Council snubbed by government in York Central funding deal

*Illustrative York Central Masterplan approved in 2019*

The council’s “continued role” in unlocking a new generation of jobs, homes and cultural facilities in the York Central site will be considered by the Executive next Thursday, 22 April.

Funding to complete infrastructure works at the York central site (located behind the railway station) is being made direct to the landowners – led by Homes England – by the government.

It means that the Council’s role will be peripheral despite many millions having already been invested in the project. That may be good news for taxpayers who have seen projects like the Community Stadium and Guildhall refurbishment delayed and go over budget in recent years.

Now contract supervision and liability will rest mainly with Homes England.

Transparency isn’t a strong point for any of the “partners” involved in the York Central project (or the current York Council for that matter). We doubt if engagement will improve under the new governance arrangements.

The Council does remain the planning authority although that role could be undermined as they pursue “Enterprise Zone” status for the project. Planning rules are lax in such areas.

The Council is still set to spend nearly £50 million on the project and is dependent on the additional business rate income from Enterprise Zone new businesses to repay its borrowing.

The report being considered next week skates over the risks of this approach,. Those risks appear to have increased since the pandemic with office based developments likely to be less attractive for a while at least.

There are a number of significant planning issues still to be resolved.

These include the (bizarre) suggestion for making the Leeman Road tunnel one way, the absence of an attractive pedestrian/cycle access from the Wilton Rise area and continuing doubts about severing the existing Leeman Road footpath link near the Railway Museum

Last summer Labour Councillors even tried to ditch the project.

The Council has issued the following statement,

“Despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, the council has worked with York Central partners Network Rail, Homes England and National Railway Museum to maintain momentum and progress on the 42 hectare York Central site.

After partners finalised the £155 million funding, secured planning permission and started work on the infrastructure to unlock the site, which will deliver up to 2,500 homes and space for up to 6,500 jobs.

Executive will be asked to approve changes to the way the project will be delivered and managed.

This includes the main grant holder, Homes England, taking on the delivery of the bridges, footways, cycleways, roads and other infrastructure to open up the site.

The council will also receive £3.86 million from the government grant to cover the costs incurred advancing the infrastructure project”.

Millennium Green improvements in next phase of York Central

A map shows the marked areas where benches and decking will be installed as part of the next phase of the York Central development. — *The next phase of York Central plans*

Millennium Green will receive the first in a series of major improvements as part of the York Central infrastructure works starting on site next week.

Clearance works started last month across the 42 hectare brownfield site, which will provide up to 2500 new homes; up to 6500 jobs as well as vastly improved visitor access experience at the National Railway Museum.

City of York Council and contractors, John Sisk and Son, are delivering letters to neighbouring residents giving full details of the latest works on both Millennium Green and adjacent to Bishopfields Drive. The works include:

Millennium Green

Clearing vegetation and a small number of trees
Improving around 300m of footpath
A new timber viewing platform and renewal works on the pond
3 new benches
Improvements to the southern culvert wall and footpath including replacements steps, and handrail
New fence along the eastern boundary
Temporary fencing and flooring to protect the Millennium Green oak and mosaic throughout the works

Land adjacent to Bishopfields Drive

Removing a small area of treeline essential to allow the infrastructure works, while protecting remaining trees from the works.

The Millennium Green’s lease included a ‘take-back’ option for a small area of land in the north wet to allow the York Central regeneration.

Following consultation with local residents in 2018, the Trust agreed a package which includes a license to use some land during construction, the landscaping of this land when the access road is finished, the provision of alternative land to replace the area taken back and a payment of £375,000 to the Trust to secure its future and fund an ongoing maintenance programme.

Cllr Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council, said:

York Central remains one of the most important and attractive regeneration sites in the country and is an opportunity that many other towns and cities in the UK would envy.

“At the same time as making progress to provide the jobs and houses the city needs, we want to protect and enhance our city’s green spaces. Trees are only being removed where absolutely essential, and will be more than replaced by the 300 mature trees planted during the next phases of infrastructure works. York Central will also include the largest park in the city for 100 years and areas to encourage biodiversity, while the council will plant 50,000 trees in York by 2023.

“The Council will continue to working closely with John Sisk and Sons to limit any disruption to neighbouring residents and businesses, and to keep them informed of any planned works. As ever, we thank all local residents and businesses for their patience.”

