YORK CENTRAL PARTNERSHIP ANNEXE: Planning application engagement context

Since late 2017, York Central Partnership have developed opportunities for the public to engage with, and input into, the proposals as they have developed as follows:

• Stage 1 – YCP met with local groups and organisations and held three public pop-up events to hear thoughts on the emerging principles for the York Central masterplan.
• Stage 2 – YCP held a series of workshops with members of the community to discuss key themes for the emerging York Central masterplan. The workshops allowed YCP to explore issues raised in Stage 1 in greater detail which has helped to progress key elements of the masterplan.
• Stage 3 – The Festival of York Central – a comprehensive process involving an exhibition and dedicated website, as well as a series of events and activities to promote deeper understanding and engagement. This six week process finished on 29 April 2018.

Purpose of stage 3 – Festival of York Central

Following a focused and intensive period of design work, technical studies and engagement with local people over the past six months, YCP identified five main objectives for the stage 3 engagement:
1. Provide a clear overview of how the emerging masterplan is evolving.
2. Hear your views on the overall approach, vision and key principles.
3. Understand your thoughts on more specific elements of the proposals including site access and open spaces.
4. Deepen the level of involvement and understanding of the site through conversation and dialogue to enable long term community involvement in the site as it evolves.
5. Enable a masterplan that better meets the needs of the York community.

My York Central – Background Context
During Stage 1, respondents asked YCP to look at the My Castle Gateway project as a best-practice example of good engagement. The same team created My York Central (MYC). MYC goes beyond conventional community consultation by enabling all those interested to become part of a sustained long-term conversation where influence comes through sharing responsibility for the area and its future. Throughout the festival MYC has worked to make getting involved active, challenging and fun.

The purpose of this note is to summarise the feedback and discussions which took place through the events and activities which took place through the My York Central process alongside the exhibition. It is important to note that responses were also received via the Commonplace platform and main project website, and hard copy questionnaires.