Tenneco Automotive, which ordered the shutdown of its Monroe shock absorber plant in Shipton Road, York, has submitted plans for a massive housing development on the 18.2 acre site, it was revealed today.
The call by the Brussels-based company to demolish the buildings of the 47-year-old factory and let the developers loose, cuts right across the local strategic plan, which allocates the area for employment use.
It comes as the number of staggered redundancies at the factory have risen so far to 221, with shock absorber manufacture finally at an end.
Another 35 leave a week tomorrow and a final 70 involved in non-core business, like axle-making, exit in March.
The application was submitted in spite of several offers for the site by industrial developers.
But Barton Willmore Planning Partnership, which acts as planning adviser to Tenneco, argues that once the gates finally close, residential development would be the most suitable use.
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