All the work has been approved as part of the planning approval on the site.

York Central is being delivered in partnership by Network Rail, Homes England, National Railway Museum and City of York Council. Homes England and Network Rail have supported the development of the site through land acquisition and master planning, and they will now oversee the infrastructure projects.

John Sisk and Son have been appointed as lead contractor for these site clearance works.

This infrastructure work is part of a wider £155m funding pot secured by the York Central Partnership to deliver infrastructure to open up the site for development.

This includes:

£77.1m funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

£23.5m of a total of £37.2m from the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund and Leeds City Region Growth Deal, which will also fund the ambitious plans to transform the front of the railway station.

The aim is to create around 20,000 new jobs and add £2.4 billion a year to the economy by the mid-2030s.
On top of a £6m Local Growth Fund contribution, from the York and North Yorkshire LEP, a further £35m has been secured to be repaid using retained business rates from the York Central Enterprise Zone.

Railway station transformation gets go ahead

Work can begin this Autumn to create a fitting gateway to York after plans to transform the railway station entrance planning committee approved.

The plans to modernise the arrival to the station include removing Queen Street bridge, which hasn’t been needed since trains stopped passing under it in the 1960s. Removing the bridge will create space for vastly improved access for all modes of transport while revealing hidden sections of the city’s historic walls.

The scheme has been developed by the Council in partnership with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Network Rail and LNER.

The plans will change and improve the entrance to the railway station in order to:

keep vehicles and pedestrians apart
make it easier to change between modes of transport
create new public spaces and a more pedestrian-friendly experience
create an improved setting for the City Walls and other heritage buildings in the area

(more…)

York Central

Residents will wake up this morning to discover that the York central development has passed another milestone. It now has the necessary planning permissions to permit a start to be made on site.

A Public Inquiry will still be held to determine whether Leeman Road near the Railway Museum can be stopped up.

Overall the development should provide a welcome boost for jobs and homes in the City.

The Council has, however, failed to recognise the importance of “first impressions” and the practicalities of accessing the site by various modes of transport.

*Accesses to the York Central site are unwelcoming*

The proposed one way system through the Leeman Road tunnel is ridiculous. It means more congestion and a cycle ride which will be both awkward and – in wet weather – unnecessarily unpleasant.

The access from Wilton Rise is hopeless for all but the fittest cyclists and is totally inaccessible for the disabled. The promised new cycle bridge from Chancery Rise should have been incorporated in the latest planning application but no Councillor seems to have had the guts to highlight the issue.

So off to a bad start then.

Lets hope the developers come up with some solutions to these issues before the new properties are occupied.

Tinkering with traffic schemes in York

The new lockdown arrangements will alter once again traffic flows in the City.

The changes will affect the monitoring of schemes like The Groves, where the Council have so far been unable to produce before and after figures for air pollution and congestion.

A review of the scheme was promised early in 2021.

Very low traffic levels on Penley’s Grove Street during first lockdown

The effected streets were – like many in other parts of the City – virtually deserted during the first lockdown. Alternative routes have also been quiet since the beginning of the year.

Now the Council has formally changed the The Groves restrictions twice in the space of 7 days.

As no figures have been shared with residents it is impossible to judge whether the changes are justified.

However, the absence of any action on safety aspects of the scheme – including the controversial contra flow cycle routes – tells its own story.

Reopening the restricted access, at least for emergency vehicles, would also have been worth addressing as pressures on the NHS grow. .

Elsewhere, West Offices leaked a plan to the media yesterday which said that foot-street hours were being changed to 10:30am – 5:00pm during the lockdown.

There was no consultation on the proposal and no decision appears in the Councils official “on line” log. Sources say that it is aimed at making access to “takeaways” easier.

Maybe so.

But it is unclear why the revision simply didn’t reinstate the traditional footstreet hours (10:30am – 4:00pm). At least the signage for that restriction is already available!

York Central

It seems that the Council will determine the detailed planning application for the York Central site during the lockdown.

The proposal is likely to go to a public inquiry but when and how that could be arranged under the pandemic restrictions remains to be seen.

The applicants have failed to satisfy perfectly reasonable objections to transport access proposals for the site.

