A KEY update on York’s community stadium project will not emerge until the New Year – after being dropped from a meeting of city leaders because there was no time to discuss it.

City of York Council’s cabinet was originally due to discuss progress on the 6,000-seater Monks Cross venue for York City FC and York City Knights – including financial matters and the ground’s specification – at its November meeting, but this was then delayed until December.

Officials said the amount of business on November’s cabinet agenda meant the report was deferred a month. However, it will now go before senior Labour councillors on January 7 instead.

Opposition parties are claiming confusion surrounds the £19 million stadium, which is not expected to be completed until early 2016 after a string of delays.

The council is providing £4 million towards the project, with £13.75 million coming from the developers of the neighbouring Vangarde shopping complex.

The Press recently revealed York City and the council had hit a rent deadlock, with the football club saying the amount it was expected to pay under the project’s original business plan had been increased and it could not commit to this.

Two bidders have been invited to produce final detailed plans for designing, building and operating the stadium, as well as running other leisure facilities in York.

Stadium project manager Tim Atkins said the report’s rescheduling did not affect project timescales, saying: “The date of this coming to cabinet has been moved to ensure all the issues can be covered at the same time in one paper and to make the best use of cabinet’s time.

“The paper will propose the principles for the final bids for the stadium and leisure contract, as well as providing an update on the business case for the wider project.”

Conservative leader Coun Ian Gillies said he was “not surprised by yet another delay”, saying: “It has become clear that confusion reigns and, after several years of spending money to no avail, this report is only to decide on principles for the final bids.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Nigel Ayre said Labour rejected his call for the reforming of a disbanded cross-party group of councillors which monitored the stadium project, as the report’s delay was “deeply worrying”.

He said residents must help decide how developers’ money earmarked for “community benefit” was spent. “Labour need to remember the stadium is costing taxpayers’ money and proper public oversight is essential,” he said.