Residents in Rawcliffe and Clifton Wards could shortly have a knock on the door as Council staff seek to persuade them to change the way that they travel around the City

From May, travel advisers will be on hand to provide” tailored travel advice”

The advisers will provide information such as bus and cycle maps, and offer personal ‘challenges’ for individuals to try out a new form of sustainable transport.

Participants will also receive incentives such as a pedometer, free bus taster ticket or a bike health check to help them on their way.

Households will receive an introductory postcard in the next few weeks about the advisers identities, uniforms and what the free service involves.

The exercise will roll-out to other wards including Huntington, Haxby, Earswick and New Earswick in 2014.

The project sounds a little patronising to us and, as is now usual with the Council, it is unclear how the success of the venture will be judged.

The coalition government has allocated £4.6 million to ease transport problems in the City

For more information visit www.itravelyork.info/

City of York Council will be carrying out essential carriageway resurfacing works on Greengales Lane, Wheldrake and Corban Lane, Skelton throughout the week of 29 April.

City of York Council will be carrying out essential carriageway resurfacing works on Greengales Lane, Wheldrake and Corban Lane, Skelton throughout the week of 29 April.

The works will both start on Monday 29 April and will last approximately a week, with work taking place between the hours of 8am-5pm Monday-Friday.

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Reducing the volume of traffic on the Lendal bridge/St Leonards Place route is a commendable objective.

The Council’s proposal to ban cars from the route (between 10:30am and 5:00pm) is badly timed and ill considered.

Lendal bridge – always been busy at 5;00pm

The report reveals that there will be an increase in the number of vehicles using other bridges
A1237 22%
Clifton 8%
Ouse 17%
Skeldergate 14%
A64 5%

Although the traffic management model, which cost the Council tens of thousands of pounds to purchase, could provide the information, the report singularly fails to indicate the additional delays that there will be on these routes.

Nor does it tabulate the additional emissions which will be generated by longer journey lengths. Several of the alternative routes already have air quality problems.

Both have an economic consequence.

The start date is several months before capacity improvements on the A1237 (and obvious alternative route) are completed. The A59 junction bottleneck won’t get its enlarged roundabout until Spring 2014 (at the earliest).

So what’s the hurry?

The idea of restricting access to York City centre bridges is not new.

Some 25 years ago the bridge was closed to traffic to allow essential maintenance work to be completed. Grid lock did not result and the environment for pedestrians was improved.

But the traffic did not magically disappear. Drivers from west York were left with a long detour to reach the York hospital. Residents living in places like Haxby and Huntington faced equally long detours to reach the railway station.

Some did choose other modes of transport. There was a modest increase in bus usage and those cycling. But others simply put off journeys, selected out of City centre shopping options or cancelled leisure trips altogether.

Lendal bridge without traffic

Fast forward to 2003 when a debate about reducing traffic on the same corridor was initiated. There was huge opposition with (ironically) Labour Councillors claiming that any restrictions would being traffic chaos to the Bootham/Kingsway West/Crichton Avenue area.

It was agreed then that any major change would have to await improvements to the A1237.

The Council plans to use number plate recognition technology to enforce the ban, They hope eventually to extend the hours to 7:00am – 7:00pm

The world has moved on over the last 20 years.

Traffic levels are already much higher than they were when Lendal Bridge was last closed.

Congestion levels on some alternative access routes such as Gillygate are already high. There are no options to provide bus priority measures on some arterial links. Public transport in the evening rush hour will suffer.

So what should the Council do.

1. Consult with residents and businesses before implementing any changes

5. Coincide the start of any trial with the introduction of the new A59 park and ride site (and congestion reducing measures on the A1237)

Some residents have started a petition opposing the closure plan.

Proposed St Leonards layout click to enlarge

Bootham Bar propsals – click to enlarge

Labour Councillors will meet on Tuesday 7th May to discuss a proposal to build 11 flats on the garage area at Chaloners Road.

The Council will need to apply for planning permission (to themselves!) for the proposals. If granted, then work on site could start in June 2014 with completion in June 2015

Chaloners Road garages

There are similar proposals for Newbury Avenue (9 flats) and Hewley Avenue (6 flats).

Other homes will be built at sites at Fenwick Street(9 flats), the former recycling depot at Beckfield Lane (27 houses and flats) and York Road, Haxby (4 houses).

In total between 60 and 70 Council homes will be constructed.

Ironically none of the sites were identified for housing in the Local Plan published by the Council only 10 days ago!!

