City of York Council outlines York Central regeneration hopes

City of York Council will submit a report to partners next week outlining its economic hopes for the York Central regeneration project.

The regeneration of the 44-hectare site — one of the largest city-centre brownfield regeneration projects in the UK — will boost the city’s economy and employment rates if it attracts the right occupiers, a council report has outlined.

A senior councillor is set to consider the council’s proposals for the site at a ‘decision session’ next Monday September 9.

If approved by councillors next week, the brief will help inform the council’s partners and major landowners as they seek occupiers for the site.

Cllr Andrew Waller, executive member for economy and strategic planning at City of York Council, said: ‘York is an economic centre worth £5.2bn to the UK economy, with 9000 businesses and 110,000 people employed across the city.

‘York Central gives us the opportunity to build on that success while creating opportunities for more residents to build well-paid careers in their home city.

‘We need to offer a clear brief to our partners so that this regeneration makes York Central an even better place to live and work, driving clean growth and up to 6500 better-paid jobs.’

The 90,000 sq. metres of office space to be created at York Central should aim to provide spaces for a range of differently sized businesses, from large businesses to start-ups, the council’s report says.

The site should also include space for key growth sectors in York including tech, insurance and rail engineering, as well as provide a presence for the city’s universities, especially research connections with the city’s National Railway Museum, it added.

York Central — a collaborative partnership between Homes England, Network Rail, the City of York Council and the National Railway Museum — has been in the pipeline for several years as the city aims to unlock the potential of the brownfield site.

The York Central Partnership has already received approval for its outline planning application on the site, which sits to the west of the city’s railway station between the A19 and A59 road corridors.

The approved planning application includes proposals to build up to 2,500 homes on the site, 20% of which will be affordable.

The project also includes a new commercial quarter containing up to 90,000m sq. metres of office space, which it is hoped will create around 6,500 jobs and add a £1.16bn boost to the local economy.

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