New stadium in York approved

The city of York received a huge boost today as plans for a brand new 8,000 seater community stadium have been approved by the council.

The plans were almost unanimously passed (save for one abstination) after a 3 and a half hour meeting at the council offices this morning.

The application which has been recommended for approval includes plans for an 8,000-seat community stadium, six shops, two restaurants, a 12-screen cinema, a three-storey leisure centre and an outdoor sports area, including three five-a-side football pitches at the site in Monks Cross.

The stadium will be home to York City Football Club but while early plans had included York City Knights, a long running stalemate between the club and City of York Council bosses has cast uncertainty over the club’s involvement in the scheme.

York City Knights Chairman John Guildford submitted a 29 page objection to the scheme late last night and officially spoke out against the scheme this morning, however his objections wern’t considered substantial enough to delay the project.

The decision of approval is subject to a four week period for potential State Call-In and a subsequent six week period for Judicial Review, though this is not standard practice. Construction can then begin.

It was also reported in the York Press that the new Board of Directors at York City Knights were pulled out of discussions with the City of York Council on Wednesday, however the council say they are unaware of this development.

York City FC Chairman Jason McGill said his open offer to buy the Knights remains on the table, subject to their involvement in the community stadium project.

The Knights next ‘home’ game is against Kingstone Press League 1 new boys Coventry Bears on Sunday April 26th.