Another £2 million is to be pumped into the Harrogate Station Gateway.

The town centre redevelopment project is in limbo after the business group Get Away launched a High Court challenge to prevent it going ahead. The verdict is still awaited.

Nevertheless, North Yorkshire Council has secured £2 million from York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, which is overseen by Labour mayor David Skaith, for the scheme.

It takes the cost of the project, which has been hailed as the biggest transformation of Harrogate town centre for 30 years, to £14.6 million. It was originally forecast to cost £7.9 million.

It is unclear why the cost has increased, especially after the scheme was de-scoped two years ago when some of the main elements, including pedestrianising part of James Street and reducing a section on Station Parade to single lane traffic, were removed.

A report to North Yorkshire Council’s executive on Tuesday (July 15) revealed the sum had been accepted from the mayor’s local transport grant.

The report described the gateway as a 'higher risk, higher priority scheme" that had "mixed support".

If there was a “shortfall in funding to deliver an infrastructure project that will improve sustainable travel in Harrogate town centre”.

The report added the proposals will provide better bus access into the bus station with a new bus lane on Station Parade, introduce cycling infrastructure between Bower Road and Station Bridge, improve pedestrian accessibility with raised table crossing points, improve pedestrian and vehicle movements with linked signals and improve the public realm at One Arch and Station Square. None of these elements appear to be new.

We revealed this week the council had dropped contractors Galliford Try in favour of its internal company, NY Highways. It previously said this would reduce the risk of the kind of cost increase seen at Kex Gill, where the cost of a council road realignment scheme on the A59 has shot up from £68.8 million to £82.5 million in May.

A Stray Ferret investigation in April showed that just £4.83 million of the £12.6 million allocated to the scheme earlier this year is due to be spent on direct construction.

Council response

We asked the council why there was a shortfall when the scheme had been descoped, when it came to light and whether the scheme had been amended again.

Councillor Malcolm Taylor, the Conservative executive member for highways and transportation, said: