Works on a development featuring almost 1,100 homes on the site of a former York sugar refinery could begin in 2027, according to timescales set out in newly-lodged plans.
Plans for the first phase of redeveloping the former British Sugar refinery and Manor School site would see 1,097 homes and infrastructure built in six phases up to 2037.
Rapleys, agent for the applicant and site owner British Sugar plc, stated the first phase focusing on infrastructure would be critical to the wider redevelopment of the Boroughbridge Road site.
The latest application follows the approval of initial, outline plans for up to 1,100 homes along with community facilities and public spaces in 2018.
Permission for altered plans which increased the height of buildings on the site, changed drainage arrangements and provided more details about its Main Street access road, was granted in 2024.
The plans were drawn up in the years following the closure of the refinery in 2007 due to the restructuring of British Sugar’s UK operations.
Buildings which formed part of the sugar beet refinery, which opened in 1926, have since been torn down and the site has largely been cleared.
The site also had to be decontaminated after heavy metals, asbestos, ground gas and other chemicals were found there.
The latest plans include details on strategic green and drainage infrastructure, landscaping and updates on access from the proposed Main Street and existing Plantation Drive roads.
A natural space dubbed The Green is planned at the heart of the area covered by Phase One of the scheme.
The area also features a focal point for the community to gather in called The Square and playing fields.
A wooded edge, woodland walk and wetlands are also set to be created as part of the development.
Works on Phase One of the development would begin in early 2027 and finish by early 2029 under target timescales put forward in the latest plans.
Phase Two, featuring 340 homes, would begin construction in early 2030 and finish in mid to late 2037.
The building of a further 260 homes in Phase Three would start in early 2031 along with Phase Four which is made up of 49 houses.
Completion dates for the two phases are estimated to be in the third quarters of 2036 and 2033 respectively.
The fifth and sixth phases of the development, made up of 248 and 200 homes respectively, would begin construction in early 2032 and the first quarter of 2033.
Plans forecast that both those phases would be complete by halfway through 2037.
Work on community facilities and timescales for their completion would be subject to agreement with council planning officers through the Section 106 process.
The application stated the timescales were subject to variation but they gave an indication of how the development is expected to progress.
A further 100 homes are planned on the part of the former Manor School site owned by York Council.
You can read and comment on the planning application here.
