Beverley Park and Ride: Mystery bidder makes offer to buy major park and ride site in Yorkshire

A prime piece of development land off Minster Way in Beverley is now under offer, marking a significant step forward in the future of the prominent site.

The plot, which extends to approximately 3.57 hectares (8.82 acres), has long been designated as part of the council’s strategy for expanding Beverley towards the southern edge of the town.

Under original ideas at the planning stage, the land was intended to be laid out as a 500-space park and ride facility. East Riding Council hoped it would help residents in the nearby new housing estate travel more sustainably, planners believed it would bolster local infrastructure and the idea might have eased urban traffic congestion in one of East Yorkshire’s busiest locations.

But now plans for the park and ride idea have been formally withdrawn, and the land is under offer. But mystery surrounds the buyer for the large plot.

Plans for a Beverley park and ride were first suggested around 20 years ago. Under the original plans, the housebuilder of a nearby estate was required to foot the bill for construction – estimated at £2.5mllion in 2021.

Once completed, the facility would have been formally transferred to East Riding Council to operate, requiring the local authority to fund running costs alongside purchasing three dedicated buses at an estimated cost of at least £180,000 each.

However, a strategic report revealed the facility would have cost taxpayers between £350,000 and £450,000 each year to subsidise.

The report, which was published five years ago, identified post-pandemic shifts such as increased working from home and sufficient existing parking near the town centre as reasons not to develop the idea.

With private bus operators showing no commercial appetite to run the bus service, East Riding Council’s cabinet voted in March 2024 to ditch the development of the park and ride, determining it offered poor value for public money for taxpayers.

This strategic shift has now been finalised, with East Riding Council now formally withdrawing its longstanding plans for the park and ride land, drawing a definitive close to the long-debated transport hub.

And the land is now officially under offer, with local interest surrounding who is purchasing the prime site. An East Riding Council spokesperson said it was not possible to comment or speculate on who had made an offer, but confirmed: “Any new development would have to go through the usual planning processes.”

Some residents left feeling isolated

Responding to the withdrawal of the park and ride plans, Coun Denis Healy said it was a shame the development never went ahead, as it was intended to benefit both visitors to Beverley and local residents.

He said: “I always supported the park and ride development. In fact, it was planned for about 15 years. One of the issues is that when we built new homes in Beverley, we told prospective homeowners that the park and ride would be built and it would be an interlink – it was meant to be a hub for getting in and out of the town.”

But now that it is not being built, people who live on nearby housing estates feel ‘isolated’.

“They were also promised a footbridge across the railway, and they are feeling a bit let down by the condition of the estate too. So, I think it was the wrong decision to cancel the development.

"At the end of the day, developers have been let off the hook scot-free to build the houses without building the park and ride.”

The formal withdrawal of the planning application clears the path for alternative uses to be brought forward on the substantial site, off Minster Way. Planning guidance issued by the local authority suggests a variety of potential future uses for the site, including healthcare, education, or affordable housing.

The site is marketed by Harrogate-based Titchmarsh and Co, with the advert for the land stating: ” Proposals for market housing would need to be strongly justified as a departure from planning policy but has not been precluded.”

The advert describes the land as: “consisting of generally flat scrubland, an existing tree belt and self-seeded shrubbery, and partly occupied in the northern section by a site compound delivering new build housing on land to the north. Located adjacent to new build housing immediately to the north (currently under construction), the land is bound by a railway to its west, and Minster Way (A164) to its east and south.”

A Lidl and Costa Coffee have already been built towards the eastern end of Minster Way. Any prospective buyer or developer hoping to build on the land will remain bound by strict regulatory frameworks and the standard planning process.