Liberal Democrats are making a fresh call for all Lendal Bridge fines to be repaid following the resignation of council leader James Alexander.
Lendal bridge – always been busy at 5;00pm
Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Keith Aspden will move a motion at next month’s Full Council meeting (11th December) calling for all fined motorists to be automatically refunded. He will be seeking support from other councillors to back the move in the coming days.
Cllr Aspden says the refunds need to be part of a wider rethink of council policies following the resignation of the Labour council leader yesterday.
Cllr Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat Group Leader in York, commented:
“Whoever leads the council between now and May it is clear that we need to see a wholesale change of policies including repaying all Lendal Bridge fines and halting plans to close Castlegate and Yearsley Pool.
“The Lendal Bridge trial was the most high profile failure of James Alexander’s term in office. Only by repaying all the fines can we start to repair the deep reputational damage the trial has done to York.
“The Government’s Traffic Adjudicator said that the council had “no power” to issue the fines in the way it did. The council is no longer challenging this decision and therefore there can be no justification for keeping any of the money collected.
“The case for paying back all the fines has been strengthened by the secret report unearthed by my colleague Cllr Andrew Waller. This showed that the trial was not a legitimate transport project managed by council officers. It was a shambles mismanaged by the Labour Cabinet Member in which innocent motorists were caught out.
“The fine money is sitting in reserves, the council has the names and addresses of those fined and therefore it should put in place a system to automatically repay them. Other councils such as Colchester who got themselves into similar problems have done this. York should now belatedly follow suit.”
In July Labour run City of York Council said they would repay the 50,000 motorists fined for crossing Lendal Bridge during the controversial trial. However, Labour said that only those who contact the council and apply will get their money back. Despite a ‘call-in’ by Lib Dem councillors the decision was pushed through and an online repayment process was put in place. The deadline for applications is currently the 31st December. In October it was revealed that only 10% of those fined had applied for a refund.
Cllr Aspden will move the following motion at York’s Full Council meeting on the 11th December:
Council Notes:
The (now uncontested) judgement of the Government Traffic Adjudicator, Stephen Knapp, that City of York Council had “no power” to issue PCNs (Penalty Charge Notices) under its Lendal Bridge trial.
The decision of the Labour Cabinet to only repay PCN fines to those who apply for a refund and to close applications on the 31st December.
Council Resolves:
To extend the 31st December deadline and instruct officers to put in place a system for automatically repaying all Lendal Bridge fines.
Opposition members hold a 26 to 21 majority at Full Council following Labour’s loss of majority control in October.