York councillors urged to approve £5m Knavesmire scheme

Councillors meeting on Tuesday are recommended to approve the works to transform the area south of the Knavesmire Stand.

The scheme features erecting a pavilion, a canopy with covered seating area, and single storey extensions to the Bustardthorpe Stand, following the demolition of exiting buildings and structures.

The redundant buildings that would go include the Tote Cabin and Tote Building, the VATS bar, the fish and chip shop and a staff building.

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When plans were ubmitted in July, the racecourse said the scheme did not aim to increase capacity, but rather improve the visitor experience.

A planning statement said: “York Racecourse’s ambition is to bring all its facilities up to a standard reflective of its status as one of the world’s premier racecourses.”

“These improvements will help ensure York continues to regularly host some of the world’s highest-ranked races.”

A report prepared for Tuesday’s meeting of planning committee says the Micklegate Planning Panel supports the planning application, as it would “tidy up the southern end of the racecourse.”

The York Conservation Area Advisory Panel also supported the proposal “on the grounds that the Bustardthorpe Stand believed to be by Walter Brierley would be tidied up and given a proper setting.”

The panel added: “The character and appearance of the Conservation Area would also be enhanced by the removal of the clutter of small and temporary buildings at the south end of the Racecourse.”

The report says the Racecourse has occupied its Knavesmire site since the late 18th Century, and in addition to racing, hosts concerts and events of regional significance. The racecourse says it attracts 300,000 visitors a year, who contribute £58million a year to the city economy, supporting 1,300 jobs.

There has been a programme of progressive improvements to the racecourse, including new stands in 1996 and 2002, and modernised facilities at the northern end of the Enclosure in 2015 and 2018.

The Bustardthorpe Stand, which dates from the early 20th Century, has not seen significant investment since the 1970s, it said, and the proposal would bring it up to the common level of the other refurbished sections.

The city planners concluded: “The site is not considered to be within the Green Belt. The proposal is considered to be acceptable in terms of its impact upon the Terry’s /Racecourse Conservation Area and the setting of neighbouring Listed Buildings.”

Furthermore, national and local planning policies were met by the scheme “by securing the preservation and enhancement of the Conservation Area and securing the setting of the Listed racecourse clock tower and County Stand further to the north. whilst securing the long-term future of an important investor in the wider City economy.”