With secure parking space at a premium in the area, the Council have yet to indicate where they think that the displaced vehicles will go.

We understand that the Council has only written to the residents who currently rent the garages in the last few days.

No consultation with the local community or residents association was undertaken by the Council.

All in all a pretty shabby way of treating a local community in our view.

A quicker way of providing more homes to rent quickly, would have been for the Council to purchase empty property on the open market. Alternatively they could have done a deal with one of the house builders who already have planning permission to build homes at places like the Terry’s, Nestle South, Germany Beck and the old Sugar Works on Boroughbridge Road. Such an approach would have the advantage of “kick starting” housing developments that are effectively “stalled”.

The report to the “Cabinet” can be read by clicking here.

Site plan click here

Residents can submit by Email comments on any agenda item. Residents can also register to speak at the meeting (but must do so in advance)

Representations can also be made via local ward Councillors.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Nigel Ayre is calling for answers over proposals to construct wind turbines across York.

Some of the turbines are set to be constructed on land to the west of Woodthorpe, Westfield and Acomb

Wind farm sites click to enlarge

Details of the scheme have emerged as part of Labour run City of York Council’s Local Plan. The proposals, which were announced earlier this month, would also see 22,000 new houses built in York over the next 15 years.

After questions from Lib Dem Councillors, it can now be revealed that locations across York have been earmarked as potential sites for ‘Renewable Electricity Generation’.

An area outside the outer ring-road, has been highlighted as being potentially suitable for commercial wind development with council maps plotting large (2.5MW) and medium (1.5MW) scale wind turbines in the area.

Large turbines are typically 75 to 100 metres tall.

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Two 15-year-old boys have been arrested in connection with an attempted robbery at a convenience store in York.

The incident happened at the Premier Stop Gap on Beckfield Lane at about 7.05pm on Thursday 25 April 2013.

Two youths wearing face coverings entered the shop and demanded cash from staff members

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Commuting balance click to enlarge

The York Council has used outdated statistics to support their proposed Local Plan.

A key feature of the plan to grow jobs by 1000 a year and house numbers by 22,000 are the assumptions being made about commuting.

For these the Council is relying on the output from the 2001 census.

For many years there have been more people commuting into York to work than going the other way.

Local plan on commuting click to enlarge

Most come from the East Riding and Selby areas.

Around 2900 commute into York from Leeds and the West Riding while 5800 commute the other way.

It seems likely that this will continue as people match their specialist skills to the location of suitable employment.

It is fanciful to suggest that most York commuters will find suitable local jobs even in an expanding economy.

Some inward commuters may chose to move into the City but families with 2 or more people in employment will not find that an easy or cheap option.

What is surprising is that the Council should see the provision of a 5000+ new town at Holme Hill (dubbed New Alexandria) in the southern part of the green belt as a solution to housing problems.

This sector of the City has some of the worst traffic congestion in the county.

It is remote from the major employment development sites and there is no obvious – affordable – route into the City centre for a non road transport link.

The Local Plan acknowledges that congestion delays could DOUBLE by 2026.

Labours new Local Plan looks increasingly like a poorly thought through proposal.

York railway station is the 44th busiest in the country.

During 2011/12 it had 7.5 million passenger movements an increase of 6% on the previous year.

There were over 1 million interchanges at the station – higher than average.

By comparison Leeds station had 25 million movements a 2% growth on the previous year.

The data has been published by The Guardian.

The lists reveal Waterloo as the busiest station with 94 million movements. Kings Cross had 27.8 million.

Busiest station outside the capital is Birmingham New Street (31 million)

Musicians and dancers from across the globe will be celebrating diversity and faith at the first City of York International Festival of Faith and Culture on Saturday 27 April

From 11am-5pm at Parliament Street, a central stage will feature performances by Chinese instrumentalist Xicheng Li, York City Gospel Choir, Turkish music and dance, English folk bands and African drummers plus a puppet show and Arabic fashion show.

Among the activities will be face painting, storytelling, henna art and badge making too. In addition, information stalls run by groups representing different faiths, churches, communities and organisations will run alongside speakers from a range of faith groups and places of worship.

Changes to York’s Park & Ride concessionary bus pass fares will take effect this Sunday 28 April.

Anyone who is entitled to discounted travel on the York Park & Ride service will see an increase of 10p (from 60p to 70p) when boarding at any Park & Ride site.

The fares increase was agreed by Labour Councillors at February’s budget council meeting