Papers released by the Council today suggest that York taxpayers will still be expected to contribute £10 million towards the development of the York Central site.

The expectation had been that this funding – provisionally allocated to fund an access bridge from Holgate Road  by the last Council – would not now be required. The site has now got Enterprise Zone status and also has financial support from the Homes and Communities Agency

Instead, a separate delivery company would set up to fund all infrastructure work. In turn this company would recover its investment from the uplift in the value of the site (currently estimated at £623 million)

Officials are reporting that the Council has already committed £1/2 million to the scheme and are asking for a further £250,000 to fund the administration of the project. The Council could only fund initial infrastructure investment from borrowing leaving taxpayers with an annual bill of nearly £1 million a year.  It could be decades before any return on the investment benefited local residents.

At the moment all the risk  – from what is a complicated project – seems to be falling on York taxpayers

The York Council has only a very small land holding in the area at present although it is seeking compulsory purchase powers to acquire the UNIPART site.

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