York Minster's heritage craft skills training campus decision due

It takes a team of skilled heritage craftspeople and experts to repair, restore and conserve York Minster

Plans for a "world class" campus providing training in the ancient craft skills needed to help conserve York Minster could soon get the go-ahead.

The £5m scheme would see the Minster stoneyard and deanery transformed into a Centre of Excellence.

The Minster's governing body said it was concerned about a loss of skills among craftspeople, with several staff nearing retirement.

The plan is recommended for approval by City of York Council on Thursday.

The Minster said there was a national skills shortage in the heritage sector

York Minster is one of 10 English cathedrals which have their own stonemasonry department.

The proposed new centre would house and deliver training in modern techniques and processes to apprentices and students.

It would see existing buildings within the York Minster precinct being "sustainably reordered, repurposed and renewed" for the new workspace.

City of York Council planning documents described the facility as a place to "develop and nurture the specialist skills required to maintain the Minster and its precinct", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The centre would provide new facilities for craftspeople, including the Minster's stonemasons

It will also have residential accommodation for apprentices

The documents added that those skills and expertise could then be shared outside the precinct to the benefit of other institutions.

The buildings would feature a green roof, rainwater harvesting, solar panels and air source heat pumps.

Institutions from all over the world were keen to be part of the project, according to the documents, and the University of York saw it as the beginning of a new heritage sector in the city.

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, said in a letter of support that the project represented an "ambitious and unflinching commitment to sustainability".