SELLING land and securing cash from developers have been identified as ways of providing a chunk of the money York’s political leaders must find for the city’s revamped Park&Ride network.

The Government has provisionally agreed to provide £22.89 million towards the cost of the Access York project, which involves building sites at Clifton Moor and Poppleton, where motorists can leave their cars and travel into the city centre by bus.

It also involves switching the existing Askham Bar car park to a new location nearby.

The Government deal leaves City of York Council having to stump up £2.6 million, and a report going before the authority’s executive this week has outlined ways of meeting that contribution.

The sale of the current Askham Bar site is estimated to fetch £500,000-plus, with the value of the land its replacement will stand on put at £350,000. Another £400,000 will come in the shape of developers’ contributions towards creating the necessary infrastructure. The rest of the money – £1.37 million – should come from the council’s Local Transport Plan.

However, officers have warned that if the scheme goes up to £6.4 million over budget, the authority will have to share the cost equally with the Department for Transport – and foot the entire bill if it goes beyond that.

The Government’s provisional approval for funding for Access York – described as one of York’s largest transport investments since the outer ring road was built in 1987 – was announced last month.

Subject to rubber-stamping, work could begin next May and it could be finished about a year later.

It would see the number of Park&Ride spaces in York increase from 3,750 to 5,350.

Planning permission has been granted for the Askham Bar and Poppleton schemes, and the Clifton Moor site is due to be debated later this month.

Access York project manager Paul Thackray said in the report: “It is possible the scheme could be funded fully from the Local Transport Plan, but the allocations for 2011/12 onwards have not yet been confirmed, and they are likely to be lower than the current levels of approximately £3 million a year.”

The council will be asked to approve the suggested way of meeting its Access York funding commitment, and to approve Halcrow as the lead design consultants for the Park&Ride project.