£3 million a year fines income forecast for Lendal and Coppergate drivers?

Lendal bridge notice

Questions tabled for the Council meeting on 10th October will finally reveal the scale of fine income that the Council is now getting from drivers who use Lendal Bridge and Coppergate during restricted hours.

Unconfirmed figures, leaked by the Council, suggest that over 1000 drivers a WEEK are still using Lendal Bridge during restricted hours.

If everyone who received a penalty notice paid £60 then it would add a whopping £3 million a year to Council coffers in addition to income from Coppergate.

A private briefing to journalists accepts the 1000 figure but says that many drivers will successfully appeal, while others will quickly stomp up the £30 discounted rate.

Questions on Lendal Bridge and Coppergate tabled for Council meeting on 10th October click to enlarge

Questions on Lendal Bridge and Coppergate tabled for Council meeting on 10th October click to enlarge

Officials admit that bus reliability has not changed much since the Lendal Bridge closure, while traffic congestion is also much as expected.

The briefing comes from the same team that has yet to answer questions tabled during a “twitter debate” in early September. They promised then to answer all submitted questions and add them to the Councils web site.

They have singularly failed to do so.

So embarrassed are Council Leaders, with the scale of the contraventions, that they are floating the idea of an amnesty for first offenders.

A kind of yellow card system!

But there will be nowhere to hide on 10th October.

Not only will the scale of the PR disaster become apparent, but the impact on City centre trade will be revealed.

A question to the Council Leader, from Liberal Democrat Group Leader Keith Aspden, asks for daily figures from the Councils City centre footfall cameras since the beginning of August.

The improving economic situation suggests that there should be a major increase compared to last year.

We will see

A list of all the questions submitted for the meeting can be seen here.
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Rubbish skips this weekend Saturday 5th October

Although the Council has cut back on the number of amenity skips it provides, several residents associations continue to run programmes aimed at making it easier for tenants to get rid of unwanted items.

The skips are only in place for a few minutes and residents must ensure that they put any rubbish into the skips and do not leave it on the path or highway.

1 Alcuin Ave 08:30 09:30
2 Tang Hall lane 10:30 11:30
3 Fifth Ave 12:30 13:30

York to get more electric buses

Coalition government awards Councils £2.4m for new green buses

York will get seven new green buses and a pilot scheme to convert a diesel bus to electric propulsion.

Norman Baker MP

Norman Baker MP

Councils across England are gearing up to roll out a fleet of new low carbon buses and retrofit some of their existing models, after the government handed out fresh funding to reduce air pollution.

Liberal Democrat Transport Minister Norman Baker yesterday awarded £2.4m funding to help eight towns, cities, districts and counties improve their bus fleets, including York

York will receive funding for seven green buses and a trial to convert a diesel bus to electric.

Commenting on the fresh funding, Baker said cleaner and more efficient buses benefited both the economy and environment.

“This money will improve air quality in towns and cities across England and cut carbon, which is good for all of us wherever we live,” he said in a statement.

“Schemes like these are a cost-effective way of landing real benefits for the public and the environment.”

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