|TOP|The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, is planning to eventually move his family into Bishopthorpe’s Palace while also looking at the possibility of opening up the residence to young people.

The plans were lodged in York Council during his weeklong vigil for peace and are now awaiting approval.

The 13th century building is currently in a state of disrepair after 30 years of neglect.

Dr Sentamu’s further ideas of opening the palace up to homeless people were rejected by the Church Commissioners. Arun Arora, the Archbishop’s Communications Officer, said: “The plans are at an early stage, but it is something which the Archbishop is strongly considering. He wants the Church of England to be accessible to as many people as possible.”

While Dr Sentamu was Archbishop of Birmingham he regularly opened his home to the youth in an event termed ‘Bish Bash’, and there is speculation he intends to do the same with Bishopthorpe.

|AD|Dr Sentamu once turned up to a Bradford Diocese youth conference wearing a ‘hoodie.’

“Young people need to be actively included in the church” said Arun Arora speaking for the Archbishop, “the youth are not just the generation of tomorrow but also of today.”

The work, which will take two years to complete, is necessary to make the building DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliant and more operational for the diocese’s purposes.

Last month, Dr Sentamu shaved his head and spent seven days fasting and camping inside his cathedral to show solidarity with people caught up in the conflict in the Middle East where a fragile ceasefire came into effect during his vigil.