Sorting office could be moving

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http://www.thepress.co.uk/news/3692126. ... be_moving/

By Mike Laycock »


YORK’S main postal sorting office could be relocated and the site redeveloped under the ambitious York Central scheme.

It emerged today that the potential for including the Leeman Road site in the billion-pound redevelopment of the area around the railway station has been raised.

One option might be to locate a new public transport interchange on the site, making use of existing subterranean links with the station.

But Royal Mail stressed that while it was aware of the plan, it was at a very early stage. The company would not say if it was definitely considering moving out. Nor would it comment on whether, if it did eventually leave, it would relocate to another site in the York area further afield.

Union leader Paul Clays said that if the sorting office did move out, his reaction would depend on whether it stayed in York.

He said any move out of York of a business which employed more than 600 people – for example to Leeds – would be “disastrous” for the city and its businesses. However, a re-location to another site within the York area would cause the union far less problems.

He said the question of whether Royal Mail intended selling Leeman Road had been raised by the union at a meeting with the company last week. “The answer was: “Not officially,”’ he claimed.

The Press revealed in July how landowners behind the massive York Central redevelopment scheme, including Network Rail, Yorkshire Forward and the National Railway Museum, were inviting developers to invest a £1 billion into the project, which will involve the construction of up to 100,000 square metres of offices and 3,000 new homes.

It emerged then that the project might also involve the creation of a new transport interchange, meeting a long-unfulfilled need in York for a proper bus station.

A specific site was not identified at that stage, although there is reference to the sorting office in a City of York Council Local Development Framework document, setting out an Area Action Plan (AAP) for the York Northwest area, which includes York Central. The Issues And Options report states: “The Royal Mail sorting office was promoted as an alternative site for an interchange, exploiting existing subterranean links with the rail station.”

A spokeswoman for the York Central developers said today: “The potential to include the Leeman Road site in the wider redevelopment of this area has been raised.” However, she said: “This would depend upon whether the chosen developer felt that it could usefully be included in any future scheme, and discussions that developer would need to have with Royal Mail.” A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “While Royal Mail is aware of this plan we understand that it is at a very early stage.”

Coun David Scott, Labour leader on City of York Council, said today that if the sorting office was to leave Leeman Road, the council should do everything it could to ensure it stayed in the York area.

Coun Andrew Waller, the council’s Liberal Democrat leader, said that as well as concerns about jobs, he would also regret the move of the office from its site next to the railway, as this would scupper any chance of the Royal Mail using trains once more to transport the post.