New £3.8m visitor centre for Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Plans to create a new £3.8m visitor centre at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) have been approved.

The centre, which will be open from 10am until 5pm every day, will include a gallery and exhibition space, reception area, a cafe and a small shop.

Peter Murray, the YSP’s chief executive said: “The centre will provide a platform to sustain and increase visitor numbers over the next decade, offering exciting new artistic experiences for the public to enjoy, whilst boosting our commercial income, providing sustainability in the long term as reductions in public funding continue to take effect.”

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It will sit at the Bretton Country Park entrance to the site, off Huddersfield Road, next to the existing car park.

An existing kiosk outbuilding will also be renovated and the car park upgraded under the plans.

Members of Wakefield Council’s Planning and Highways Committee approved the plans yesterday, despite nine objections lodged by members of the public.

One, by Dr David Biltcliffe said: “YSP have not made out a compelling case for the need for such a building at this location in the Green Belt. On the contrary, the building is largely a commercial venture that would intrude into much-appreciated, historic landscape.”

The secretary of state will now decide whether or not to call-in the application and hold a public inquiry.