Now it’s officially Lendal Bodge!

The Council have now said that they are no longer issuing fines to motorists misusing the access restrictions on both Lendal bridge and Coppergate.

As we predicated last week, the Council would have been unable to sustain any PCN notices following the decision of the Traffic Adjudicator that ANPR enforcement was unlawful.

Having maintainedCamera for nearly a week that they were “unable to say” whether the cameras had been switched off (as they should have been on Lendal bridge at the end of the trial period on 28th February), the Council has confirmed that no fine notices are being issued.

Apparently the cameras are still recording.

If the Council hopes to use this information, then legally they only have 28 days in which to issue the PCN – much less than the period likely to be necessaryd for them to progress an “appeal” against the Traffic Adjudicators ruling.

So big brother is watching and waiting

The Council statement reads

During the trial 95 per cent of drivers have adhered to the restrictions in place on Lendal bridge and the number of vehicles breaching the restriction had reached a peaked and started to decline. We’ve always said the trial was not to generate revenue, but to reduce traffic going over the bridge and through the city centre, as part of a long-term vision to create an even more attractive and thriving city centre for everyone.

As such, once the six month data collection had been completed, the council reviewed and reduced the levels of enforcement, at its discretion, during the restricted hours. Since this point, not every private vehicle breaching the restrictions has received a PCN. This is in line with similar schemes around the country.

“Following legal advice on the trial, restrictions will remain in place and recordings will be taken of any breaches of the restrictions along both Lendal Bridge and Coppergate.
Fines will not be issued upon these recordings until further legal process.
Drivers are urged to continue to adhere to the restrictions in place.”

Lawyers celebrate York Council Lendal Bridge decision

It looks like rich pickings are at hand for lawyers as the York Council has decided to continue issuing PCNs on Lendal bridge and Coppergate using ANPR evidence.
Agree to disagree

The latest twist to the pantomime comes as the Council announces that a legal opinion supports their stance.

Now we all know that you will always be able to find a lawyer who will argue the number of celestial beings that will fit onto a pin. That’s how some of them make a living.

But what is now clear is that the Council had privately already decided to make the traffic restrictions on Lendal Bridge permanent and they re now desperately trying to find a way of salvaging their unpopular policy.

The Labour leadership have completely forgotten that they are supposed to speak up for York residents not conduct a war against them.

Kersten England, Chief Executive of City of York Council, said: “Having received independent legal advice from a leading legal expert in this field we are confident we are operating both Lendal Bridge and Coppergate schemes within the law. “We also take assurances from Oxford, who contested with a similar appeal with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and successfully won.” The restrictions will remain in place on Lendal Bridge and Coppergate and drivers are urged to continue to adhere to these.

and as local Liberal Democrat leader Keith Aspden has pointed out this is all costing the City, its visitors and residents huge amounts of money.

“I am asking the Chief Executive to publish a full copy of the legal advice given to the council. We also need to know how much this legal advice is costing taxpayers.

“To continue with a policy which the Government’s Traffic Adjudicator has ruled is unlawful seems like a gamble, which is why residents need to see the advice the decision is based on.

“The closure has been a shambles from the beginning and Labour need to stop dithering and make a final decision on the future of Lendal Bridge.

“We think the enforcement cameras should be turned off immediately and Lendal Bridge reopened. Labour need to stop hiding behind council officers and actually say what they are going to do.”

York Council fines income from Lendal Bridge/Coppergate tops £2 million

Lendal bridge without traffic

Lendal bridge without traffic

The York Council has today published answers to questions raised at its last meeting.

In a response to Cllr Ann Reid, Cllr Merrett admits that the Council has banked over £2 million from PCNs issued to drivers.

The Council claims “only 2 appeals have been successfully contested” against the charge although it admits that many appeals had “not been contested by the Council.

The full response to the question posed can be read here.

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Lendal Bridge – camera use suspended?

Camera

Claims have been made that the use of the ANPR cameras, to enforce traffic restrictions on Lendal Bridge and Coppergate, has been suspended.

The Council would have had little choice but to do this as, if having received independent advice that their use was unlawful, the Council could have faced maladministration claims from any drivers who received PCNs.

The Council have refused to say whether PCNs have ben issued over the last 2 days using ANPR evidence.

The Council have, however, said that the traffic order has not been revoked and the signage is still visible. That means that a uniformed police officer could, in theory, try to enforce the restrictions.

The traffic adjudicator yesterday also highlighted other flaws in the Councils management of the restrictions, so any PCN would be likely to be rescinded on appeal.

The Council Leader has now belatedly decided to blame Council officials for the fiasco.

He has asked the Chief Executive to undertake an internal review the matter, describing the Councils actions as “not to a standard that I would expect”.

Given that the Chief Executive and Council Leader work hand in hand on a daily basis this particular piece of political camouflage is unlikely to fool anyone.

It is reminiscent of the comments made in Labour party Emails earlier in the year when they sought to distance themselves from the unpopular plans

An all party scrutiny committee should – meeting in public – undertake a proper review of what went wrong on a project that has seen the City being ridiculed across the whole country.

