NRM prepares planning bid for proposed new Central Hall
UPDATED artist impressions of the National Railway Museum's proposed Central Hall were released prior to a key public consultation exercise on the scheme.
The exercise – which included a 10-day exhibition in the NRM's Station Hall in late October and early November, during which museum staff were on hand to answer questions – followed a recent decision by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to approve the stopping up of Leeman Road as part of the 45-hectare York Central regeneration scheme.
This move, a cornerstone of the NRM's five-year Vision 2025 scheme, will facilitate the building of Central Hall to allow the two sides of the museum to be connected, creating space for improved exhibits to attract more visitors. A new road will be constructed before the existing Leeman Road is diverted following the Stopping Up Order.
2025 target
Central Hall will provide a gallery showcasing the latest innovations in rail technology, a café overlooking a new museum square, shop, flexible event space, and new visitor facilities. Vision 2025 also includes a new Wonderlab aimed at inspiring children to think like engineers through experience, interactivity and play.
NRM director Judith McNicol said: “Central Hall is just one aspect of our journey to embed our museum in the heart of our community. We are excited to share the latest plans for the new building, which follow the principles agreed in the outline permission for the wider York Central site.
“It's really important that we gather feedback at this early stage in the process so that the plans can evolve to offer as many benefits as possible to our neighbourhood and visitors.
“These plans will provide a massive economic boost to York and the wider area, acting as a stimulus for a wide range of other businesses, too.”
A planning application for Central Hall will be submitted in the coming months following analysis of all the feedback from the consultation process.
The improvements are expected to be completed by 2025, the museum's 50th anniversary.
Greg Dyke, chairman of Make
It York and York Central Strategic Board, said: “The improvements to the National Railway Museum through the Central Hall project will enhance York's cultural development and provide a catalyst to the whole economy of the city and beyond. It will help create a national museum that we can be proud of in York and throughout the country, and assist to inspire and educate future generations in technology and the significance of railways across the world. Central Hall will act as the gateway to the transformed galleries and spaces and be the cultural heart of York Central.”
Residents’ petition
However, a petition against the closure of Leeman Road has attracted more than 1400 signatures, many from local residents who are objecting to the loss of access to York station or the city centre via Leeman Road.
The York Central Action (YCA) group and the St Peter's Quarter Residents' Association have written to the council asking it to renegotiate the ‘walkways agreement', which sets out what access members of the public will have through the NRM.
The letter from YCA read: “There is no provision for mobility scooters or disabled people who use cycles, the agreement is extremely limited to NRM opening hours, allows for frequent closures at the whim of the museum, and provides no protections for users who are the norm under the Highways Act, thus giving security personnel a wide range of discretion to deny access.”
A spokesman for City of York Council said: “The reserved matters planning application and the preconsultation being undertaken by the NRM, followed by the statutory consultations through the planning process, will provide opportunities for local communities to comment directly on the detailed designs.”
He said that the council was aware that the walkways agreement is unlikely to provide 24/7 access and would only ever partially mitigate against the rerouting of Leeman Road, which was previously agreed in the outline planning application following significant public consultation and engagement, but the York Central development would deliver new routes for walkers and cyclists by 2025.