A MAJOR overhaul for York station and the National Railway Museum could be on the cards as details emerge of a "game changing" redevelopment planned in York.

The "once in a lifetime" plan could use as much as 72 hectares of brownfield land - including the 35 hectare "teardrop" site and all the new Enterprise Zone - to deliver up to 120,000 sq m of office space creating 7,000 new jobs, and 2,500 new homes as well as "a network of vibrant public squares, green spaces and routes linking to surrounding neighbourhoods".

Council documents have revealed more of the plans for the York Central site - announced as an Enterprise Zone by the Government last month.

A consultation is due to launch soon so people in the city can have their say on what happens to the land, and ruling councillors are being asked to approve Compulsory Purchase Orders to buy pockets of land crucial to the ambitious plans.

Leeman Road could be partly closed or diverted under the proposals, to give the NRM more space to expand and modernise and a new road bridge built into the site from Holgate Road and a foot and cycle bridge built over the East Coast mainline towards the city centre.

The plans could also see Queen Street Bridge torn down to make more room for buses, bikes, cars, cyclists and pedestrians at the station, while the station could also get a new entrance toward the National Railway Museum (NRM).

Council leader Chris Steward said: "The redevelopment of York Central represents a once in a lifetime opportunity to deliver major growth in York.

"We are committed to work with Network Rail, the National Railway Museum and the HCA to bring forward development at York Central. We believe that by collaborating we will make the right decisions and develop solutions to overcome the various challenges."

Documents released today show the estimated £78 million development of the whole site could take 15 to 20 years to finish.

So far, the city council has committed £10 million to opening up the land, and some of that cash could fund two land purchases council staff want to make to finish the "land assembly" for the project. Money is also coming from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) with as much as £9.55 million earmarked for the project.

Next week the council executive is expected to rubber stamp buying or compulsorily purchasing two patches of land - the Unipart depot on Leeman Road which could become a new "station square" and west entrance to the station; and a Post Office vehicle repair site and car hire base which is earmarked for the "Leeman Yard" residential area. Council staff say they are working closely with Unipart to find the company an alternative site in York.

A development draft is also to be published to give people chance to comment.

The council's deputy leader Keith Aspden said: "This planning framework outlines the key principles for redevelopment of York Central and the next steps forward.

"The launch of this framework is the first step in an ongoing conversation with residents over York Central, including a full public consultation in January. We have a tremendous opportunity and we need to work hand-in-hand with local residents to get these plans right. If we do then the redevelopment could successfully transform our local economy and provide a historic boost to our city."

The NRM's director Paul Kirkman, said they wanted to bring more people - including York's existing seven million visitors, into the Museum.

He added: “We are working on big plans to transform our museum to tell the epic story of railways, increase our contemporary relevance and grow our visitor numbers to over one million per year.

"We want to be at the heart of this exciting York Central development, which offers once in a generation opportunity to transform the museum and its surroundings.

"We look forward to sharing our plans as part of the council’s consultation in the New Year."