City gears up for £8m garden centre

A multi-million pound garden centre and food hall which could rival Harrogate’s national award-winning Fodder will be built on the outskirts of York after planners agreed to back the development.

The £8m Dobbies Garden World development at York Business Park, in Nether Poppleton, will see 120 new jobs created and work is set to start in autumn, with an opening date planned for spring 2013.

The new state-of-the-art centre will offer more than 10,000 plants, shrubs and trees and include extensive outdoor areas and a specialist aquatics department within a landscaped environment.

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It will also house a farm food hall offering locally-grown produce, as well as a 350-seater restaurant after York Council’s planning committee approved the plans on Thursday.

Stuart Wright, director of property at Dobbies, said: “We’re delighted to being a step closer to opening our first Dobbies Garden World in York. We want to thank York Council for their enthusiasm for economic development in the region and for their continued support in backing our planning application which will allow us to bring a new-generation of garden centre to customers in the Yorkshire area.”

Mr Wright said Dobbies was keen to back Yorkshire suppliers and local produce will be sourced to fill the shelves of the foodhall and will be sold in the restaurant.

The garden centre, which is proposed on an eight acre site off the A1237 outer ring road, received support from the community following a public consultation last September.

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However concerns have been raised by residents and retailers over the possible impact on village shops, with main fears centring on the food hall.

Residents are also worried about tailbacks on the nearby A59 roundabout, however the developers have agreed to pay £59,000 towards planned improvements to the roundabout, which will combat the rise in traffic levels.

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