ONE of the main problems with developing the enormous, 178-acre brownfield site behind York Railway Station known as York Central has always been how to actually get access to it.

The enormous block of land could provide up to 1,500 desperately needed new homes, as well as large amounts of office space. But if it is ever to get off the ground, a bridge will have to be built to carry a major new access road through to the site.

The York Central Partnership, which represents the various landowners involved - principally Network Rail, the city council, and the National Railway Museum - yesterday unveiled three options.

Two would see new roads crossing on to the site from Water End - one across the Leeman Road Millennium Green, the other skirting it. The third route would cross on to York Central from Holgate Road - through the Holgate Community Garden.

The Holgate Road option would be much the cheapest: 65 per cent cheaper than the most expensive option, which would be to cross on to the site from Water End without crossing the Millennium Green.

The second Water End option, through Millennium Green, would be about 45 per cent cheaper than the most expensive route, but still more costly than the Holgate Road option.

There are no final costings yet, but the difference will run into millions of pounds. However, there are other matters to take into consideration. How ready should we be to sacrifice a community asset such as the Holgate Community Garden, for example? And how much more traffic can Holgate Road take?

The York Central Partnership has now launched a major consultation, with a series of public exhibitions planned between now and September 9.

This is a hugely important development, which will affect this city for decades to come. We’d urge anyone with an interest to go to one of the exhibitions, then make their views known.