Homes plan for former Beckfield Lane waste tip

Plans have been drawn up for 19 houses and nine flats on the site of the Beckfield Lane waste recycling centre, which shut last April to save City of York Council £130,000 despite a fierce campaign to keep it open.

The proposals have been submitted by the authority to its own planners and a decision is expected to be made in September.

The scheme would include nine two-bedroom and ten three-bedroom houses, as well as a mixture of one and two-bedroom apartments and 35 car-parking spaces.

Moves to close the tip were announced in February 2012, after officials said relocating the site could cost about £3.6 million and the estimated cost of refurbishing it was £2 million, while £250,000 would have had to be spent on urgent maintenance work and its accessibility issues could pose legal risks.

The Labour-controlled authority said its closure would still leave York with two waste recycling centres at Hazel Court and Towthorpe, although a decision has since been taken to close the latter site on Wednesdays, and the money which would have to be spent on Beckfield Lane was not available.

Opponents of the plans, who said shutting the tip would leave residents in west York struggling to dispose of their rubbish and lead to an increase in fly-tipping and falling recycling rates, signed a 2,870-name petition organised by the city’s Liberal Democrat group. which forced the issue to be debated at a specially-arranged council meeting.

However, the decision was upheld despite the Lib Dems saying they had demonstrated how the site could be kept open while still making the necessary budget savings.

In a statement forming part of the planning application, Atkins Architects said the 1.2-acre brownfield site was “identified as one of the council’s best development opportunities” and up to 19 of the new homes – including all the apartments – are currently intended to be affordable housing, which was “important to the needs of the council”.