The Leeman Road tunnel (next to Marble Arch) would still be made one way with cyclists apparently expected to brave a deluge of liquid manure during wet weather.

Problems with the poor access for cyclists in the Wilton Rise area have also not been addressed.

Local residents – quite legitimately – are objecting to losing pedestrian access down the current line of Leeman Road as the railway museum stubbornly pursues its “annexation” policies.

Other more extreme objections have been lodged – including the impractical “no vehicles” lobby – but it is the failure of the developers to satisfy the concerns of “moderate” residents, which may lead to lengthy delays is getting this important scheme actually built.

York Central Partnership welcomes confirmation of £77.1m funding to unlock homes, jobs and public spaces

….as Labour reveal plans to stop the project

Nicksplat Rugrats GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Labour have “called in” the decision to move forward with the York Central development. It casts new doubt on a project which has yet to receive detailed planning permission.

Labour cite post pandemic economic concerns as one of the justifications for shelving the project. They also question the conditions attached to the governments £77 million investment in the plans (see below). They apparently believe that the ambitions of the “House of Lords” have not been accommodated.

Meanwhile, the York Central Partnership has welcomed the government’s confirmation of the £77.1m funding to help to unlock the homes, better paid jobs and community spaces on the brownfield site.

The Minstry of Housing, Communities and Local government has written to the City of York Council to confirm the arrangements for the funding, which will be awarded to Homes England and Network Rail as the major landowners on the site. Under the arrangement, City of York Council will be reimbursed for the money it has committed to keep the project moving.

The funding is a major piece in a £155m funding package put together by the council working with fellow York Central Partnership members Homes England, Network Rail and National Railway Museum to fund the infrastructure works to unlock the brownfield site. The first phase of this work will include the access road bridge and spine road through the site, a pedestrian bridge on Water End and a rail link to the National Railway Museum.

Councillor Keith Aspden, leader of City of York Council, said:

“This is fantastic news for York. Our early investment and continued commitment, even during the pandemic, was essential to secure this investment.

The funding is a vital step to unlocking a £1.16bn boost to our economy, and delivering a new generation of jobs and hundreds of affordable homes, when York needs it most.

The York Central Partnership is delivering where decades of proposals have failed. Our shared vision for an ambitious development which delivers cleaner, greener growth and a fairer economy in York underpins the entire project, and we will keep playing our part to make York Central deliver for the whole city.

It’s also yet another important milestone following outline planning approval last year, funding agreements with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the York and North Yorkshire LEP.

This is the result of a lot of hard work by the York Central Partnership, and further demonstration of our commitment to an ambitious scheme which will give York the jobs and homes it needs as the outline planning application for York Central includes proposals to build up to 2,500 homes, including affordable homes, and a commercial quarter creating up to 88,000m2 of high quality office space. “

It also includes:

pedestrian and cycle route provision into and through the site
low levels of parking spaces
high sustainable design standards built into the design guide
around £15m developer contributions to deliver the sustainable transport infrastructure ensuring more bus passengers, cyclists and pedestrians.

This £155m funding package also includes £23.5m of a total of £37.2m from the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund and Leeds City Region Growth Deal, which will also fund the ambitious plans to transform the front of the railway station.

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.

City of York Council has also received a Local Growth Fund contribution of £6m from York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership and agreed to borrow £35m to be repaid using retained business rates from the York Central Enterprise Zone.

York Central southern access (Wilton Rise area)

Illustrative York Central Masterplan approved in 2019

Most attention is currently focusing on a reserved matter planning application for the site which is due to be considered by the Council shortly.

There are several controversial aspects to that plan not least some of the transport proposals. Pedestrians have objected to the loss of the route in front of the Railway Museum, while a plan to restrict access through the Leeman Road tunnel (Marble Arch) has been widely vilified.

Existing footbridge

One area that has had little scrutiny is the southern access to the site.

Currently this comprises a footbridge over the railway line at the top of Wilton Rise. It is inaccessible for disabled people and very awkward for cyclists. A proposal for a parallel access general traffic route into the site via Chancery Rise was discounted 2 year ago leaving the fate of the footbridge still to be determined.

Now the Council is being recommended to hand back the Chancery Rise site to Network Rail . They will use it to accommodate activities displaced from the York Central main development site.

Provision for cyclists is crude

A report to a meeting next week says that £6.2 million is needed to fund the southern access. That is a substantial investment in a project which has not yet been subject to public consultation or a planning application.

Papers for the meeting which considered an outline masterplan in 2019 contained little detail of the proposal (although at that time the whole of Wilton Rise was included within the development site boundary). Wilton Rise is an unadopted highway

The current retained matters planning application pointedly has a boundary which excludes consideration of issues relating to the southern access. Nor is any mention made of any ramp within the application area which would be necessary to gain access to the foot/cycle bridge or of reserved links to the new infrastructure and spine road.

The man concerns though will be about what happens on the Wilton Rise side of the railway line.

If the Chancery Rise land is taken out of the options list, then the only possible footbridge access would be from Wilton Rise or the Cleveland Street area.

Such an access would require substantial ramping and could conflict with the indicative master plan agreed less than a year ago.

The Council needs to be more clear about its plans and hoped for milestones on the southern access.

Outline planning permission site boundary

York Central planning application submitted

The York Central Partnership has submitted a planning application for the first phase of infrastructure works to unlock York Central

The plans include:

new access road for the site
bridge over the East Coast mainline
tree planting and landscaping

The York Central Partnership has submitted a planning application for the first phase of infrastructure works to unlock the York Central site and allow development to start, following extensive consultation held in February and March. The Partnership will now work, including through the planning process with City of York Council, to achieve a positive outcome in these exceptional times.

The partnership made up of Network Rail, Homes England, City of York Council and supported by the National Railway Museum is developing proposals to regenerate the 45 hectare site, one of the largest city centre brownfield development sites in the UK. This planning application will create the necessary access to the site, so that it can be unlocked to provide homes, employment opportunities, a new park and other facilities.

The first Reserved Matters application proposals include:

New access routes throughout the site, including 1.85km (1.1 miles) of segregated cycle and pedestrian pathways
A new bus lane on Cinder Street and routes for two park and ride services to run through the site
A new bridge in weathering steel, the same material is used on the new Scarborough Bridge foot and cycleway, across the East Coast Mainline
A £4m shared pedestrian and cycle bridge added to the Water End bridge
New streets and access points, including a Leeman Road link road, change to Leeman Road tunnel and Marble Arch
A new rail siding which will be used by the National Railway Museum
Mature tree planting along the routes, and new pathways and landscaping through Millennium Green

While the timing of any development is now likely to be impacted by the current lock-down, most concerns are likely to relate to the absence of a new dedicated cycle access in the Leeman Road tunnel area.

The current proposals involve a shared access route using the existing, sub standard, structure. One way working would impede public transport services.

There are similar access concerns for cyclists in the Wilton Rise area.

NB. The applicants promised to include the responses made by residents to their last public consultation, which took place in February, when they submitted this final planning application. They do not appear to have done so. Instead there is a sanitised version which fails to address many of the points made

York Central new plans published. Leeman Road tunnel still to become one lane.

The new plans can be viewed via these links

Introduction

Other key character areas

Other infrastructure, planting and construction

New bridges

Millennium Green and Water End

The most controversial aspect is likely to remain the continued use of the Leeman Road (Marble Arch) tunnel for general traffic and cyclists. The proposers persist with the idea of reducing the carriageway to one – signal controlled – lane with cyclists using the other lane. They seem blithely unaware that neither the carriageway or pedestrian sections of the tunnel have a waterproof membrane. Quite simply pedestrians and cyclists will continue to face – in wet weather – an unpleasant introduction to what had been billed as a 21st century experience. Lack of forethought means that any link onto the Scarborough cycle bridge will also be awkward.

Marble Arch tunnel transport layout

There are few surprises in the rest of the package although those cycling from Wilton Rise might have hoped for more details of an alternative route to the existing archaic footbridge.

What to expect according to the Council

The Council has published the following media release, having leaked it to the commercial media over the weekend.

“City of York Council says it has unveiled proposals for the access routes which enable the York Central partnership to unlock the jobs, homes and public spaces developed through the award-winning Masterplan.

The council is working in partnership with Network Rail, Homes England and the National Railway Museum to develop proposals to regenerate the 45 hectare-site – one of the largest brownfield sites in the UK.

