Harrogate's £11.2m traffic plan set to be scaled back after legal challenge

The plans were intended to make Harrogate town centre more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists

Plans for a £11.2m scheme to cut traffic in Harrogate are set to be scaled back after a legal challenge.

North Yorkshire Council approved a "landmark" scheme to make the town centre more accessible in May.

But it paused the Station Gateway project last month after a local property company launched a bid for a judicial review.

Council officers are now considering whether to press ahead as planned, axe the scheme, or amend the proposals.

The three options were laid out in a report to the council's executive, which will meet on Tuesday to discuss the future of the scheme.

The original proposals, aimed at making the town centre more accessible on foot and by bike, would have added cycle and bus lanes to Station Parade and partially pedestrianised James Street.

Public consultations on the divisive plans attracted 5,000 comments split equally between support and opposition.

The council had faced a legal challenge from Hornbeam Park Developments, which denounced the scheme as "disastrous" and claimed residents had not been properly consulted.

After taking legal advice, the local authority revoked the decision to proceed with the plans "to avoid further costs and time delays".

Keane Duncan, executive member for transport and highways, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service last week the plans were now "on life support".

But he said he was hopeful the scheme, funded by central government, could still be delivered in some form.

The report to Tuesday's meeting suggests "the elements that attracted public support," including a "pedestrian-focussed public realm scheme" with improved access into the bus station, "could be deliverable as an option to consider". The report makes no mention of cycling.

The Department for Transport and West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which won the initial funding, had indicated they would back a modified scheme in principle, the report adds.

Council officers are expected to outline a preferred course of action by November.

Mr Duncan said the money must be spent before March 2025 "at the absolute latest" to avoid the council losing the funding.