Latest news on Castle Mills
The original planning permission has now expired.
Castle Mills
The Councils Executive on the 3 March 2026 (item 211) agreed:
- the preferred delivery route of 100% affordable housing at the Castle Mills site
- the design previously approved by Planning be adapted to accomodate 100% affordable housing and the resubmission of a planning application
- to procure a contractor to design Castle Mills to RIBA Stage 4 and price the design, to enable an updated full business case to be presented to the Executive for approval
Foss bridge and riverside park
Planning permission has been granted for the core public realm component of the Castle Gateway Scheme at Castle & Eye of York. In the context of funding availability and technical constraints including ecology, the previously planned footbridge does not now form part of that scheme and is not fundable or deliverable within the parameters of the Castle Mills Housing Scheme. The Council will seek to deliver active travel connectivity via alternate routes and means.
See information on:
Previous plans at Castle Mills
See the vision for the old Castle Mills Car Park site.
See floor plans and proposed apartment sizes.
In response to the council's climate change framework and action plan we are leading the way by making this a car free development. Removing the car parking allows more commercial space at ground floor and make more of the site's river facing views.
Foss bridge and public spaces
Foss Bridge
The main sewer, which runs under the site and the Foss, cannot be diverted, or built over. As a result, the original ‘kissing’ bridge design was not possible, so we're proposing instead a single span bridge landing between the two new buildings.
The Bridge will be a shared space between pedestrians and cyclists. See details of the design for the new Castle Mills bridge over the River Foss on the My Castle Gateway blog.
Public spaces
The previous plans proposed the creation of two new public spaces, linked by the new bridge, to support the Castle Gateway Masterplan. Both would create new connections and spaces for people to stop and enjoy view of the river.
Public square
The new public space between the 2 Castle Mills apartment buildings will create new pedestrian and cycle links to and from Piccadilly, the River Foss and beyond.
Riverside park
Land to the rear of the Castle Museum would be landscaped and opened up to create public access with new pedestrian and cycle routes to and from St George's Field and the wider city to the South and East.
Work is underway to re-submit the bridge and riverside park elements to align with Castle Car Park resubmission in late 2024 (but not the apartments, although the commitment to a public space with pedestrian/cycle access through the site remains).
Twin span bridge, not possible due to existing sewer Plans showing a single span bridge and two building blocks. Plans showing the current development principles.
Timeline
A planning application for a residential development at Castle Mills was submitted in November 2019, and approved on 3 December 2020. You can view the Castle Mills planning application via the Planning Portal quoting reference number 19/02415/FUL. You can view the webcast of the Planning Committee meeting online.
The approval of the Castle Mills scheme is an important step towards delivering world class public space around Clifford’s Tower and Eye of York. As well as continuing Piccadilly’s transformation into a vibrant city-living neighbourhood, the sale of these apartments will help to pay for the majority of the public benefits and infrastructure of the wider Castle Gateway Masterplan.
You can view the webcasts of the Planning Committee meetings from Thursday 19 November 2020 and Thursday 3 December 2020 online.
In May 2021 the council selected Wates as the contractor to carry out the detailed design and to provide a tender price for construction.
In June 2022 the council’s Executive received an update on the Castle Gateway project. Unfortunately, this part of the development has been subject to delays during the initial detailed design and costing process due to COVID-19, Brexit and the current inflationary pressures.
In 2022 the contract was terminated due to challenges with the design and costing process. To continue to drive the project forward, members agreed to procure a new contractor to complete the design and costing process, to allow construction to begin (subject to Executive approval).
In November 2023 the Executive agreed to pause further work on developing the Castle Mills site, to investigate meanwhile use options in parallel with exploring longer term opportunities for the future delivery of 100% affordable housing on this council owned site. It also agreed to progress work to deliver the pedestrian/cycle links to the rear of the Castle Museum including a new bridge connection over the River Foss to Piccadilly.