York Central Partnership publishes feedback from masterplan consultation

Following the six week ‘Festival of York Central’, which sought feedback from the people of York on the masterplan for the York Central development, the Partnership has published its Continuing the Conversation report.

This report summarises the feedback arising from the stage 3 engagement exercise and provides an overview of comments received from the various My York Central events. The report also identifies the proposed responses, outcomes and recommended actions moving forwards.

The key findings from the engagement consultation are:

  • Vision – the response was largely positive, with 58% of respondents expressing that they are happy or very happy with the current vision. 9% of respondents suggested they were unhappy or very unhappy with the vision and 33% were neutral.
  • Movement – the response to these proposals was still positive, with 45% of those who responded expressing they were happy or very happy. However, this board did have the highest percentage of respondents expressing that they were very unhappy with the proposals (10%) and an overall percentage of 14% of those who expressed unhappiness. A significant proportion identified a neutral response (41%).
  • Southern Connection – this board received a high approval with 64% of respondents stating that they are happy or very happy with the principle of an improved southern connection. Only 6% of respondents suggested that they were unhappy or very unhappy with the proposals.
  • Leeman Road Tunnel – the proposals were generally well received with 59% of respondents suggested they were happy or very happy. 11% of respondents responded that they were unhappy or very unhappy with the proposals.
  • Landscape and environment – the proposals were well received, with 61% of those who responded suggesting that they were happy or very happy with these. Only 4% of those who responded were unhappy or very unhappy with the proposals.
  • The Great Park – proposals for The Great Park were the most well received of all the boards, with 65% of those who responded suggesting that they were happy or very happy with these proposals. 7% of those who responded suggested that they were unhappy or very unhappy with the proposals.
  • The New Square – 48% of respondents to the proposals for The New Square said they were either happy or very happy with the proposals. 12% of respondents said they were unhappy or very unhappy with the proposals. 38% selected a neutral response which is a relatively high proportion.
  • Design and heritage – just under half of those who responded (49%) noted they were happy or very happy with the Design & Heritage proposals. 46% of respondents were neither happy or unhappy with the proposals, the largest percentage of neutrality of all the boards. Only 5% of those who responded said they were unhappy or very unhappy with the proposals.
  • Land uses – the response to the Homes, Workplace and Leisure board was mostly positive, with 49% of respondents expressing that they are happy or very happy with the current proposals. However, 14% of those who responded suggested they were unhappy or very unhappy with the proposals, a higher percentage than the average overall response statistics. There was also a relatively high proportion of neutral feedback (37%).

More detailed information of the results, including the types of feedback and opinions shared, can be found in the full report, which is available to download here.

The processes of preparing the masterplan and planning application for York Central are still ongoing and the report should be viewed as a stepping stone towards the preparation of the full Statement of Community Involvement, which will ultimately succeed the Continuing the Conversation report.

Tamsin Hart-Jones, project lead from the Partnership, said: “Continuing the conversation with the local community will remain a key part of our next stage of engagement. We’ve been really pleased with the feedback we received from the festival and are working on incorporating the comments into the planning application.”