THE largest regeneration in York’s history is now at a “momentous stage”, councillors are set to be told.

Next week a masterplan for York Central - 45 hectares of former railway land behind York station - will be presented to senior city councillors for approval.

It has been drawn up after a public consultation earlier this year, and formal planning applications will be submitted in the coming months.

City of York Council leader Cllr Ian Gillies said: “York Central’s size, location, connectivity and heritage make it a unique proposition, regionally and nationally.

“We’re determined not to just make York Central happen, but to make it deliver on ambitions we all share for our city.

“This means learning from the world’s best to create communities that people of all ages and incomes want to live in, and to attract the paid jobs into the city by providing the high quality commercial space we simply don’t have here at the moment.”

A report that will be presented to the council executive next week says York Central could model itself on places like Freiberg and Toronto, with cutting edge “vertical villages” and higher density housing than the rest of the city.

It also confirms there will be more apartments - of up to six storeys - than houses, as well as office space, smaller work spaces, cafes, restaurants and a hotel clustered around a central commercial area next to the station.

Earlier this year, a “Festival of York Central” gave people in the city a chance to see and contribute to the masterplan with 3,500 comments received at 46 different events.

The York Central Partnership’s project manager Tamsin Hart-Jones said incorporating that feedback has brought the project to a significant stage.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the council, Network Rail, Homes England and the National Railway Museum - which councillors will be asked to agree next week - shows the partners’ commitment to making the regeneration happen, Ms Hart-Jones added.

Major planning applications will be submitted in August and September this year, the report confirms. They will include an outline plan for the whole site and a detailed plan for a new access road, bridge and spine road.

It was revealed in November the new bridge into the site will be built off Water End, through Millennium Green, but the new report shows it has been dogged with legal problems which could cause delays, although project managers still hope to start work early next year.

The report also confirms a plan to divert Leeman Road away from the National Railway Museum, leaving pedestrian access on that route only when the museum is open, and says there is a “clear preference” for segregated cycling provision through the Leeman Road tunnel.