Tissue Regenix headquarters gets go-ahead at Northminster Business Park

Tissue Regenix, which is currently based at York Science Park, has been given permission for a 1,000 sq m building with facilities for research and development, laboratories, and offices, on land which is “safeguarded” in the draft local plan.

The company’s planning application said it needed new premises for its York headquarters to allow it to expand and build the business.

But according to an official’s written report to the city council’s planning committee, the new site west of York’s outer ring road and north of the A59 is in the green belt.

The committee voted to give permission for the new building, saying it fell into “very special circumstances” category.

The only vote against came from Green Party councillor Andy D’Agorne. He has now warned the decision could lay other green-belt sites open to development.

Coun D’Agorne said: “This approval brings into question the whole process that City of York Council is currently undertaking, to identify green-belt land that will be protected from development.

“The reasons given in the recommendation for ‘very special circumstances outweighing the harm to the green belt’ could be applied to any parcel of land that a developer chose to put forward to build on around York.” Planning officials urged the committee to approve the plans, saying that existing development surrounding the site meant the building would be less harmful to the green belt than other sites at Northminster park.

After the meeting, planning chairman Coun David Horton said the committee had considered the benefits of keeping the company in York and employment boosts when making its decision.

Tissue Regenix develops technology for wound care, vascular, cardiac and orthopaedics.

Its application to the authority said its current Science Park home cannot accommodate the purpose built “clean-room” facilities it needs to pass rigorous US Food and Drug Agency standards and expand into the American market.