A FOOTPATH through a York suburb is set to close for up to another eight months for work to take place on the UK’s largest city centre brownfield regeneration project.

A large section of Cinder Lane, the footpath which runs between Leeman Road and Wilton Rise, behind York Railway Station, has already been closed for six months between its junction with Leeman Road and a spot 390 metres along its length southwest for York Central development works to be carried since September 5 last year.

Now City of York Council say they are extending the closure until Friday, November 10.

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The precise nature of the works is not known, but the 45 acre York Central development promises up to 2,500 new homes and over 1 million sq ft of offices, retail and leisure space as part of a new high-quality commercial and residential quarter for York.

The first phase is expected to deliver up to 650,000 sq ft of commercial space and 700 homes on the site, located next to York Railway Station and is predominantly owned by Network Rail and Homes England.

Government agencies Homes England and Network Rail officially launched the procurement process to secure a strategic development partner for York Central back in July, as The Press reported at the time.

Global property consultancy JLL was appointed in April to find such a company.

The vast site is a legacy of York’s railway history. The first engine sheds and sidings began to be built in the middle 1800s, with many more being added after York’s new railway station was opened in 1878.

The site evolved with York’s rail industry, and by the mid 1900s, when that industry was at its height, the area was a hive of activity, with carriageworks, maintenance sheds and depots, marshalling yards and sidings.

The site was a major York employer. In the 1950s, there were more than 3,000 people employed at the York Carriageworks alone.

These works were bought by ABB in 1989. But already the writing was on the wall. In 1996, the ABB Carriageworks were closed, and more than 750 staff were laid off.

The works were re-opened by American firm Thrall Europa in 1997, but closed again in 2002, when the remaining 260 workers were laid off.