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The Council has agreed to spend £1.5 million buying two parcels of land on Poppleton Road. The Council claims that it is in a better position to develop the land than the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) – a government body which would have automatically taken over the ownership of the land, from the defunct Yorkshire Forward organisation, on 19th September.
The Council’s leadership argues that they are in a better position to ensure that the land is developed than the HCA although the debt charges of around £150,000 a year will now fall on York Council taxpayers.
The 1.8 Ha site (A on the plan) is required as a potential access point for a new link into the York Central development on which hopes rest for the provision of additional office jobs and homes over the next decade.
The land has had a chequered history with several changes in ownership prior to Yorkshire Forward (another central government body) adding them to its land bank about 10 years ago. At one point the adjacent CPP company had wanted to expand its operations onto the site.
On site B, the former railway canteen had been slated to be a community centre about a decade ago but that was a project that never got off the ground and the building now appears likely to be demolished.
Whether a Local Authority will be better able to drive forward the York Central project than a central government agency remains to be seen.
But it is a gamble and it is likely to be 5 years before it is clear whether it is one that has been justified. Some evidence in the report considered by Councillors, that discussion with the HCA had taken place, might have provided some reassurance that all options had been considered.
