Agenda item - York Central and York Station Gateway Update

The Corporate Director of Economy & Place to present a report which provides an update on the progress of the York Central project, sets out changes to the financial profile and governance arrangements for the project, and asks Executive to agree the resources needed to ensure the council’s future involvement in delivering York Central and the associated Station Gateway project.

Resolved: (i) That the revised infrastructure delivery arrangements, and the subsequent reduction of the capital allocation for York Central to £41.7m to reflect the direct award of £77.1m MHCLG funding and £23.5m WYTF funding direct to Homes England, be noted.

(ii) That it be noted that Homes England has agreed to reimburse City of York Council £3.836m of the costs incurred in preparing the site access proposals, Master Plan and initial design work, planning applications and the completion of site preparation works from the capital grant awarded to Homes England by MHCLG, and that this money will be retained to support York Central going forward.

(iii) That approval be given to procure Consultancy Design Services, Cost Consultancy and Project Assurance for the York Station Gateway scheme, and that authority be delegated to the Corporate Director of Place (in consultation with the Director of Governance or her delegated officers) to take such steps as are necessary to procure, award and enter into the resulting contracts.

(iv) That the proposed arrangements for the York Central Partnership be approved.

(v) That the procurement of technical services to support the process of adoption of the York Central highways infrastructure be agreed and that authority be delegated to the Corporate Director of Place (in consultation with the Director of Governance or her delegated officers) to take such steps as are necessary to procure, award and enter into the resulting contracts.

(vi) That the acquisition of land adjoining Scarborough Bridge to ensure the future availability and improvement of the riverside path be approved, at a cost of £150k from the York Central enabling budget.

(vii) That further funding of £900k be committed from the York Central enabling budget to continue to support delivery of the project. This will fund the CYC project team and legal, consultancy support costs to ensure CYC has the capacity to fulfil its Enterprise Zone obligations, prepare the EZ investment business case, seek further investment funding for project enhancements and provide input to the York Central Design panel, support the Leader’s strategic role on the project, and continue to support the partnership’s community engagement and communications work.

(viii) That a further report be brought forward on the delivery of remaining infrastructure packages, the future use of Enterprise Zone funding and the use of future Section106 monies.

Reason: To enable the successful delivery of the York Central and York Station Gateway schemes.

The Corporate Director of Economy & Place presented a report which provided an update on the progress of the York Central project, set out changes to the financial profile and governance arrangements for the project, and sought approval in respect of resources required to ensure the council’s future involvement in delivering York Central (YC) and the associated York Station Gateway (YSG) project.

Progress on the key YC project milestones was set out paragraph 12 of the report. IP1 enabling works to demolish existing buildings and prepare the site had now commenced, prior to the start of IP2 construction works in the autumn. Following the grant of funding direct to the landowners, delivery arrangements had been reviewed and City of York Council (CYC) would no longer be delivering the infrastructure. A Highway Adoption process would therefore be required. Key progress on the YSG project was set out in paragraphs 25-29. Technical support services contracts for YSG would need to be re-procured separately from those for YC, to ensure compliance with procurement regulations. Proposals for CYC’s continued involvement in YC, and commitment of £900k of the remaining capital funding, were set out in paragraphs 36-41.

The cycle and pedestrian path running from Salisbury Terrace to Scarborough Bridge, an important part of the active travel network, was in private ownership and leased to the council until 2023. The council had the option to: a) exit the lease (not recommended), b) seek to extend it (not supported by the landowner) or c) purchase the freehold (recommended), at a cost of £150k.