Stadium focus on Green Belt sites

City director Ian McAndrew says developers have approached him to suggest two undisclosed sites around the city, which he is now looking at in addition to the Clifton Moor site already under consideration.

He has also revealed that consultants, appointed by City to discover whether any brownfield or non-Green Belt sites might be available for a stadium scheme, are expected to complete their study within a fortnight.

He says he personally does not expect them to have discovered any brownfield sites to which the club might re-locate from Bootham Crescent; nor does he anticipate them finding a greenfield site that is available outside the Green Belt.

If that happens, he says the club plans to meet City of York Council planners to discuss all the potential Green Belt sites, in the hope that an agreement can be reached on which site they feel is best for the city and club. A planning application would then be submitted, which the local authority and Government would both have to examine independently.

Mr McAndrew, who said he had been appointed by chairman John Batchelor to negotiate with developers and City of York Council, said it was a complex issue with many complicated issues to be addressed.

"There are questions of availability, cost-effectiveness, whether a site is big enough, traffic issues and Green Belt matters," said Mr McAndrew, who is an associate director with developers and builders Harrisons of Malton.

He said that in a city like York, there were no large derelict industrial sites ripe for a re-development scheme led by a new football stadium. And whichever site was chosen for re-location, there would almost inevitably be problems of one kind or another.

He hoped the council would not treat the club as if it was just another developer. "This is an exceptional situation that might happen once every 50 or 60 years."

He said the authority was being as co-operative as possible and he hoped this would continue.

Updated: 10:47 Saturday, September 28, 2002