PLANS by York St John University to build a new arts centre have been given the green light by council chiefs.

The new arts, design and performance Creative Centre will be located at the campus in Lord Mayor’s Walk, and has been designed to include a 210-seat auditorium, modelled on New York City’s Lincoln Centre and situated to give the audience a view of York Minster.

City of York Council’s planning committee met on Thursday to discuss the development, which was unanimously approved, with the only concerns raised being over noise issues during building, working hours and access.

Rob Hickey, chief operating officer at the university, said the new development demonstrated a “commitment to investing in our campus, the city and the student experience” in York.

He said: “In addition to offering space for community use, it will provide innovative teaching space for specialist subjects like computer science and media production that are so important for our region’s economy.”

The planning committee called for set hours of work during the development to be made a condition of the planning approval, along with a restriction so developer vehicles would not be allowed to use Garden Street to access the site, a condition calling for the retention of a commemorative silver birch tree on the site, and more details on soundproofing at the site to cut down on excessive noise from performances once the development is complete.

Mr Hickey said the university expected to have 8,000 students by next year, with a rise in demand for courses in creative subjects also expected.

The new building will include 2,600sqm of new teaching space, along with the atrium, which will link the teaching areas with the auditorium and encourage students in different creative areas to work more closely.

A glass and timber roof has been included in the design, which developers said would increase natural daylight within the building, and the atrium would also act as an exhibition space, teaching space and theatre foyer to host lectures and performances.

The plans were designed by Tate Harmer following public consultation, which saw just one letter of objection.

Rory Harmer, partner at Tate Harmer, said: “We are delighted that our project with York St John University on the new creative centre has received planning permission. Our design seeks to create a healthy, innovative new building that will be more sociable and improve the quality of spaces for the campus community.”

The existing building on the site is set for demolition in June, with construction on the new creative centre expected to begin in November this year, and be complete by May 2021.