KEY deadlines have passed on York’s Community Stadium project, but the city council will not confirm whether it is sticking to its timetable.

According to the latest update given to the public, key legal and financial documents should have been signed by late August.

City of York Council, however, has said it cannot comment on the project at the moment.

A spokesman said: “We can’t comment on the specifics around what is a commercially sensitive and complex process, but we will share news of a start date as soon as we can.”

In mid-July, a project update was presented to ruling councillors saying a new builder had been signed up, and £2.6 million shaved off the costs.

At that point, an indicative timetable was set out which said financial and technical documents should be finalised in August.

It said the project should reach financial close - with the design, build, operate and manage (DBOM) contract and the commercial development agreements signed - by late August.

Once that was completed, the construction site mobilisation would happen in September and October before the DBOM contract goes live on October 1, and the building work starts in earnest by late October.

Under that timetable the new leisure facilities would be ready by spring 2019, and the stadium by the summer.

The July report also said that until financial close was reached the exact start could not be confirmed and added: “Until this point there is therefore a risk further delays could be incurred.”

Fans had expressed fears that the project could be hit by a councillor standards row at City of York Council.

Cllr Nigel Ayre, executive member for leisure of culture, is one of two councillors who were last week asked to stand aside by the council leader pending an investigation.

City officials have now confirmed that all Cllr Ayre’s responsibilities - including the Community Stadium project - have passed to the council leader Cllr David Carr.