TWO senior councillors will be asked on Monday to endorse a design guide for York Central - or risk scuppering the entire development.

A report to council leader Ian Gillies and deputy leader Andrew Waller warns that although under-ambitious standards would allow poor quality development, the 300-page guide could be perceived as setting onerous and restrictive mandatory requirements which would deter development.

But it also warns that failure to agree to the guide will lead to a delay in the submission of an outline planning application, which is due to be handed by the York Central Partnership to City of York Council on Wednesday.

It says this would delay the delivery of the scheme, adding: “This delay may then give rise to the risk that external funding bids are not agreed, or that existing agreed funding cannot be drawn down, which will ultimately put the whole project at risk.”

The report to a decision making session by Tracey Carter, assistant director for regeneration and asset management, says that if the scheme does not go ahead, there is the risk that the cost of the development to date may not be recovered.

It adds that the project, which involves redeveloping a huge site behind York Railway Station with up to 2,500 new homes and up to 112,816 sq metres of commercial development, is complex and high risk, and until it receives planning consent and a partnership agreement is formalised, all investment from all parties is at risk.

The report urges the two councillors to endorse the guide "to secure quality and sustainability place making objectives for York Central and to ensure the timely progression of the York Central development".

Tamsin Hart-Jones, project lead from York Central Partnership, told The Press yesterday that it had been working closely with the public, planning officers and organisations such as Historic England to draw up the guide, which included both mandatory requirements and advisory guidelines.

“The document contains lots of information and covers everything from clear guidelines on the height, massing and levels of buildings, to the need for manhole covers to blend in with the landscape,” she said.

“We’ve also looked at the types of materials that could be used on site and suggested that bricks should be predominantly used in the residential development, to reflect the traditional building materials used in York, while the commercial buildings would use a mixture of materials including steel, copper and glass.

“The sustainability of the development has also been a key consideration and we’re encouraging low or zero carbon generation on the site.”

She said one of the ideas discussed was the creation of a district heating network, but after closer inspection the partnership believed energy saving measures, such as photovoltaic panels on buildings, were more sustainable, as they wouldn’t rely on fossil fuels. “Our ambition for the design guide is to create an exemplary development.”