This website is edited by Steve Galloway who represented the Westfield area on the City of York Council between 1973 and 2011.

It provides information and commentary about what is happening in York with a focus on the Westfield Ward

The Planning committee is being recommended today to approve the erection of a new garage and showroom for Audi cars in York.

Audi York comprises a single storey profile steel clad unit dating to the 1980s lying in close proximity to a number of other car dealerships at the eastern edge of the Clifton Moor Business Park.

Planning permission is being sought for the redevelopment of the site to provide expanded sales and office space and to facilitate the relocation of servicing and maintenance functions to the adjacent former DHL site.

Planning permission has already been granted for the relocation of the service functions.

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.

A couple of years ago now extensive improvements were made to cycling facilities on Crichton Avenue. Initially an unsegregated area of bitmac was provided on the approaches to the railway bridge. This left cyclists and pedestrians to work out who would use which bit of path.

At the time, the Council felt that this was potentially hazardous and decided – following a trial of a shorter length of shared path at Monk Bridge – that “hoof prints” and cycle logos should be painted on the path. Cyclists then knew which section of path to use.

A recent survey has found that over 90% of users now favour what has been labelled as “pseudo segregation”. It is likely to be introduced on similar parts of the cycle network elsewhere.

It isn’t just salt bins and security patrols that could be hit by Labour’s 90% cut to Ward committee budgets.

Questions are now being raised about the continuing payment of network charges for local CCTV cameras. Cameras like the one in Bramham Road provide a valuable safeguard for local residents.

So far there is no indication whether Labour have budgeted for them to continue.

York City have today beaten Luton Town 2-1 at Wembley to book a return to the Football league.

The result ends one of the most successful weeks in the Clubs history.

Our congratulations to all concerned.

York libraries have launched their “Big City Read” today.

You can download a copy of their brochure here http://t.co/lLc1TMtQ

click to enlarge

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 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.