THE future of a £14 million multi-storey car park at St George’s Field looks to be in doubt now that the council’s deputy leader Andy D’Agorne has spoken out against it.

Cllr D’agorne, however, made clear he was speaking in his capacity as leader of the council’s Green group, not in his other roles as deputy council leader or transport boss, when he said the business case for the 120-space car park did not stack up.

The plans for a five-storey car park were actually approved back in January 2021, but councillors later decided to review the decision so as to examine the impact of the pandemic on demand for car parking. A final decision has been pushed back until the summer.

The debate over whether we need such a car park, however, highlights how much of a problem parking has always been in York.

Today, the council finds itself juggling competing demands - easy access to the city centre, as many shops and businesses want, versus congestion, pollution and the need to reduce carbon emissions. But it is not a new problem.

In a compact city like York, bounded by its city walls and constrained by its medieval street patterns, parking space has always been limited.

York Press:

St Sampson’s Square on a wet day in March 1969, when it was still used as a car park 

In the past, as our photos today show, parking restrictions were less rigorous. Cars were allowed to park in Parliament Street and St Sampson’s Square, in front of the Minster and the Castle Museum, and in the middle of Exhibition Square in front of the art gallery.

The old Reynard’s Garage on Piccadilly, meanwhile (where Spark:York now stands) was once literally that - a garage.

But as the number of cars continued to grow parking restrictions were increased. It is hard to imagine what the city centre might be like today without them...