A CONSULTATION over where a vital access road should be built into a major York development site has revealed huge opposition to a new road from Holgate.

More than half of responses to the York Central access consultation directly opposed the southern access option, which would see a new road from the A59 in Holgate into the old railway land.

The consultation ran for three weeks at the end of the summer, and now results have been published ahead of a council decision next month.

A summary shows 644 people went to public meetings, and 619 consultation responses were made with many either supporting or opposing one particular option.

Of those 619, some 336 directly opposed the southern option which would drive the new road past homes in Holgate and through Holgate Community Garden.

Catherine Birks, commercial project manager for York Central Partnership, said: “The events have very much brought the issues residents are concerned about to the fore, and given us the chance to understand in more detail how people feel each option will impact the local communities around the site."

She added: “Road access is one of the key considerations and challenges in developing the York Central site, so it is hugely reassuring that we had such a good response to this specific aspect.

“It has generated valuable feedback for the partnership which will help to inform our decision on preferred access ahead of wider masterplan development.”

The responses also show that people’s biggest concerns about the new roads were air quality, transport and the impact on current traffic levels, and ecology; while things like construction impacts, flood risk and the effects on townscape were of less concern.

The impact on Holgate Community Garden in particular was a specific concern, with some 260 comments made directly about that, while 197 people commented on the air quality impact the southern road option would have.

The partnership’s summary says that while people were not specifically asked which option they supported, many people voiced a particular preference with the largest number - 196 people - saying Western Access Option 1 off Water End would be the best choice.

Western Option 2, through Millennium Green - got 115 comments in favour, while the southern option through Holgate got just 29 in favour and 336 against.

The summary has been published today ahead of a City of York Council meeting on November 15, when the partnership will present a preferred option for city councillors to approve.

It also comes days after campaigners from York Central Action complained about a “paucity of information and lack of proper scrutiny” over the access roads.

After the November decision is taken, a full York Central masterplan will be part of a wider public consultation in January 2018.

The York Central development will be built on brownfield land behind the city's railway station, and will create up to 1,500 new homes and 650,000 square feet of offices.

The full consultation report is online at www.yorkcentral.info.