New vision drawn up for future of coach park after protests

York Council announced today that a series of new options are being drawn up after the proposed sale of the Union Terrace car and coach park sparked one of the hardest fought protests the city has seen in recent years.

The move has come after initial proposals for the £3.2m sell-off to York St John University to allow a campus expansion sparked grave concerns over the impact it would have on trade and visitors numbers.

The new set of options includes plans that could retain all the coach parking on the site, which is seen as a key location for helping bring in millions of visitors to the city each year.

York Council’s leader, James Alexander, said: “We recognise that many people have concerns about the proposal to sell Union Terrace Car and Coach Park and we have listened.

“This is why we are planning to hold a full consultation on a range of new options including proposals which retain all coach parking on site. The plans developed before the local elections are now abandoned.

“York St John has been co-operative during this process, and are as keen as we are to listen to people’s concerns.”

Exact details of the new plans are due to be released either today or tomorrow, although the Yorkshire Post has learnt there will be five or six main options.

The new plans will mean only part of the site will be sold off – or it could be retained completely.

It is understand Coun Alexander asked council officers to start working on the new proposals 10 days ago after both himself and other senior councillors had held a series of meetings with concerned traders and campaigners.

Union Terrace is the city’s main coach park, and can accommodate 33 coaches and three minibuses.

The city attracts 7.1 million visitors every year, with about a tenth arriving by coach. Tourism brings in a total of £442m to the local economy annually.

The initial proposals would have seen £3.2m generated from the sale of the coach park, with £2m re-invested into improving the city centre and a further £900,000 spent on overhauling York’s car parks.

Coun Alexander admitted that none of the new options would secure the same amount of money, and therefore not as much would be spent on city centre improvements.

A public consultation that will last at least six weeks is due to be approved on Thursday at a cabinet meeting, which is being held after an extraordinary council meeting to discuss the proposed sell-off.

The consultation will include key questions about how much of the coach park should be sold off, as well as a call for York St John University to launch a retail forum to engage with local businesses and support their development.

It will also urge the university to employ local construction workers for any building work on an expansion of its campus.

The decision to draw up a new set of options has been welcomed by members of the Save Union Terrace Coach Park Campaign, although they urged the council to abandon the sale of the site completely.

The campaign’s spokeswoman, Anne Braithwaite, who runs the Braithwaite Gallery on Low Petergate, said: “It is heartening to hear that the council is considering new options, but we still believe that the coach park should be retained as it is.

“It is such an important site, and I would hope that the council listens to the concerns that will be raised in the consultation.”

Campaigners have collected more than 15,000 signatures on a petition opposing the proposed coach park sell-off in less than a month.

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