As the largest landowners, Network Rail and Homes England secured outline planning permission in 2019. This established the principles of the regeneration, creating up to 2500 homes, an estimated 6500 jobs, and a range of public spaces, including the city’s first new park in a century.

Each partner will now develop detailed ‘Reserved Matters’ planning applications covering different parts of the scheme. The council has prepared the first of these, in line with the outline planning application, as it is responsible for the funding and delivery of the essential infrastructure. Homes England and Network Rail are responsible for future applications for housing and employment space.

The first Reserved Matters application proposals include:

New access routes throughout the site, including 1.85km (1.1m) of segregated cycle and pedestrians pathways;
A new 3.5m wide bus lane on Cinder Street, and routes for two park and ride services to run through the site;
A new bridge in weathering steel – the material used on the new Scarborough Bridge foot and cycleway – across the east coast mainline;
A new 4m shared pedestrian and cycle bridge added to the Water End bridge;
New streets and access points, including Leeman Road Spur, change to Leeman Road tunnel and Marble Arch;
A replacement rail link which will be used by the National Railway Museum;
Mature tree planting along the routes, new pathways and landscaping through Millennium Green”.

Councillor Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council, said:

“York Central has enormous potential to deliver a wide-range of benefits to the city, including new homes, new jobs and new sustainable transport links in the heart of the city.”

“Together with our partners, we have placed public engagement at the centre of our proposals to provide the homes, jobs and public spaces which the city needs. We are sharing these plans to demonstrate how we have responded to what residents have been telling us, particularly with regards to pedestrian, cycle and bus routes.”

“I would strongly encourage everyone to look and engage with these proposals, as it is incredibly important to us that the York Central development happens and works to the benefit of everyone in the city.”

People can see the proposals from Monday 24 February in several ways:

On-line at www.yorkcentral.info

Contract awarded to begin shaping the York Central site.

A road, access bridge and rail link essential to the development of York Central have moved a step closer with the announcement that City of York Council has selected John Sisk & Son as construction partner to deliver infrastructure to open up the site.

The contract, the first to be awarded, is for a detailed design review which will lead to a Reserved Matters planning application, due later this financial year.

The approved plans for the York Central site include proposals to build up to 2,500 homes, and a commercial quarter creating up to 6,500 jobs adding a £1.16 billion boost to the economy.

John Sisk & Son will work with the council and partners to refine and finalise the design of the first phase of essential infrastructure for the access bridge, the spine road and the NRM rail link. This will inform a decision by Executive to proceed with a costed construction programme for York Central enabling infrastructure.

Cllr Keith Aspden, Leader of the council, said; “The delivery of York Central is a once in a lifetime opportunity to build much needed affordable homes and new public spaces, attract better paid jobs, and create sustainable transport links for the city.

“We look forward to working with the York Central Partnership to secure further improvements to the scheme and with Sisk to begin this essential first phase of work in preparing the York Central site for development.”

Ian Gray, Homes England on behalf of York Central Partnership, said: “This is a really exciting and important milestone towards the delivery of our ambitious plans at York Central.

“A lot of hard work has been put in by York Central Partnership to get this far and this contract demonstrates our commitment to delivering the ambition and vision for the site.”

Paul Brown, Managing Director, UK Civils at John Sisk & Son, said:

“We are delighted to have been selected by the City of York Council to work with the stakeholders on this exciting project and to progress the design of some of the key enabling infrastructure. This is a project of huge ambition which will transform underused land in the centre of York into vibrant and distinctive residential neighbourhoods, cultural spaces and a high-quality commercial quarter. We are really excited to be able to bring our broad range of experience and commitment to a collaborative approach to the project.”

The budget necessary to commission this work was agreed by Executive in July 2019.

The York Central Partnership (YCP) members, Homes England, Network Rail, the National Railway Museum and City of York Council, have been working collaboratively for the past four years to develop proposals to unlock the potential of the brownfield site.

The partnership has secured planning approval, subject to the finalisation of the S106 agreement, for its outline planning application and assembled a potential £155m funding package for infrastructure works.

This includes £23.5m of a total of £37.2m from the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund and Leeds City Region Growth Deal, which will also fund the ambitious plans to transform the front of the railway station.

City of York Council has also received a Local Growth Fund contribution of £3.1m, from York, North Yorkshire and East Riding LEP and has 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.