A few weeks ago Council leaders were photographed with the new owners of the Terry’s development site (Henry Boot).

They promised “flexibility” on the planning conditions applied to the stalled development.

A meeting of the planning committee taking place next week will be given details of this “flexibility”.

The main change seems to be a reduction in requirements for affordable housing. This is down from 30% (82 units) included in the original permission to 20%.

The figure may vary further at each phase in the development.

Contributions towards other public services may also be changed as each phase progresses. These include a large £1.1 million contribution towards schools provision.

Unusually for York, no Great Crested Newts have been found on site!

NB. The report confirms that the York Green Belt contained in the Regional Spatial Strategy of 2008 is still in force. It is relevant to the Terry’s site as the car park on Bishopthorpe Road lies within it. However this is also likely to be highly relevant to the continuing debate about the proposed Local Plan.