MORE than a quarter of a million pounds of taxpayers’ money that was spent on the failed Sherburn Renaissance Scheme could be reimbursed to Selby District Council, The Press has learned.

Mark Crane, leader of the council, said he understood Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency, would be giving the authority the £280,000 it shelled out in preparation for the work – and revealed he still hoped the project would go ahead.

A Yorkshire Forward spokesperson said it would be a month until a decision was made on whether it would compensate the authority. But the spokesperson too expressed Yorkshire Forward’s continued commitment to the venture, saying it was in discussions with the council about the way forward.

We reported last month how the scheme had collapsed following the refusal of local butcher Christopher Jackson to sign over land in front of his shop to the council. Mr Jackson said he had concerns about his future access to the back of his premises.

Speaking about what would happen if the project was rolled out, Coun Crane said: “If he (Mr Jackson) continues to refuse to sign up then we’d look at whether or not we could do a scheme excluding his land.”

Mr Jackson’s decision not to sign over the land led to the council withdrawing the £1.4 million venture altogether, but not before it had spent £280,000.

Of this sum, about £80,000 was spent purchasing land outside the village’s social club and £110,000 went to Jacobs Engineering UK Ltd for services including helping to design how Sherburn would have looked. The original scheme would have involved making a number of improvements to the centre of the village, including building a new clock tower, introducing enhanced access for pedestrians and cyclists as well as new communal seating, lighting and paving. The Yorkshire Forard spokesperson said that if any money was given to the council, it was not yet known what it would be spent on.