Existing restrictions on The Grove

Requested restrictions on The Grove. Click to enlarge

Cllr Ann Reid is backing residents living in The Grove who are experiencing problems with indiscriminate parking by drivers mainly associated with the nearby York College campus.

Although Tadcaster Road has – because of the park and ride site – one of the most frequent bus services in the region, a small minority of staff and students still chose to drive as close to the College as possible. The practice not only adds to congestion, but contributes to increased levels of litter and noise in the residential area.

Now Ann Reid has written to officials urging them to agree to the additional parking restrictions requested by residents.

In her Email she says,
“The residents in The Grove have been asking for parking restrictions since at least 2007 and although we did put some in they still feel aggrieved at the amount of disruption that they experience.
From observation I would say that when cars are parked in all the remaining spaces it can cause a problem. Because of the rise in the road, if you at the bottom, you cannot see if any cars are coming down.
Although I supported the Councils position in the past this complaint will not go away. I would support the residents in their request for more restrictions and specifically those that they have suggested”.

Details of the requested restriction are shown right.

It is likely that a decision will be made on the request within the next month although the meeting will probably be held behind closed doors.

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 4 April and Tuesday 10 April 2012.

•A64 Malton by-pass Malton east and west-bound
•A64 Seamer by-pass Scarborough
•A64 Seamer Road, Scarborough
•A64 between Whitwell Hill and Barton Hill
•A64 between Barton-le-Willows and Jinnah
•A1039, Filey Road at Flixton
•B1427 Queen Margaret’s Road, Scarborough
•B1249 at Staxton Wold near Staxton, Scarborough
•A165 Reighton by-pass between Sands Road and Hunmanby Road
•Stoney Haggs Road, Scarborough south-bound towards Seamer
•B1249 Foxholes to County Boundary
•A64 east-bound carriageway Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A64 west-bound carriageway, Bowbridge Farm, Tadcaster
•Millfield Lane, Poppleton, York
•Beckfield Lane, York
•Green Lane, Acomb, York
•Ryecroft Avenue, Acomb, York
•Temple Lane, Copmanthorpe, York
•A1036 Tadcaster Road, York
•A1237 Monks Cross, York
•Strensall Road, Huntington, York
•York Road, Haxby, York

The mobile safety cameras will be in operation at the above sites at various times during the dates stated. Cameras will not be in use on the above routes all day, every day

The momentum generated in December 2010 by the launch of a trial low emission bus service in York, has disappeared following an admission at the last Council meeting from the York Councillor – with responsibility for the bus service – that he doesn’t know when similar vehicles will run regularly in the City.
The problem can be traced to deteriorating relations over the last year between the Council and bus operators.

Already we have seen the ftr withdrawn from the City and with lead-in times on new low emission vehicles at over 12 months, there seems little chance of seeing an eco bus fleet on the York streets much before 2015. Other City’s are working in partnership with bus operators and are already securing slots in the manufacturing pipeline.

It is ironic that the setback comes at a time when the Council is saying that it wants to reduce pollution levels in the City centre. It agreed a strategy for doing so at a meeting yesterday. However, it will have little impact unless new technologies are harnessed.

Labour are saddled with a public transport policy which relies on the franchising of bus services across the City. This is an expensive and time consuming option which could come to nothing if affordable tenders are not provided by bus companies.

In the meantime partnership working is breaking down with investment leaving the City and heading for the easier trading conditions which can be found in West Yorkshire.

At tonight’s “cabinet” meeting the Council’s Leadership confirmed their plan to close the Beckfield Lane recycling centre on 16th April.

8 speakers attended the meeting to ask for the centre to stay open but none of the Labour Councillors present were prepared even to discuss the option.

So the scene is now set for a special Council meeting to take place at which a final decision will be made.

The meeting also decided to remove the cycle lane from the Clifton Green Junction. The decision will mean around £20,000 more being spent on remodelling a junction to introduce a layout markedly more likely to increase the number of accidents, according to professional advisers

We’ll provide an update on this page as things develop over the next 24 hours.
However, the information provided is so transparently an exaggeration, we anticipate many more meetings before this affair is laid to rest.
http://www.libdemyork.co.uk

From 2 April the fight against metal theft will be taken to a new level as Operation Tornado is launched across the Yorkshire and Humber Region in a bid to restrict the movement of stolen metal.

