the works for years but is now in major doubt after North Yorkshire Council said earlier this month that it had “rescinded the decision to proceed” with its proposals due to a legal challenge.

In a statement, the council said it would not be proceeding at the moment to avoid “further costs and delays” after a judicial review was launched by lawyers acting on behalf of Hornbeam Park Developments over the way the council consulted residents and businesses.

A report will go before the council’s Conservative-run executive next month with recommendations for what happens next.

At a meeting of North Yorkshire Council’s Conservative-run executive last week in Harrogate, council leader Carl Les said it was a “matter of some urgency” that the gateway report is published and chief executive Richard Flinton said this would likely be ahead of an executive meeting on September 19.

Read more:

• Lib Dems call on Keane Duncan to resign over Harrogate Station Gateway


• £11.2m Harrogate Station Gateway halted after legal challenge


• Station Gateway: Andrew Jones calls for funding to be switched to ‘other projects’