TWO huge new developments are set to create 1,300 jobs for York after winning millions of pounds in Government funding.

A food science campus just off the A64 at Sand Hutton will mean 800 highly-skilled and highly-paid new technical jobs.

A 'Bio-Hub' at the University of York, which will host and support a range of high-tech industrial biotechnology companies, will create a further 500 top jobs.

There is also funding for:

  • Biovale - new science facilities in York to provide a biotechnology 'innovation cluster,' which will help companies develop next generation biofuels, bio-waste processing and high value chemicals.
     
  • The York Central regeneration project for land behind the railway station, with £1.65 million for site access, remediation and preparation works
     
  • Electrification of the railway between Hull and Selby
     
  • Askham Bryan College, for a £1.6 million new state-of-the-art 'Agri-Tech' training Centre and Engineering Centre of Excellence
     
  • Structural repairs to Newlands Bridge on the A645 in Selby
     
  • Road maintenance in North and East Yorkshire
     
  • A £3.46 million loan to BOCM PAULS Ltd is also being proposed to accelerate the delivery of 844 new homes at the Olympia Park site in Selby.

The new food science campus, to be built on the Food & Environment Research Agency (FERA) site, will be a base for research and product testing in the AgriFood and AgriTech industries.

Barry Dodd, chairman of the York North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said: “Winning funding for this campus is incredibly important as it will form part of wider growth in bioscience in this region which in total is set to create 4,000 jobs for the area.

“This campus is fundamental to that growth and it is right on York’s doorstep. We are ready now to go ahead and get on with these plans for the campus as we have applied from funding from other sources too.

“The jobs that are being created are highly skilled, highly paid technical jobs which is really important to York’s economy."

York council leader James Alexander said: "This announcement shows Government recognition of the substantial and exciting growth potential of York's priority sites, with York Central and BioVale attracting Local Growth funding.

“The city is at the forefront of global research and development activity in this area as home to an internationally competitive research and development base in the sector."

He added that the success of a joint Leeds City Region bid for resources for transport infrastructure also meant York was another step closer to priority infrastructure improvements, including an upgrade of the outer ring road.

John Weighell, LEP Board Member and Leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said rural areas had a key role to play in delivering national growth and the Government investment recognised the potential of the rural economy in York, North Yorkshire & East Riding, enabling the key infrastructure to be developed to support growing businesses and enable more than 5,000 new homes to be built.