York residents consultation overload?

York-street-sign-great-britain-798670_305_200

After 2 years with virtually no consultation with residents, York is heading towards an overdose this month.

The latest is asking about how the City centre should look and be preserved.

Other consultations taking place at present include:

20 mph city wide speed limit. Deadline for receipt of objections 21st June 2013 www.york20mph.org Alternative view

Local Plan & the Green Belt — Deadline 31st July. www.york.gov.uk/local plan Alternative view

New ward boundaries (Boundary Commission). Deadline 5th August http://tinyurl.com/Wards-June-2013 Alternative view:

The new consultation talks about the importance of having a “fully accessible” City. The consultation runs for eight-weeks until Wednesday 31 July.

“The draft Streetscape Strategy and Guidance document (June 2013) reviews York’s street and space character and proposes new guidance to enhance and manage the city including de-cluttering, public seating, street performers, pavement obstacles such as A-boards and surface materials”.

The draft strategy is claimed to “increase footfall in the city centre, improve the overall quality of life for residents, increase the sense of York as a special place and maintain York as a top tourist destination”.

The consultation is strangely timed as the Council has already decided to close Lendal Bridge to private vehicles from August without any consultation with residents.

Sir Ron Cooke, Chair of Reinvigorate York, said: “York’s most valuable asset is its outstanding, internationally important heritage. The quality of the streetscape in the city centre is an essential ingredient of this resource. The city centre attracts over 7 million visitors a year, multitudes of local and distant shoppers, and over a quarter of the working population uses it daily. It is one of the main ways the city attracts entrepreneurs, investors, employees and students. Its future vitality depends substantially on how it is used, cherished and maintained.”

The key aims of the five part strategy are to:

• provide an historical overview of York’s streets and spaces

• define seven strategic principles

• look at setting priorities based on an analysis of pedestrian movement such as the city centre footstreets and suburban shopping streets

• provide guidance on street furniture, surfacing, signs and transport

• ensure where repairs are carried out as part of the council’s wider repair and maintenance programme that there is no conflict with the principles and guidance

• that contractors and others implement their work to standards set by the council through agreed approaches.

York was praised by the Government for taking action to reduce unnecessary traffic signs in the city earlier this year.

In January, the Secretary of State of Transport, The Rt. Hon. Patrick McLoughlin, wrote to all traffic authorities and cited York as a good example of an authority which was already taking action to reduce sign clutter.

To take part in the consultation please visit www.york.gov.uk/streetscapestrategy

Email community.planning@york.gov.uk or call 01904 551329.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *