OPENING plans for York’s Mansion House have been confirmed, more than two years after it closed for a major refurbishment.

Entry to the building will cost £6.50 for adults and £3.50 for children, but with a 50 per cent discount for York residents.

Those charges were confirmed by a senior councillor yesterday, along with the five-day-a-week opening plan from early December and other charges for room hire and private events.

Cllr Keith Orrell, the interim executive member for economic development and community engagement, signed off on the pricing structure yesterday.

Cllr Orrell said: “For those who went to the Mansion House before the restoration and will go again afterwards there will be a dramatic difference.

“Some of the things that have been done are amazing. I am sure that residents and visitors will find them very interesting.”

However, Cllr Orrell’s decision session heard from former city councillor Howard Perry who objected to entry charges for York residents.

He asked Cllr Orrell why they were being brought in, when he had correspondence as recently as May this year saying entry would stay free for locals.

The council’s head of civic and democratic services Dawn Steel said there had never been any intention to mislead Mr Perry or anyone else over the plans.

The charges for entry and for venue hire have been drawn up after looking at comparative prices in other attractions nearby, she said, including Fairfax House, The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, and York Army Museum.

The charges also include a family entry pass for two adults and two children at £17, with a 50 per cent discount for locals; and an annual resident’s pass costing £9 for an adult, £15 for a family, and free for children with a paying adult.

Cllr Orrell also thanked the curator Richard Pollitt and his team for their work on the major project.

He said: “It has been a mammoth project and I suspect people will have lost a lot of sleep over it.

“Losing the developer half way through didn’t help, and has caused considerable delay.”

The reopening would mark a “new era” for the house, he added, and people should take the chance to go and see the transformed building. The entry fees and hire charges will be reviewed annually when the council does its routine review of fees and charges as part of the budget, Ms Steel added.