PLANNERS have come out in favour of a redevelopment plan for York's former fire station, despite fears over what it will do to the site's heritage.

Developers first revealed their plans for the Castle Street site in October last year, but soon had to radically overhaul their proposals when conservation groups slammed their ideas.

The original scheme for nine houses, five flats and a restaurant have been revised twice since, and the scheme now includes seven houses and a restaurant, with seven flats above.

It is due before a planning committee next week, and planning officials at the city council have recommended councillors give the latest incarnation of the plans the go-ahead.

In their official report, they say it would "deliver acceptable redevelopment of a significant previously developed site in the city centre" and add that whatever harm it would create would be "less than substantial".

If it goes ahead, the redevelopment would see the 19th century chapel facade, which faces on to Peckitt Street, retained. Conservation group strongly objected when the facades - remnants of the 1856 Trinity Chapel - were threatened in the original plans.

However the Victorian lodge building on the riverside is still in line for demolition to make way for a terrace of four houses.

Planning officers say the harm this would do to the conservation area would be balanced out by the benefits of bringing more housing into York, but groups like the Victorian Society and Save Britain's Heritage still object to it being torn down, while Historic England say they would prefer for it to be retained.

Meanwhile, York Civic Trust say that while they are happy to see the chapel facades being incorporated into the new buildings they still do not think the architecture is good enough for the Conservation Area it sits in.

Major objections have also been made about an underground carpark the developers want to build. A Franciscan Friary was founded on the site in around 1230, and Historic England experts say that with the River Ouse so close by the remains could be waterlogged and extremely well preserved. Council planners say the archaeological remains are lower than the proposed car park, but Historic England has maintained its objection meaning the Government will have to step in to approve the plan unless the heritage body is satisfied by the developers' plans.