Julian welcomes Chancellor’s funding announcement for brownfield homes in York
March 18, 2015
Julian has today welcomed the Chancellor’s Budget as funding was announced to build more city-centre homes in York in order to protect the city’s surrounding greenbelt.
The Chancellor announced that York would receive Government funding for the multi-million pound York Central Housing Zone development. The initiative will provide up to a thousand new homes on one of the largest brownfield sites in Europe. The development will significantly reduce the pressure on York’s surrounding rural communities to absorb new housing as well as revitalising a large part of the city centre.
Following the announcement, Julian said “It has been an ambition to develop the York Central site for many years. However, despite being the equivalent size of two thirds of the entire walled area of York, the 35 hectare site currently lies derelict. This has been a great shame and the funding announced by the Chancellor today will prioritise brownfield house building, protecting York’s precious countryside. The project will also create over 13,000 new jobs, cementing York’s position as a key part of the northern powerhouse.”
Julian also welcomed the Budget’s wider efforts to continue the economic recovery across the country. He said “It is fantastic news that we continue to cut taxes for people, and the average taxpayer is now over £900 a year better off and with over three million people being taken out of income tax altogether. I was also delighted that fuel duty has been frozen again with the longest freeze for twenty years, with motorists saving £10 every time they fill up.”
Speaking in the House of Commons the Chancellor, George Osborne, said “Today’s figures show that since 2010, 1000 more jobs have been created every single day. The evidence is plain to see – Britain is working. And what about those who say “the jobs aren’t real jobs; they’re all part time; they’re all in London.” Nonsense. How many of the jobs are full time? 80%. How many of the jobs are in skilled occupations? 80%. And where is employment growing fastest? The North West. Where is a job being created every ten minutes? The Midlands. And which county has created more jobs than the whole of France? The great county of Yorkshire”.
The Budget was announced against a backdrop of a growing economy, with Britain growing faster than any other advanced major economy last year. Employment is at a record high and unemployment has fallen dramatically across York since the Chancellor announced his first emergency budget back in 2010.