In the meantime the Lendal bridge trial should be suspended. The cameras in Coppergate should be switched off at least until they can be proven to be lawful. Enforcement of restrictions there should once again rest with the police.

Meanwhile the Lib Dem Leader says that the Council has “lost control of events”

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Lendal Bridge and Coppergate traffic restrictions – York Council acted unlawfully

Call for resignations at Council

Lendal Bridge signs

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for York’s Labour Council it has.

Reports are coming in that the governments independent adjudicator has ruled that fines issued using ANPR cameras on both Lendal Bridge and Coppergate are unenforceable.

The consequences for the Council which has raised around £1 million from fines levied in both locations are likely to be far reaching. Any driver who chooses to appeal against the fine is now likely to have the charge refunded.

In some cases the Adjudicator has the power to order the Council to pay the appellants costs.

In the main, the adjudicator has criticised the signage used to advertise both orders.

He also concludes that Lendal Bridge could not reasonably be regarded as a “bus lane” given the number of exemptions given by the Council.

We have said all along that the Council closed the wrong bridge, in the wrong year and using the wrong method of enforcement.

They compounded their mistakes by failing to consult properly and by relying on inadequate signage.

The Cabinet members with responsibility for the scheme should now resign.

The ANPR cameras should be switched off immediately.

A more measured approach to improving transport systems in York in the future is required.

The full test case adjudication result can be downloaded by clicking here

Labour vote to retain Lendal Bridge access restrictions

Labour Councillors have refused to debate reopening Lendal Bridge at tonight’s York Council meeting.

Lendal bridge noticeInstead they narrowly voted to refer any decision to the Labour Cabinet.

No discussion on the LibDem motion was allowed by the Lord Mayor, as filibustering tactics were used by Labour to prevent opposition Councillors from putting the case for the ANPR cameras to be switched off immediately.

It is now likely to be at least another 2 months before the issue is resolved, although suspicions are growing that Labour have already decided, privately, to make the access restrictions permanent.

Crunch York meeting on Lendal Bridge restrictions

York’s Lendal Bridge could be reopened* by the weekend if Liberal Democrat calls are supported at a crunch meeting on Thursday.

Labour run City of York Council’s controversial six month trial closure was due to end in February, but they have extended the restrictions until May as they are yet to make a decision on whether the bridge should stay closed.

Lendal bridge after its clsure

Figures released by the Council last week revealed that 53,000 motorists have now been fined for crossing Lendal Bridge, congestion in areas such as Foss Islands Road and Clifton Bridge has worsened, and most Park & Ride journey times in the city have increased.

Cllr Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Transport, will move a motion at Thursday’s Full Council meeting calling on the closure restrictions to be lifted. She commented:

“Our motion calls on Labour to stop dithering, lift the restrictions, and reopen Lendal Bridge. If they and other political groups back our calls on Thursday then there is no reason why the cameras can’t be switched off and signs removed by this weekend.

“The latest figures show that the trial is still hitting residents and local businesses with congestion worsening across York and bus times actually increasing. The evidence that this was a botched trial couldn’t be clearer.

“With 80% of fines going to visitors – we also know the ongoing reputational damage Labour’s closure is having on our city. York cannot afford another two months of this mess.”

The full motion which will be moved by the Lib Dems at Thursday’s Full Council (in York’s Guildhall at 6:30pm) reads:
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80% of fines from Lendal Bridge restrictions paid by visitors

A freedom of information response from the York Council has revealed that the vast majority of fines issued to drivers using Lendal Bridge are to vehicles registered outside the York area.

Lendal Bridge signs

Around 80% of the PCNs issued arrive on visitors doormats.

As hinted at by some correspondents on this web site, the Council has been unable to sustain the fines if appeals are lodged and then pursued as far as a tribunal.

11,578 (24%) of PCNs issued have attracted appeals

The Council says that 8087 (17%) of PCNs “have been cancelled following representations and for other reasons”.

The figures confirm that the signage used to indicate the restrictions on bridge access are hopelessly inadequate.

They will help to underpin the motion to next weeks York Council meeting from Cllr Ann Reid who will ask for the ANPR cameras to be switched off immediately.

The full motion reads:
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Lendal Bridge – more stats creep out

Lendal Bridge

Lendal Bridge

Following yesterdays Lendal Bridge story – in which we revealed that the York Council had failed to live up to its promise to publish monthly monitoring reports – the statistics for period 6 (February) have now appeared on their web site.

A total of 53,605 drivers had been fined for crossing Lendal Bridge during restricted hours by the end of February.

In addition 15,907 fines had been issued on Coppergate.

The full figures can be downloaded from here

Meanwhile other monitoring data can be found by clicking here.

Most Park and Ride journeys are taking longer with the number 2 service for Rawcliffe via Leeman Road the worst affected showing an increase in journey time of around 2 minutes.

Traffic volumes are up on Clifton Bridge, Foss Islands Road, Shipton Road and Malton Road.

Not surprisingly, Clifton Bridge is worst affected (+167 vehicle movements)