The launch signals a warning to criminals that there is no market for stolen metals in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Already successfully trialled in the North East region earlier this year, Operation Tornado is being implemented by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Home Office, British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA), British Transport Police (BTP) North Yorkshire Police, South Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Police and Humberside Police.

Acting Chief Inspector Sarah-Jane Sanderson, of North Yorkshire Police, said:
“As from 2 April, anyone who wants to sell metal to participating dealers in North Yorkshire will now be required to provide proof of their identity by producing either a photo driving licence, passport or national identity card – which must show an address – supported by a utility bill under three months old which also shows their address.

She added: “This is another tool which will help the police stem the tide of metal theft by cutting off criminals’ cash-flow. We have watched the North East pilot with interest and are extremely pleased that we are able to adopt the initiative for North Yorkshire and the City of York.

“The aim is to encourage the estimated 50 to 60 registered scrap metal dealers across North Yorkshire to sign up to the scheme to help fight the trade in stolen metal, making it more difficult for thieves to make money as we will have removed all their avenues to sell metal on.”

The Orbital Route is a circular strategic cycle route around the city delivered by City of York Council in response to feedback from York residents wanting quiet mainly off-road routes between the inner and outer ring road. The Orbital Cycle Route is designed to allow users to ‘hop on’ and then ‘hop off’ to destinations around the city. Destinations are signposted by the already familiar blue signs as well as numbered way markers (ranging from 1 to 26) that can also be seen on the popular cycle route map. With the previous Cycling City York and current i Travel York programmes, a number of infrastructure improvements have been made to plug gaps in the existing cycle route network. This will help to ensure that those making journeys by bicycle can travel all the way around York quickly, easily and more safely.

The Orbital Cycle Route, which is depicted on the York Cycle Route Map, begins and ends at Millennium Bridge and features 26 distinctive, numbered metal ‘way-markers’, which highlight the route at key points around the city. From there, the route heads west through South Bank and skirts around The Knavesmire before crossing Hob Moor. It then continues north along quiet residential streets in Acomb before crossing the River Ouse at Clifton Bridge.

From Clifton Green, the route proceeds up Water Lane and Kingsway North, taking advantage of a newly-built off-road cycle path, before heading onto Crichton Avenue, where major improvements were carried out during 2010. It then joins up with the off-road Sustrans cycle track, known as the Foss Islands Route, and continues onto James Street before reaching the junction with Lawrence Street, where major improvements to the signals and cycle crossings have recently taken place. The route then returns to Millennium Bridge from the east via quiet residential roads close to The Barbican and along the riverside cycle track at New Walk from the Blue Bridge.

For more information about cycling facilities and infrastructure in York, visit the Cycling City York website at: www.cyclingcity.york.org.uk, Later in the year there will be a new website replacing this as part of the i Travel York programme catering for all York’s travel needs and information.

Dig up your roots this Spring to find out more about your family tree.

Our learning activities are aimed at beginners and will show you how to access and use local and family history resources and archival materials to trace your ancestors.

Ancestry sessions for beginners

These sessions are aimed at absolute beginners of all ages who are looking to research their family tree.

The aim is to give learners the confidence to begin researching their family history using the Ancestry website, which is available free within York Libraries.
•Tang Hall: Monday 2 April, 10.30am – 11.30am
•Copmanthorpe: Monday 16 April, 9.15am – 10.15am
•Poppleton: Wednesday 9 May, 10.30am – 11.30am
•Haxby: Monday 21 May, 9.45am – 10.45am
•Huntington: Tuesday 12 June, 10.30am – 11.30am
•Bishopthorpe: Wednesday 20 June, 2.30pm – 3.30pm

Introduction to family history resources on the internet

This free session is suitable for anybody who has a basic knowledge of how to use computers, and wants to find out about free family history websites. The sessions will cover Ancestry and other websites for UK Birth, Marriage and Death Records and UK census records.
•York Explore: Saturday 26 May, 2.30pm – 4.30pm

Family history for beginners

This free workshop aims to cover the basics of how to start your family tree, and will introduce useful resources like Civil Registration records, census records and parish registers to get you started.
•York Explore: Thursday 20 April, 10am – 12 noon
•York Explore: Thursday 31 May, 2pm – 4pm
•York Explore: Thursday 28 June, 10am – 12 noon

For more information or to book onto any of the courses, please contact your local library staff.