£120m development in Minster's shadow

A £120m development in the shadow of Beverley Minster could get underway this year if commercial tenants can be signed up for the site.

Developers behind the regeneration scheme are set to start marketing the site for retail and restaurant tenants.

New moves are also being made to accommodate East Riding College on the 17-acre site, despite a funding blow for a proposed new campus.

It comes after the Government gave the go-ahead last year for the redevelopment of the former factory and museum site in Flemingate.

The ambitious plans, which would create about 640 jobs, would include shops, restaurants, a hotel, cinema, homes, offices and a new college campus.

The consortium behind the scheme – Wykeland Group, CP Group and Quintain Estates and Development Plc – could get the scheme off the ground this year if commercial tenants can be lined up for the site.

A spokesman for the consortium said: "We are starting marketing and discussing the site with major retailers.

"People have already shown an interest in the site, the retail world is quite small and obviously people get to know when there is a scheme in somewhere like Beverley.

"Generally market towns like Beverley are regarded as very strong retail centres and so there are people interested, there's no doubt about that."

Efforts are also ongoing to relocate East Riding College from its cramped site in Gallows Lane.

A £23m new campus had been earmarked for the Flemingate site but the scheme was hit by a funding blow from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) which was unable to confirm a £12m grant.

The college and developers are now looking at alternative ways of securing the move.

This includes looking into the combined use of new and existing buildings at the site, which has vacant offices fronting Flemingate.

John Doris, director of resources, said: "Since the LSC withdrew previously approved funding for this development last year, the college has been working very closely with the developers of the Flemingate site on an alternative scheme.

"We are clearly trying to address a significant funding gap and one way of doing this is by reducing the overall cost of the scheme by using a mix of new buildings and existing ones."