Council Executive considers next step to unlock jobs, homes and public spaces on York Central

The council’s Executive have approved plans to deliver the infrastructure which will unlock the homes, jobs and public spaces on the York Central development.

The report prepared for the Executive’s meeting, held on 24 October, considered how to maintain momentum and deliver a detailed design and reserved matters planning consents for infrastructure including a rail link to the National Railway Museum, bridges, the development’s spine road and substantial pedestrian and cycling routes.

City of York Council also secured a £1.58m Local Growth Fund grant from the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership (YNYER LEP). The Executive confirmed they will use this grant, along with £695,000 from the council’s own York Central capital budget, to see the designs through to a planning decision.

The York Central Partnership – involving the council, Homes England, Network Rail and the National Railway Museum – is  driving the ambitious regeneration on the 44 hectare brownfield site. The council’s work on the reserved matters application follows the approval of Network Rail and Homes England’s outline planning application in March. The outline application includes proposals to build up to 2,500 homes, including affordable homes, and a commercial quarter creating 90,000m2 of high quality office space.

On the 12 October the Department of Culture Media and Sport confirmed the award of £18.58m towards the £55m target budget for the delivery of the National Railway Museum’s Vision 2025 plans.

Last month, the council appointed John Sisk and Sons to work on the detailed design and deliver the infrastructure.

The money would be used to progress work on the first phase of infrastructure up to determination of the Reserved Matters Application.

It would also deliver the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) standard designs and a fixed construction cost. Both are required, along with planning consent, to secure the £37.2m grant from the West Yorkshire Transport Fund-plus and Leeds City Region Growth Deal, which will also deliver the planned transformation of the front of the station.

The grant is one part of a £155m package put together by the York Central Partnership to deliver the infrastructure works to unlock the brownfield site. The Combined Authority has also provided £2.55 million of Growth Deal funding for the York Central via a mixture of grants and loans. This funding was used to support land acquisition and project development costs.

The West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund has been part-funded through the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Growth Deal, a £1 billion package of Government funding to drive growth and job creation across the Leeds City Region. The aim is to create around 20,000 new jobs and add £2.4 billion a year to the economy by the mid-2030s.

The York Central development will provide a £1.16 billion boost to the economy. The 44 hectare brownfield site has exceptional transport links, access to one of the most skilled workforces in the country and has been designated an ‘Enterprise Zone’, offering even greater incentives for businesses to locate there.

The York Central site was designated Enterprise Zone status by the York, North Yorkshire and East Rising Enterprise Partnership. The City of York Council has already received a Local Growth Fund contribution of £6m, and agreed to borrow £35m to be repaid using retained business rates from the York Central Enterprise Zone.

The council’s £77.1m bid for the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund is at an advanced stage, with a decision expected in the autumn.

The approved outline planning application includes proposals to build up to  2,500 homes, 20 per cent of which will be affordable, and a commercial quarter creating up to 90,000m2 office space for around 6,500 jobs, giving the economy a £1.16 billion boost.

The decision session is available to view at www.york.gov.uk/webcasts. To read the report visit https://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=733&MId=11111&Ver=4