AFTER decades of endless discussions, meetings and negotiations, work finally starts next week on clearing land to pave the way for York Central, one of the UK’s biggest brownfield redevelopment schemes.

City of York Council and contractors, John Sisk and Son, are talking to local businesses and delivering letters to about 300 neighbouring residents ahead of the works on land behind York Railway Station.

A council spokesman said the initial clearance works includes:

- Creating a site compound and temporary access

- Clearing vegetation on land owned by Homes England and Network Rail

- Removing three disused buildings - an old concrete works in a National Railway Museum (NRM) car park, a former Unipart building and an old wagon repair depot.

The spokesman said the Leeman Road tunnel will need to close overnight for three nights from Tuesday, February 2, between 11.16pm and 6am, to allow for the overnight delivery of cabins required for the construction site.

He said the site clearance would prepare the area for infrastructure works to unlock the 42 hectare site, which would provide up to 2,500 new homes and create about 6,500 new jobs, with up to 1.2 million square feet of commercial development and an upgrade to the NRM.

“All the work has been approved as part of the planning approval on the site, which included a detailed assessment of the heritage value of the buildings,” he added.

“More than 300 mature trees will be planted during the next phases of infrastructure works, while the development also includes the largest park in the city for 100 years and areas to encourage biodiversity.”

York council leader Keith Aspden said that with the economic impact of the pandemic becoming ever more apparent, it was essential that progress continued with the city’s key regeneration sites, such as York Central, "which underpin our efforts to build back better".

He said: “It is credit to the commitment and shared vision of the partners that we’ve managed to secure the funding, gain planning approval and now start on site works, despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic.

“York Central remains one of the most important and attractive regeneration sites in the country and is an opportunity that many other towns and cities in the UK would envy.

“We will continue to work together to deliver on the ambitions of the York Central project; driving inclusive growth and creating a new sustainable community in the heart of the city.”

Councillor Nigel Ayre, executive member for finance and performance, said the works was a reminder that York was ready to recover from the pandemic and attract the jobs and investment needed to achieve this.

“We’re working closely with John Sisk and Sons to limit any disruption to neighbouring residents and businesses, and to keep them informed of any works,” he said.

“I can also reassure residents that essential journeys will not be affected. The night-only road closures won’t happen until after the last bus, and there will always be a small diversion in place.”

He thanked all local residents and businesses for their patience.