DEVELOPERS and council bosses have struck a deal to swap two parcels of land as part of a £90 million shopping development and community stadium scheme on the edge of York.

Oakgate (Monks Cross) Ltd, which secured planning permission last year for new John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Next stores at Monks Cross, needed a patch of City of York Council-owned land to finalise the sale of the retail scheme to Allied British Funds Pension Fund (ABF), saying the deal could not be completed without the site.

The firm will exchange this for land it owns at Monks Cross, which the council said would help deliver the project to build a neighbouring 6,000-seater stadium for York City FC and York City Knights, scheduled to be ready for the start of the 2015/16 sporting season. Both parcels of land were valued at £20,000.

A council report said the land swap would allow Oakgate, through the sale of the stores scheme to ABF, to produce a bond for the £13 million the firm will contribute towards the stadium.

Officials said the council could hold onto the land it owns as a “commercial ransom strip”, but would be “disadvantaging itself” as this would threaten Oakgate’s stadium payment.