York council leader James Alexander made clear what he thought of proposals for an Airspeed attraction at Reynard’s garage as early as September 26 last year, when he tweeted: “First it’s save York’s 1970s cobbles – now it’s save derelict eyesore tramshed. York’s true heritage is not same as resistance to change.”

The city council, which owns Reynard’s garage, is still reluctant to talk about the four bids for the site – all believed to include hotels – which have been shortlisted, citing reasons of commercial sensitivity.

“We are meeting bidders this week and will explore their proposals in more detail,” a spokesperson said. “A decision will be made in the coming weeks.”

The authority has, however, confirmed that the criteria used for deciding which bids to shortlist were first set out by its Capital Asset board and were later agreed by Cabinet.

The criteria gave ‘weightings’ to various factors, as follows:

• Deliverability – 15 per cent

• Community value – 15 per cent

• Economic value – 30 per cent

• Price offered – 40 per cent

Green councillor Dave Taylor – York’s former heritage champion – has publicly criticised these criteria, pointing out they don’t give any weight to heritage.

Not true, the council says. “Community value does include heritage consideration,” said the spokesperson.

“The heritage of the site was given full consideration as was the economic development impact and capital value. As you would imagine the Airspeed proposal scored well on heritage but the difference in capital value was huge and overall (it) did not score highly enough to make the short list.

“The most important thing is that after decades of blight this site will soon be redeveloped and this will herald the long-awaited regeneration of Piccadilly along with the development of the White Swan and the Banana Warehouse.”

In an interview with The Press, council leader James Alexander added the authority had a duty to “make sure that we maximise the potential benefit and that we’re earning income for the taxpayer.”

Asked if failing to include the Airspeed bid on the shortlist was a missed opportunity, he said: “No. The Castle/ Piccadilly site needs to be retail led. It has to underpin retail for the city centre.

“The site is part of a wider strategy for the future of maximising York’s city centre and this will be a consideration when looking at the bids.”

Cllr Alexander admitted he was surprised that there suddenly seemed to be so much affection for a building which many had long regarded as an eyesore.

But he accepted that the history of the Airspeed factory deserved to be commemorated.

“In 2000-ish, the Civic Trust said that there should be a plaque put up there. That would be appropriate,” he said.

“If there are alternatives (elsewhere), it would be of interest to look at that. The concept is great. But that’s not the right location.”