The Mayor of York and North Yorkshire has visited a former Selby colliery set to become a major hub with the potential to create thousands of jobs.

David Skaith visited the Gascoigne Interchange site at Sherburn-in-Elmet after North Yorkshire Council approved plans for 1.5 million square feet of industrial and logistics space across seven units.

Today, the Harworth Group invited Mayor Skaith, Selby MP Keir Mather and North representatives from Yorkshire Council to visit the site and share their vision for it, ahead of work starting next year.

The site, close to railways and the A1 (M), operated as a colliery for decades until it was closed in 2004.

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The proposed scheme, on a brownfield site, is seen as a major public-private partnership, capable of delivering up to £190million in gross development value.

Mayor Skaith said: “Public and private sector relationships are essential for our region to reach its full potential. Developers like the Harworth Group are at the heart of our approach.

“It was great to meet with our partners at the site today and see the vision for this major development in Selby, which could create thousands of jobs.

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“Gascoigne Interchange is rather unique in that it can connect the businesses that are based here with a low carbon freight terminal.

“This really aligns with our ambitions for green growth and to become the first carbon negative region in England."

Chris Davidson, director of the Yorkshire and Central region for Harworth Group, said: “Gascoigne Interchange in Sherburn is an exceptional opportunity for North Yorkshire.  It has the potential to create thousands of new jobs and help the region's economy, not least because of the site's strong rail links.

“It was our pleasure to welcome Mayor Skaith and Mr Mather to the site following their recent election successes and to talk to them about what can be delivered here.

“We look forward to continuing work with local partners to deliver our shared vision for Gascoigne Interchange – with a target of breaking ground next year.”

Keir Mather MP said: "There are few sites more synonymous with the Selby's area rich coalmining history than Gascoigne Wood, where workers from our communities powered Britain for decades.

"That is why it was wonderful to be here today to hear about plans to make this site a centre of industrial activity once more. I look forward to working constructively with the project to ensure that my constituents feel the full benefit of this new investment."

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for open to business, Cllr Mark Crane, said: “Redeveloping the former Gascoigne Wood site into a state-of-the-art industrial and logistics hub represents an exciting opportunity to unlock additional economic growth and bring new jobs to Sherburn-in-Elmet and the wider Selby area. The scheme’s impressive green credentials will also support our region’s journey to net zero.

“Close collaboration with our private and public sector partners has been essential to getting the scheme to this stage and I now look forward to seeing the start of the site’s transformation in 2025.”