The York Council has announced that it is to employ consultants to recommend a new design for “signposts” in York.
The Council has refused to reveal how much the design work will cost or , indeed, how much changing all York’s signposts would cost.
The Council has been increasingly criticised for neglecting sub-urban shopping and residential areas while ploughing millions into cosmetic improvements to a limited number of city centre streets.
It also faces a potential financial crisis in the wake of the Lendal Bridge/Coppergate affair with many commentators expecting that that Council will be forced to repay the £2 million in fines that it unlawfully imposed..
The Council’s media release says,
An award-winning consultancy which has worked on a number of nationally acclaimed projects for Derby, Oxford and Cambridge has been appointed to undertake a study into the future-look of York’s signposts.
Through City of York Council’s Reinvigorate York initiative, the specialist ‘wayfinding’ consultants Placemarque have been commissioned to examine signposting in and around York’s city centre and ways in which better signing can be achieved for places like bus stops, Newgate Market, taxi ranks and civic buildings.
Renowned for working with historic cities, Placemarque will undertake a study this month to consider what works and doesn’t work in our current signing systems, including the main arrival points, the Park&Ride sites and the Rail Station.
Following this review, which will also involve input from key partners including York Minster, York Civic Trust, Visit York, York Archaeological Trust, York Museums Trust and York’s City Team, Placemarque will design prototype signs and maps which will then go out to consultation.
The findings from the review will be bought together in a report and will be open to public consultation and engagement in several stages over June and July 2014.
For more information about the review please visit www.york.gov.uk/reinvigorateyork