The sites

York Northwest is a major area for regeneration within the York urban area which includes 2 major development sites; York Central (35-37 ha) and British Sugar/Manor School (42 ha). The sites are located in close proximity to one another, in a corridor between the A59 Boroughbridge/ Poppleton Road and A19 Shipton/ Clifton Road.

York Central is located on the edge of the city centre, to the immediate rear of York Railway Station. The site incorporates a range of existing uses including the National Railway Museum, private housing and businesses (to be retained), and operational rail land owned by Network Rail.

The former British Sugar/Manor School site is located in a more suburban area in Acomb, The British Sugar Site was formerly occupied by a sugar processing plant, which has now been demolished. The site is owned by Associated British Foods; parent company of British Sugar. The former Manor School site, is owned by City of York Council and is located on Boroughbridge Road. It was previously used as a secondary school which has now relocated.

As a result of their scale, the two development sites will play an important role in delivering the Core Strategy in terms of its spatial approach, housing and employment delivery.

York Northwest is one of a number of major projects being progressed within the city. Please see Major Sites and Projects for further information.

Planning approach

The planning approach for the York Northwest Corridor will establish important principles to inform more detailed work that developers undertake to produce masterplans and ultimately develop the sites. These principles will enable a comprehensive approach to development in the area, and will relate to key themes including:

• Appropriate type, scale and location of land uses
• Phasing of development
• Access and sustainable transport approach
• Provision of supporting facilities such as open space and community infrastructure
• High level design principles
• The environmental performance of the development

Originally it was envisaged that the planning framework would take the form of a single Area Action Plan covering both York Central and British Sugar. However, the downturn in the economic climate in 2009 meant that the anticipated timeframes for delivering development at the two sites could not be aligned. Consequently the decision has been made to deal with the two sites individually through the production of separate Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) for each site, in order to allow for the different timescales for delivery of each site. In October 2010 the boundary of the British Sugar site was also expanded to include the former Manor School site which is also likely to be developed within similar timeframe as the British Sugar site.

A comprehensive approach to the development of the York Northwest area will still be taken. The Core Strategy will establish a high level planning framework for the area; York Central and the former British Sugar/Manor School site will both be strategic allocations in the Core Strategy, for which the document will also define objectives. Detailed SPDs will provide greater detail and clarity on issues relating to the individual sites. Work undertaken for the Area Action Plan will be used to provide the evidence base and inform the Core Strategy and SPD approach.

SPDs, have been employed successfully to deliver other major development sites in the city, and will form part of the Local Development Framework (LDF).

Overarching issues which are relevant to the comprehensive development of the area will be considered in the wider context, including transport and open space. Work which is strategic in scope has been undertaken. A YNW transport topic paper and YNW open space topic paper are available to download on the right hand side of this page. An overarching transport masterplan for the York Northwest Corridor has also be prepared in order to plan for the cumulative transport impacts and ensure delivery of necessary transport infrastructure. The York Northwest draft Transport Masterplan is also available to download from the right hand side of this page.     

Urban Eco-Settlement

York Northwest is one of four housing sites aiming to achieve Urban Eco-Settlement status in the Leeds City Region. There is a desire at each of these sites to deliver highly sustainable housing on brownfield land; development with the green credentials of eco-towns, but in more sustainable locations, with access to new and existing jobs and services.

At York Northwest this will be sought by applying for government funding to make the housing more efficient in terms of energy and water efficiency, to provide access to more and better open space, and to deliver state of the art sustainable transport services for the development.

The Urban Eco-Settlement agenda offers exciting opportunities to maximise the benefit of new development, making York Northwest a better place to live, improving surrounding neighbourhoods, and setting a benchmark for what should be achieved elsewhere in the city.

Community consultation

Extensive community consultation was undertaken on the York Northwest area in 2007-2008. An Issues and Options Report and Baseline Report was produced and are available to download from the right hand side of this page. Feedback from this consultation was reported to Members of the LDF Working Group in May 2008 ( LDF Working Group Report May 2008 ). Although this consultation was undertaken for the Area Action Plan, the findings will be fully incorporated in the production of the Core Strategy and SPDs.

A draft Supplementary Planning Document has been prepared for the former British Sugar/Manor School site. This is accompanied by a Sustainability Appraisal for the site. Consultation on the draft SPD took place between December 2010 and Feb 2011 and the results of this will be reported early in 2012.

Associated British Foods, landowners of the former British Sugar site, are starting work to develop a masterplan for the site. Public consultation will be undertaken by them to involve adjoining residents and interested people to develop evolving plans for the area. It is anticipated that a community forum will be set up as part of this process.

This webpage will be updated to give information about the feedback from the current consultation and any other related consultations taking place. Individuals and organisations who have previously made comments will also be contacted when further consultations take place. Should you wish to register your details as an additional consultee then please contact us.

Next steps

Work is concurrently ongoing in respect of the Core Strategy and York Northwest SPDs. The Core Strategy, having gone through three rounds of public consultation, is has now reached "publication", with adoption expected by winter 2012. The York Central SPD will be progressed over the next 12 to18 months, with adoption anticipated by early 2012. Work on this development framework for the site will be undertaken by the Council working with the Yorkshire Forward funded York Renaissance Team, and key site stakeholders. This website will be kept up to date with progress on the work and key consultation events.