Plans for an overflow staff car park at York’s Designer Outlet have been refused, after objectors claimed they would not solve Christmas congestion problems.
York Council’s Planning Committee B refused the Outlet’s plans, which would have seen the addition of around 340 extra spaces for staff in November and December.
Designer Outlet Centre Manager, Paul Tyler, told councillors that congestion in the run up to Christmas was unmanageable, and led to queues of up to 200 cars at the exit.
In response, objectors including Fulford Parish Council and National Highways stated that the shopping centre had not shown it had exhausted all other options. They also claimed it could make congestion worse.
Council planning officers recommended refusal of the plans, ahead of them going before councillors for a decision on Tuesday (15 July).
If councillors had backed the plans, they would then have had to be referred to the Government for final approval.
The application
The Designer Outlet’s application proposed creating the spaces on around 1.1ha of green belt land, south of the shopping centre.
The spaces would have been utilised in November and December for approximately 1,600 staff from over 100 shops, and 15 restaurants and coffee shops.
The application stated it would provide extra spaces for up to 900 employees on site at any one time during the Christmas period.
It added that already, 1,000 of the site’s existing 2,700 spaces were taken up by the Fulford Park and Ride.
The busiest day ahead of Christmas can see up to 1,000 tickets sold to get to the Park and Ride, according to the plans. The shopping centre also hosts temporary events including an ice rink and funfair.
The application stated that staff could be diverted onto the overflow car park to free up space for customers.
A total of 20 public comments were lodged in support of the plans, saying that that trying to find a parking space was frustrating for visitors and delaying buses.
Centre manager Mr Tyler told the committee that the plans were a common sense solution to current issues.
The manager said: “Christmas is the busiest time of year for retail, traffic congestion becomes unmanageable.
“It means buses can’t get into the centre or out, Park and Ride users are queueing and staff cannot get to the centre on time and are leaving late.”
But objectors, which also included the council’s Labour transport spokesperson Cllr Kate Ravilious, whose Fulford and Heslington ward covers the site, said the plans would not address the issue.
They added their concerns about the impact on green belt land and the lack of capacity at the A19/A64 junction.
Labour’s Cllr Dave Merrett, Planning Committee B’s chair, said he did not see how the plans could be approved in their current form.
The chair said: “This isn’t what we want to see, the Designer Outlet is an important park of the York economy.
“But we have very clear views on this that the applicant needs to meet if they’re going to get the refusal removed.”
