Big rail investment planned for York

Application site

Planning permission is being sought for Network Rail facilities on a site near the Railway Station (see left) opposite Railway Terrace.

The Rail Operations Centre (ROC) will eventually replace the existing signalling centre at York (which is to the northeast of the application site), and would become the operating centre for the East Coast mainline between London and Scotland and would incorporate a training centre which would include a welding centre and external track facilities.

The training centre would replace existing facilities in the city and consolidate facilities in the region. The proposed building is T-shaped with the 3-storey (though with plant room on the roof) ROC and 2-storey workforce development buildings running parallel to the York to London line, linked by a hub (arrival point, cafe etc) to the single storey welding centre building which would travel northwest towards the Cinder Lane footbridge. The track would be to the southeast of the site (parallel with the line which runs to Skelton) and car parking spaces on the northern side of the buildings. A direct footpath from the train station will also be provided into the site.

The application is recommended by officials for approval – with conditions – and will be considered by the local planning committee on Wednesday. More details can be found on the Councils web site.

York cycle route plans

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The Council have released details of the next set of improvements that they hope to make to the cycle route network in York.

124 potential improvements have been listed in priority order.

The top 10 are:
1. Link from the top of Station Road to Queen Street along the side of the new Council HQ and on via the station car park to Lowther Street
2. Jockey Lane – filling the missing section of off-road path near Portakabin/The Range
3. Holgate Road – a off road link (where possible) from the Iron Bridge to Acomb Road
4. Monkgate – provision of inbound and outbound cycle lanes.
5. Navigation Road to Fishergate Bar – Improvements along Navigation Road, across Walmgate and along Hope Street and linking to new the Hungate bridge
6. Bishopthorpe Road – Link from Green Lane south to slightly beyond the crematorium
7. A1237 – widened and improved facilities across the Ouse and railway line
8. Link from Nunnery Lane end of Scarcroft Lane to Victoria Bar
9. Hull Road/Thief Lane route
10. Micklegate/Bridge Street/Nessgate/Coppergate/Pavement/Stonebow/Peasholme Green route

Further consultation on the programme is promised by the Council.

Haymarket car park closure – £186,000 a year in jeopardy

Haymarket car park closed

Complaints are surfacing about the Council’s decision to – oh so quietly – close the Haymarket car park. It appears that they fear a reaction like that which greeted their attempts to sell off the Union Terrace car park.

Lack of publicity – and direction signage to alternatives – represents poor public relations by the Council.

While Haymarket was scheduled to be sold as part of the aborted new Council HQ project, it would make little sense to sell it at this point in the economic cycle. Together with the adjacent former ambulance station site, the Council should be looking for a receipt in excess of £4 million. That seems unlikely in the present troubled times, although residential property on the nearby Hungate development continues to sell steadily.

The archaeologists have rightly been given access to the Haymarket site for the last 2 years and recently benefitted from another £100k grant which will allow them to finish their work. But that is no excuse for not allowing parking either on Haymarket or on the Ambulance station site (which was levelled about 18 months ago) or a combination of both.

Council taxpayers will be watching the situation closely as the car park generates about £186,000 a year in income. Most of that income is now likely to be diverted to the nearby – privately owned and operated – Garden Place multi storey car park.

Not too far away, is the Kent Street car park which was also sold to the private sector. The new owners have invested heavily in security measures which now make it a 24/7 car park with pay on exit facilities. All day parking is advertised for less than £9 with further discounts available for regularly users.

The discounts don’t, however, yet match the Councils annual £497.50 per year or £52.50 per month, park anytime, season ticket which is still available for the owners of low emission vehicles in the City. http://tinyurl.com/park-cheap.

York Community Stadium – further details

Members of the planning committee will be considering the proposed conditions and Section 106 legal obligations, recommended by officers, at the planning committee meeting which is taking place on Wednesday 23 May 2012.

In addition, the committee will consider a related application for drainage, landscaping and ecology works mainly comprising new ponds and channels totalling approximately 4,500sqm, together with a mosaic of wet and dry grassland and native planting. Two viewing platforms would be erected for public access.

Wild life reserve

The application has been prompted by the planning application for the community stadium and retail development scheme on the Vangarde (John Lewis/Marks & Spencer) site and at the existing Huntington Stadium.

Officers report, “the development would affect existing amphibian populations within the Vangarde site. In order for the development scheme to be implemented, the impact on amphibians would have to be mitigated.The proposal is for the amphibians to be relocated to an alternative, better, location between Malton Road and the Park and Ride site at Monks Cross. Planning permission for the creation of an amphibian conservation area was granted in August 2011. The landscaping and drainage works for which consent is now being sought include a wildlife corridor between the Vangarde site and the amphibian conservation area. The proposals would provide an informal recreation and education space within the community”.

The decision to approve the stadium planning application means that work on the detailed planning application for a new county standard athletics track, to be built at the sports village at York University’s Heslington East Campus, can also progress. (more…)

Cycle theft campaign stepped up at York High School

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York High school students are being asked to have their bikes tagged as part of a campaign to reduce cycle theft in the City (see right),

The safer York Partnership have issued a statement in support of the campaign, “York is a cycling city, and has a far higher level of cycle usage than in the majority of UK cities. Cycling is good for the city in terms of the environment and the health of our residents. However, a proliferation of bikes can mean rich pickings for any would-be thieves.

Unfortunately over 1000 bikes are stolen each year in York. A significant proportion of these have been left insecure – bikes that haven’t been locked at all, locked inadequately, ‘secured’ with a poor quality lock or locked to themselves or an insecure object.

It is fair to say that in the above cases cyclists make it easy for a thief to walk off with their bike. Cycle theft statistics could be radically improved if people took more care over the security of their bikes. (more…)

Adult Education Awards

Adult learners have been praised for their commitment and achievements in York this week, at the first Adult Education Awards ceremony to be held in the city for almost 10-years.

The awards ceremony ties in with the national Adult Learners’ Week (12 -18 May) and saw almost 100 people from across the city celebrate their success throughout the year. (more…)

20 mph speed limit for York – the unanswered questions

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The report on proposed City wide 20 mph speed limit has now been published. It can be found here. http://tinyurl.com/York-20-mph

Residents wishing to submit written representations – or who wish to register to speak at the meeting – only have until 12:00 noon on Monday 21 May to do so (Email – laura.bootland@york.gov.uk).

The report confirms an intention to implement a 20 mph speed limit across western York over the next year. Some major roads including Wetherby Road and Tadcaster Road might be excluded from the restriction. Local streets which form the majority of the residential road network will be included in the roll out. All other classifications, A, B and minor roads, which form the more strategic or through routes will generally be excluded.

20 mph signs would be erected at the entrance to each street with repeater signs every 300 metres. The costs of the scheme are put at £500,000 with an extra £100,000 allocated for more traffic calming.
The Council intend to recruit a “20 mph project manager” (more…)