YORK’S Arts Barge project has taken a major step forward with the submission of a planning application to site the craft on the River Ouse, just upstream of Skeldergate Bridge.

Organisers say the mooring alongsideTower Gardens was chosen following discussions with City of York Council, which led them to reject another possible option, alongside the North Street gardens near Lendal Bridge.

Architect David Spencer, of DSP Architects, said the barge was set to be moored to piles driven into the river bed, following discussions with the Environment Agency.

This would allow it to rise naturally when the river was in severe flood, as it was last winter, and then descend to its normal levels when the floodwaters receded.

York Press: The new Arts Barge moored at the Foss Basin in York (l-r), Marcia Mackey, Christian Topman, Jane Veysey and Hannah West Picture Frank Dwyer.

Volunteers pictured previously inside the barge, which is now being restored

An evacuation plan would ensure it was vacated before the gardens were flooded, and the barge would then be inaccessible until the floods went down from the gardens.

He said the barge would have a lift to provide disabled access to the lower deck, and performances would be inside the craft to reduce noise seeping out into the area. An acoustic engineer had concluded that noise levels would be within acceptable standards.

He added that if planning consent was granted, there would need to be separate applications to the council for licensing for music and alcohol, and to lease the site from the authority.

The project is the brainchild of a community collective of artists, musicians and performers who want to create a floating venue for the arts in York Co-director Marcia Mackey said sound surveys by Dragonfly Consulting had shown there would be minimal noise in the area.

She said more money was still needed to pay for a major refurbishment of the old barge - the Selby Tony - which is currently moored in the Foss Basin. The possibility of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund was being explored, and there were commercial organisations interested in becoming sponsors..The project was a not-for-profit company, which would pay its own way once it was up and running.

Meanwhile, a group of musicians has got together to form the Arts Barge Collective, a party band which will be available to book for any occasion, which was launched during a VIP party held in a marquee in Tower Gardens.