It’s a bold vision that could end York’s housing shortage.
A campaign group is proposing that up to 75,000 new homes are built in York – inside the outer ring road.
And this mass development should fund the return of a tramway to bring people in and out of the city centre.
The proposal is put forward by Britain Remade, a independent group dedicated to promoting economic growth.
It has proposed 12 places where ‘new towns’ should be built across the UK. And one of its proposals is for York – to “extend the beautiful city to its ring road, helping to ease the worst housing shortage in the North”.
The city is not restrained by its city walls any more, but by its “green belt, which is among the most restrictive in England” the group says.
Ben Hopkinson of Britain Remade writes: “The centre of York faces challenges between balancing new homes, new student accommodation, places for tourists, and businesses wanting to expand in the highly educated and well-connected city.”
He goes on: “York is surrounded by a ring road that is approximately five miles in diameter. But the city itself does not stretch to meet the ring road. Instead the ring road travels directly through York’s green belt.
“The city should be allowed to extend to its ring road.”
And “there should be a priority to build around Poppleton station,” Britain Remade argues.
“With trains that take only five minutes to access the city centre and the Poppleton Park and Ride along one of the main routes into York, the area is well-connected.
“Currently, however, the station is in the bottom third of stations by use, because the green belt has limited new homes from being built nearby that could make use of the station’s connectivity.”
Britain Remade is proposing a mass housing project for the city. “Expanding York to its ring road and building around Poppleton station could provide York with 50,000-75,000 new homes based on developable areas within the ring road at a gross density of 30 to 50 homes per hectare.
“This will help to boost housing affordability and let more people live near the employment and educational opportunities that the city provides.”
Transport plans
Transport would be via Poppleton Station, a “a network of high quality cycle routes” – and trams.
“In France, every city with a population greater than 150,000 has a tram. York has a population of just over 200,000 people but it goes without mass transit,” Britain Remade says.
“An expansion of York to encompass its ring road would enable the funding of a tramway to make it easier to get in and around the city.
“A 10 mile tramway system could be funded by just 25 per cent of the surplus value of 20,000 homes if built at the European average cost.”
Britain Remade isn’t the only group suggesting York could “benefit from a ‘New Town’ in the form of an urban extension” – so is think tank UKDayOne.
You can read the proposal for York and 11 other new town proposals here.