Children disappointed as “Make it York” bans Christmas rides

Members of the public ride a carousel adjacent to the 'St Nicholas Fair' Christmas market in the city centre of York, Northern England on December 3, 2014. AFP PHOTO / OLI SCARFF (Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images)The traditional children’s Carousel has not been provided in the City centre St Nicholas Fair this year.

Despite assurances from the organisers “Make it York“ (MIY) – who banned the long standing Warringtons ride  from St Sampson’s Square – that a ride would be provided on the “Eye of York”, no such alternative has emerged.

The QUANGO claimed that the Carousels space was needed for stalls shuffled along Parliament Street to accommodate an outdoor bar labeled a “TiPi”.

It appears that the organisers didn’t seriously pursue the plan to extend the Fair onto areas like Duncombe Place. This would have had the added advantage of reducing the congestion which can sometimes be evident on Parliament Street where space for shoppers is limited.

With the St. Nicholas Fair only a couple of days old (it runs until 23rd December) further concerns are emerging about the management of the event (which we understand has been sub-contracted by MIY)

  • Yesterday road closures planned for Church Street and St Sampson’s Place had not been signposted.
Tipi bar

Tipi bar

  • As expected evening ban on traffic in Davygate – where several food outlets are located – was not being enforced.
  • Reports are also emerging of a disturbance in the “TiPi” bringing into further doubt the wisdom of putting more alcohol on the city’s streets.

There will be some serious questions to answer about where the money raised by rents from stalls (understood to range from £4000 to £20,000 for the duration of the Fair) will actually end up.

It seems unlikely that the vapid oversight arrangements that the York Council – which wholly owns the MIY organisation – has introduced will successfully lift the veil of secrecy which seems to permanently surround the activities of this organisation.

 

 

 

York Central development – proposals announced

The long awaited report on the development of land behind the railway station has been published by the Council.

York Central Nov 2015

It proposes a major increase in the number of new homes to be provided on the site bringing the total to around 2000.  It is likely to be a high density development similar to that being constructed on Hungate.

The new proposals hark back to the numbers agreed in February 2011 which envisaged 1780 dwellings being built on the site together with around 90,000 Sq m of office space.

This plan was jettisoned by the last Labour administration who – as part of their “Big City” approach – chose to put new housing on green belt sites. They reduced the housing figure at York Central to only 410.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

The new policy recognises that central brownfield sites offer great advantages, with many facilities, and communication links, within walking distance of people’s homes.

The proposed use of part of the site for additional comparison shopping has been quietly abandoned.

One concern highlighted in the report is that planners think that only about 100 homes per year could be built.

This is an artificial and unnecessary constraint.

A growing economy means that mortgages are again becoming accessible and demand for property is increasing in York.

Building 1800 additional homes over the next 15/20 years is an achievable goal that the Council must go for.

Infrastructure problems remain for the site and the Council has been wise to elicit the support of the Homes and Communities Agency for its housing plans while also seeking Enterprise Zone status to support the growth of office based jobs.

Significantly, the Council has so far failed to seriously debate the actual amount of economic growth that the City could sustain over the next few decades without compromising its character (and transport systems).

It is this relatively high expectation of growth which fuels the demand for more housing most of which will be occupied by inward migration (a total of around 6000 homes are required to meet natural growth over the next 20 years).

The Council claims that high growth in relatively well paid office based jobs is needed to offset the low wages paid in the care, retail and tourism sectors. Growth in care – against the background of an aging population – is inevitable while the Council continues to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds promoting tourism.

Members of the Local Plan Working Group (LPWG) will be asked to consider and provide comments on work to-date at the meeting which takes place on Monday 30 November.

The group will give feedback on their thoughts and recommendations on the emerging plan policy, ahead of an Executive meeting on 15 December – to inform the overall approach to the development of York’s largest brownfield site.

Further detail of the developing project will be included in an upcoming Executive paper. The proposed policy “recognises the significant economic and regeneration benefits which could be achieved for York and the broader region“.

The LPWG will take place on Monday 30 November at West Offices from 5.30pm.

Click here to read the report