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York plans green business centre

Posted: 08/12/2006

The drive toward eco-friendly working in York will soon see plans for a £2m business centre move a step closer to reality. The city is pioneering a shift towards a greener working life as York Council oversees new developments incorporating more environmentally-friendly construction methods and energy-saving technology.

Blueprints for an Eco Business Centre, which will include designs to protect the environment, are due to be given the go-ahead by the council next week. The business complex is also being seen as a vital development for the city's economy, as it will provide grassroots support for fledgling business ventures.

Young entrepreneurs will be able to use 32 workshops and 40 office units at the centre, which will feature a wind turbine to generate electricity, solar-heated water and a green roof garden. Rainwater will be collected to flush the toilets as well as watering the garden, and lights will be triggered by motion sensors to prevent energy being wasted when rooms are empty.

Council leader Coun Steve Galloway said: "The Eco Business Centre is an important development and is very much part of the move in York to an environmentally-friendly way of life. "It is expected to provide a sustainable way of working, while cutting down on green house gases and global warming. As a council, we are committed to encouraging this greener way of life in any way we can."

An energy review is under way at the council's other buildings and the city authority is also part of a Europe-wide campaign aimed at reducing energy and water usage in public premises. The York-based developers, the Helmsley Group, are behind the two-storey Eco Business Centre, which is earmarked for a site four miles east of the city centre at Amy Johnson Way on land supplied by the council.

Ian McAndrew, an associate director at the Helmsley Group, said: "This building will be at the leading edge of current technology for renewable energy sources and building techniques. "It is a fine example of the public and private sectors working together to deliver a sustainable building in keeping with the needs of the 21st century and tackling the issues that all developers and occupiers will need to be addressing in the near future."

Concerns have been raised about the transport infrastructure to the site, and the Clifton Moor Business Association says 40 planned parking spaces would need to be increased dramatically to accommodate more vehicles. York Council's planning officials have recommended councillors meeting on Thursday next week should approve the scheme.

Paul Jeeves / Yorkshire Post  
 

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