Cities envy this development, says leader as £1.96m added to project

OTHER CITIES must be “envious” of the York Central project because of the opportunities it will create, a council leader has said.

Senior councillors have agreed to put a further £1.96m towards keeping the project going.

And council leader Keith Aspden, inset, said the continued interest in moving sections of Government to the site “demonstrates the quality” of the project.

But opposition group leader, Labour councillor Danny Myers, said plans for the site may need to be reconsidered if the House of Lords, House of Commons or a civil service hub was to move to York Central.

Coun Aspden said: “I’m sure many cities would be envious of the opportunity to drive clean and inclusive growth, particularly at a time when the city will need it most. You are not going to get those things if you are not progressing the York Central scheme.

“This is a project that has been talked about and not delivered for decades in the city.

I think one thing this pandemic has shown us is the importance of delivering regeneration schemes like York Central.”

And the council’s assistant director of regeneration Tracey Carter urged councillors to “have faith”. She said: “York Central remains as important to our future economy as it ever has been, if not more so.

“If we don’t continue to have faith and make progress, the chances of it failing increase.”

But Coun Myers called for a review. He said: “Infrastructure could need changing due to Government changes or needs. We are still awaiting details of the £77.1m government funding. I think it’s inappropriate to delegate the decision to agree the grant terms – it’s likely to include new terms.”

The council agreed to pay £2m to cover consultancy support costs.