County council bosses rejected a suggestion by Harrogate Borough Council to allocate contingency funding to the town’s £11.9 million Station Gateway project.
According to a North Yorkshire County Council report, the borough council was consulted on the use of surplus money from on-street parking charges – known as civil parking enforcement.
The county council manages on-street parking across North Yorkshire and collects fines which are enforced by the districts.
The county council estimates it will allocate £3 million in funding to projects and services over the next three years and consulted the borough council on the matter.
Trevor Watson, director of economy at Harrogate Borough Council, said in a letter that part of the money could be allocated to the gateway scheme.
He said:
“With inflation rising it would be prudent to budget for additional match funding from civil parking enforcement surplus expenditure.”
Mr Watson also suggested the funding could be used to develop mitigation measures as part of the west of Harrogate infrastructure plan and as “top-up” funding for cycling schemes on Victoria Avenue and at Pannal.
However, county council bosses turned down the gateway idea and said that “it would not be possible” to match the funding.
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It added it could not do so “as the surplus is fully committed for the continuation of delivering services and projects”.
The Stray Ferret asked the authority whether it had identified any other areas for contingency funding for the gateway scheme.
We had not received a response by the time of publication.
Inflation hits major projects
The move comes as the county council is facing higher costs for major projects amid rising inflation.
In August, the council’s realignment of the A59 at Kex Gill increased in cost from £61 million to £68.8 million.
The council put the increase down to rising inflation affecting construction costs.
Gary Fielding, corporate director at the county council, warned councillors that the “burden of risk” for major projects will fall on the authority amid the current economic climate.
Mr Fielding said in August that the authority continues to “monitor costs and market conditions when embarking on projects”.
