Green campaigners are celebrating after gaining Government approval for a self-sustaining environment centre in the heart of York.

An architect's impression of the proposed environment education centre for St Nicholas Fields, Tang Hall, York

The St Nicholas Fields Environment Centre has overcome the final hurdle in the planning process and work will start soon on building the St Nicholas Fields Environment Education Centre which will be constructed of sustainable materials and will run on solar and wind power.

The approval marks the end of a three-year period which started when the idea was conceived in 1996.

Last year, the project won £300,000 from the National Lottery Charities Board for projects aimed at improving people's living environments and it has since gone through various stages of the planning process to get permission to site it on the former rubbish tip in the middle of Tang Hall.

If all goes to plan, building work will begin in July and the structure will be complete by January 2000.

Gordon Campbell-Thomas, co-ordinator of the St Nicholas Fields project, said: "It has been a long time coming but now we have final approval, it is full steam ahead.

"The future, in terms of the environment of York and surrounding areas, is dependent on bringing green sustainable ideas into practice.

"The centre even has a green transport policy for visitors.

"This is a step forward for the friends and a leap forward for York.

"One day all buildings will incorporate similar ideas.

"It is in keeping with all Government policies on use of brown field sites, energy conservation and energy reduction."

l Gordon Campbell-Thomas has successfully dealt with the problem of empty gas cylinders being dumped around the 24-acre site highlighted recently in the Evening Press. York company Megogas came to the rescue and returned all the cylinders to the companies responsible for their manufacture.

Mr Campbell-Thomas said: "I am pleased to say St Nicholas Fields has been cleared of all dangerous objects like gas cylinders and is what it should be - a place for people and the environment to come together."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.