PART of the land near York's Barbican Centre will not be sold by the city's council until planning permission is agreed, The Press has learned.

The news offers a glimmer of hope to local residents who want a replacement swimming pool to be built on the nearby Kent Street Coach Park.

Labour leader Coun Dave Merrett had pledged to build a pool on the site as one of his party's manifesto aims for the forthcoming local elections in May.

He said yesterday the idea had been torpedoed when it emerged that City of York Council had completed the controversial sale of the site to Barbican Venture (York) Ltd for £6.385 million.

But now we can reveal the sale did not cover the Kent Street Coach Park - where the developers hope to build a budget hotel - and it is still owned by the council.

A "conditional development agreement" has been signed for the land, but the sale for £1 million will only take place if the council grants planning permission within two years.

Coun Merrett said: "The confusion and obfuscation around this sale issue is typical of this Liberal Democrat administration, particularly when it comes to the Barbican. The haste to sell the Kent Street site even before it has got planning permission reinforces the sense of the Lib Dems operating a scorched earth policy and of a determination to deny York residents any say on it at the election.

"A clearer admission that they have not got York residents' support for their actions I do not know."

Coun Merrett also pledged to examine the papers behind the deal to see if the council can hang on to the coach park site.

He said: "We will look extremely carefully if York residents give us their mandate on May 3 to go through all the sale documentation to see if it is possible to reverse it without major financial penalties to the authority."

But council leader Steve Galloway said, as with many other asset sales, the Kent Street coach park had been sold subject to the granting of planning permission.

He said: "Given that Coun Merrett has been grumbling about how long it has taken to complete the Barbican sale, his comments now suggest that he has completely lost the plot. I challenge him to publicly state how he would fund a central York pool without jeopardising the Acomb, Yearsley and Heslington pool projects."


Golden opportunity

DETAILS have been released about the future shape of the Barbican Centre site after the sale of the land was completed.

The £6.385 million deal between City of York Council and Barbican Venture (York) Ltd will allow the developer to sub-sell parts of the site to other companies.

The sale included a hotel and residential site, as well as a 250-year lease on the Kent Street Car Park, but did not include the coach park next to it.

Golden Tulip Hotels has agreed to start building a four-star hotel with a pedestrian link to the Barbican Centre within three years.

Golden Tulip Hospitality Group has head offices in Switzerland and Holland and has a worldwide chain of 630 hotels.

Developer Persimmon Homes will build at least 230 apartments within four years, 25 per cent of which will be affordable housing.

Barbican Venture will retain the car park and it will be run by a company called Indominto, which will in turn lease the 370-space car park to Qpark.

As a condition of the contract, that firm must make 264 spaces available for public pay-and-display parking and be open all year.

Entertainment firm Absolute Leisure has already signed a separate agreement for the Barbican auditorium and will pay £765,000 when the firm has received planning permission and completed a £3 million refurbishment of the building that is due to be completed by October.