Public to get say on campus plans

Councillors yesterday approved the draft development brief for a new campus at Heslington East during a meeting of City of York Council's planning committee. The brief will now undergo a public consultation and will be used as formal guidance for any future development.

The proposed 65 hectare site located south of Field Lane will include 25 hectares to be used by Science City York and will enable the university to increase its student intake by 5,000. The brief states the campus will be a parkland setting with strong links to the Heslington West campus and no more than 23 per cent of the land can be used for buildings and car parks.

Both Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors welcomed the development brief.

Council leader Coun Steve Galloway said he believed the city would benefit from an increase in jobs as a result of the university expansion.

He said: "I believe jobs in the education sector are among the most resilient jobs we can have here."

Coun Dave Merrett described the current university campus as an oasis for the city. "It is a real attraction in this city, which most of us are proud of. It is important we get a similar quality of development in terms of the future expansion of the university."

But the brief met with opposition from Heslington residents and Green councillors who felt it was a premature move.

Coun Mark Hill said: "We are talking about developing a facility which will add thousands of students, academics and support workers to a city which already has a housing shortage. It will all put more pressure on our existing infrastructure, especially housing.

"There is only so much development this city can cope with."

Heslington resident Ann McLaren said: "The area of Heslington is going to be engulfed by the university without any thought for residents."

Richard Frost, chairman of Heslington Parish Council, said the campus development could endanger the unique character of Heslington.

Updated: 11:03 Friday, July 25, 2003