Into the future

THE deserted site of Terry’s chocolate factory has been a scar across the face of York ever since it was abandoned by Kraft Foods eight years ago.

In a city crying out for new housing, 27 acres of prime brownfield land has been going begging while the listed buildings of the factory itself, an important part of York’s long and illustrious history, have been left to crumble.

Indeed, the neglect of the site has added insult to the injury felt by York’s citizens when Kraft moved production abroad, ending the 180-year-old connection between the city and the name Terry’s.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The long-awaited news that the site has been sold to property developers should therefore be greeted with welcome relief, especially as it follows the announcement of York’s first city-wide development plan for more than 50 years.

With consent for housing development, offices, hotels and shops, therefore, the Terry’s site offers another prime opportunity to help to ease the city’s shortage of accommodation while also providing the potential for thousands of new jobs.

It also provides the perfect example of the importance of brownfield development, the creation of new uses for former industrial land, which is the best way forward for developers if they are to avoid bitter and protracted disputes with the protectors of Britain’s countryside.

The Quaker chocolatier families of York, who did so much to aid the city’s quality of life as well as drive its economic development, would have been horrified at the wasted opportunity that the Terry’s site has represented over recent years. It is more than fitting, therefore, that this land now seems set to become, once again, an agent of York’s regeneration.

Related topics: