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Redevelopment plans 'scaled back' due to cost

Joe Gerrard
Local Democracy Reporting Service
City of York Council A computer generated image of a historic brick tower on a small hill. At the base of the tower is a paved area with beds cut out for plants and trees. Several figures are standing or seating in the area.City of York Council
Plans for the area around Clifford's Tower to be redeveloped have been scaled back due to cost

Revised plans to upgrade the area around Clifford's Tower in York have been submitted for approval.

The Castle Gateway scheme covers the Eye of York area where the River Foss meets the River Ouse.

The project, which has been amended in order to cut costs, would now include a new park, play areas and 30 Blue Badge parking bays instead of a paved event space.

Plans to close Castle Car Park will be put before senior councillors later in the year and Pete Kilbane, deputy leader of the authority, said: "We are working to transform this area from a car park to a people park."

The revised plans are based on responses to a public consultation that took place last summer.

Design consultants BDP said they had focused on accessibility, heritage and maintenance when drawing up the new plans.

Kilbane said: "Our proposals include new play areas for families, something people have been asking for more of in the city centre, and green open space for people to relax and take some time out."

City of York Council A computer generated image of two two-storey buildings next to each other, one with a small clocktower and one with a colonnaded entrance and a statue of the scales of justice above it. A circle of grass in front of the buildings with a tree in the centre.City of York Council
The development includes the area around York Crown Court and the Castle Museum

The council said the revised proposals aimed to make the scheme more affordable so that it could still be delivered.

In January councillors were told the first phase of the scheme would cost an estimated £3.5 million.

Claire Foale, the council's city development lead at the time, said the cost of plans for the scheme approved in 2020 would now be close to £16m, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillor Katie Lomas, the council's Labour finance and major projects spokesperson, said submission of the planning application was an "important step forward for the scheme".

"These plans seek to create a versatile public space where people of all ages want to spend time, making it greener and more accessible, as well as more affordable and deliverable, when compared to previous plans," she said.

City of York Council A computer generated image of a paved walkway leading to a building. Either side of the walkway are bed planted with blue flowers. A woman is standing on the walkway near a bench. A man in a wheelchair is next to the bench.City of York Council
The revised plans include a new park

A planned multi-storey car park at St George's Fields is no longer set to go ahead, though improvements to existing facilities are still being considered.

The revised Castle Gateway proposals are set to go before the council's executive in September and a decision will be made separately on the planning application.

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