York Council are set to increase developments in the city to a post-war high. Several large developments are being planned through partnerships between companies such as Network Rail, the Homes and Communities Agency and the National Railway Museum in a bid to increase tourist numbers, improve infrastructure and meet housing targets.

Speaking at the York Development Plans conference Tracey Carter, Assistant Director for Regeneration and Asset Management at York City Council, said one of their plans was to liberate the city’s Clifford’s Tower from the sea of car parking that surrounds the historic site. She told our event that the authority wanted to turn the car park surrounding the tower, where 150 members of the city’s Jewish population were massacred in 1190, into a public realm: ‘’The surface car park sits cheek by jowl with one of the country’s most iconic historic monument.’’

However, Carter said that steps to remove the car parking were complicated due to the £1.8m of revenue generated by the car park, which is the closest such provision to York’s retail core, so the council are looking at a number of replacement sites.

The biggest development opportunities will be at York Central, the ‘teardrop’ shaped site at the rear of the city’s railway station, with a public exhibition on plans for the site due to take place in March or April, with a view of a planning application being submitted in the summer.

Carter said that York Central, which will be connected to the railway station by a new western entrance, would extend the city’s retail and business core. The scheme, which is on a bigger scale to any previously carried out in the area, would contain 100,000 sq m of employment space, generating 6,500 new jobs and 2,500 homes. She also outlined plans for a new walkway across the river Fosse which would give ‘new life to areas around Coppergate’.

Lastly she told delegates that York’s executive was due to finalise the draft of the council’s much anticipated local place with a view to consulting during February and March, before submitting it for examination by the Planning Inspectorate during the summer. The plan, which would be York’s first adopted local plan since 1955 would provide 867 homes per year up to 2033 and around 200,000 of employment land.

Also speaking at the event was Charles Johnson, Head of Planning Development at Leeds Bradford Airport, and he announced the airport was introducing ground-breaking baggage screening devices. The move will see Leeds Bradford become the first UK airport to install the new screening machines, each of which are worth over £1m and provide 2D and 3D CAT scan style images. The enhanced technology, to be installed in March, will improve the airport’s ability to spot suspect packages.

Tom Devine, of the National Railway Museum, announced exclusive development details around their plan to redevelop Leeman Road. Infrastructure work will be carried out to divert traffic and a new building will be built as part of a £50m developed – the largest since the museum began. It’s set to increase visitor numbers by almost 500,000 a year, bringing more tourists into the region. Further details can be found here.

Richard Arnold, Managing Director of Wrenbridge Sport, concluded the event by outlining progress on the redevelopment of the York Community Stadium, which is home to the city’s professional football and rugby league club. As well as increasing the number of seats to 8,000 the stadium will feature a huge leisure and sporting facility including three swimming pools, a four court sports hall, medical facilities and more – alongside retail and other leisure spaces. The elements of the scheme have had to be adjusted following a decision to boost the number of screens at the cinema from six to thirteen.

You can find future events in the Yorkshire region here, whilst you can view all national events here.