A NEW future for the construction industry has been cemented in York.

Cemex will be opening a modern £1.3 million ready-mixed concrete plant, on land at Hazel Court, York, near the the household waste recycling centre off James Street, on Monday.

The batch plant replaces Cemex’s old plant on a three-quarter of an acre site surrounded by homes in Leeman Road, York, which was built 39 years ago.

A spokeswoman for Cemex said that the company now planned to sell the old site for residential development.

There was also room for expansion on the new site which is 1.75 acres.

The fully automated plant will be operated by one man, John Kirraine, who has been with the company for 13 years.

The spokeswoman said the site off James Street was chosen to better serve the whole of the York market, rather than just the centre.

She said: “The investment, as well as giving us a site with more space, positioned in an industrial estate rather than a residential area, has allowed us to be more sustainable. For example, we can now recycle water.”

It would also be more productive, producing perfectly computerised mixes of 60 metres of ready mixed concrete per hour.

The plant in York has always proved vital to constructors in the city, having supplied large projects like the Coppergate Centre, York Minster library, the new Knavesmire Stand at York Racecourse and the City of York Council depot.

Expected for Monday’s opening will be MPs and councillors as well as a class of children from Tang Hall Primary School.

They will be met by Richard Baldry, the Yorkshire regional director for Cemex as well as Chris Leese, the vice president of Readymix Concrete, part of Cemex UK.

Customers who are already using Cemex concrete will also look over the site.