TWO possible sites have been identified on the north-west of the York for a sixth Park&Ride site.

Currently York has five park and ride schemes - at Askham Bar, Rawcliffe Bar, Grimston Bar, the Fulford Designer Outlet and Monks Cross.

Now an A59 Park&Ride is planned, to go outside the main ring road.

The site under consideration is located off Northfield Lane, next to Northminster Business Park and, if given the go-ahead, the scheme would also mean the A59 ring road roundabout would have to be upgraded.

It is unlikely to be developed before work starts on the York Central site. In the meantime, resources will be focused on enlarging the popular Askham Bar Park&Ride.

City of York Council's transport chief, Ann Reid, said the views of local residents and ward councillors had gone in to selecting the site.

She said: "Across York, Park&Ride has been so successful, and has cut congestion so effectively, that any expansion of the service is to be welcomed.

"While these plans will take some years to materialise, this decision is a big step forward."

In 2004, residents were given the choice of five sites where the new service could be situated. After a leaflet was sent to every York household, people backed a greenfield site located inside the outer ring road behind the Civil Service sports ground - where it is now proposed to build a brand new £17.5 million bulding for Manor School.

Residents did not favour two sites across the ring road further along the A59, but ones at either end of Northfield Lane, close to Northminster Business Park, were preferred.

On Thursday, the Evening Press revealed that Manor School was on the hunt for a new home because its current three-and-a-half hectare site at Poppleton, which caters for 640 pupils, could not hope to house 900 youngsters as part of its expansion plans.

But a plan has yet to go to the council, and would have to go out to public consultation before it could happen.

Manor School will benefit from £13.5 million in Government funding, and the plan is that the sale of the current Manor School site will make up the remaining £4 million the school has to find.

The site is owned by City of York Council, with the land the building is on owned by the Church of England.

Dorothy Dellow, a member of the diocesan board of education, said it was hoped the new school could open by spring 2009 if the scheme got the go-ahead.

Members of the city council's ruling executive will be asked to agree to proposals to consult residents on the potential development at a meeting on Tuesday.

Parents to get a say

PARENTS will get the chance to have their say on plans to replace two secondary schools with one in west York.

City of York Council could take the first step towards creating a new school on the west side of the city next week.

Members of the council's executive will be asked to approve plans for a new community secondary school at their meeting on Tuesday. Under the scheme, a new, 1,050-place school would be created on the Oaklands site, replacing both the existing Oaklands and Lowfields schools.

The proposal has been driven by a decline in pupil numbers - Oaklands has 885 and Lowfield has 520 - and a need to radically improve the condition of the existing buildings.

Under the proposals, the Government would contribute £8 million towards the total £10 million total cost of modernising and extending the buildings on the Oakland's site, with the council putting forward the remaining £2 million.

Building work on the Oaklands site could start in June 2007 and, by September 2007, the new school could open, but would still operate from two sites. It is likely that the new school building would be available by 2008, freeing up the Lowfield site for development.

Updated: 09:15 Saturday, January 28, 2006