Local shopping streets like Foxwood Lane/Beagle Ridge Drive mostly continued trading through the lock-down. All but the hairdressers are open. No problems with parking today and a few shoppers around at lunchtime
Coop on Beagle Ride Drive has been popular throughout the lock-down period
Secondary shopping area
Acomb is York’s second largest shopping area. Its focal store (Morrisons) has remained open throughout the pandemic and has undertaken an increased number of home deliveries
Acomb Car park about 505 full at lunchtime todayMost shops in Acomb have reopened. Exceptions are hairdressers, a charity outlet and cafes (although outside/takeaway service available. A “nail bar” will open ins an empty unit shortly
Specialist shopping streets
Bishopthorpe Road has established a reputation for itself as a bijou shopping destination with good quality independents predominating. It became mired in controversy a few weeks ago when local Councillors campaigned successfully for the road to be closed to southbound vehicles. It is unclear how this has affected trade but the area was generally quiet today at lunchtime. Road works start on nearby Nunnery Lane this evening. Most shops are open. There was limited space in the dedicated car park
The contraflow cycle “lane” is controversial. The existing northbound cycle lane has been abandoned. The bollards were placed on the road to encourage social distancing.Road works starting this evening
We’ll take a separate look at how the first day of the city centre shopping arrangements have gone.
It is now over 3 months now since the York Museums Trust decided to close the Museum Gardens to the public.
Their caution was understandable at the beginning of the pandemic. No one knew what to expect or how long would pass before social distancing protocols would allow some resumption of movement.
Now the City centre is coming to terms with the health threat. Shops are reopening. People will be able to access churches. Some children have returned to school.
But people need pleasant, safe outdoor spaces in which to walk and sit. The Minster authorities acted promptly and reopened Dean’s park.
The Museum Gardens is ideally located. It offers a short cut from the shoppers car park at Marygate to the City’s retail centre.
Earlier today, visitors were incredulous when they found that the gardens gates were still locked.
That is not good enough.
The York Council and the Museums Trust should act and make sure that the park is reopened this week.
There have been no further deaths at the York Trust hospitals. The total number remains at 212
Special Educational Needs (SEN) action
Following criticism about the way that young people with SEN were being treated in York, a list indicating the improvement actions being taken was agreed last week. Although normally such a report would have attracted some public interest, it was again dealt with “behind closed doors”. The report can be read byclicking here
Outbreak Management Advisory Board
The Government has announced the roll-out of the NHS “Test and Trace” programme across England, The programme will be supervised by an advisory board of 15 members (three of whom will be Councillors), which will meet every three weeks.
As the Council claims that it is still not party to the results of the tests being carried out at the Poppleton testing site, it remains to be seen how relevant this new body will actually be.
The Government have indicated that the possibility of small weddings recommencing by July 20 is now likely.
In order to marry you need to give ‘notice’ (28 days) before any marriage and pay the appropriate fee (£70).
“As a number of the weddings that have been cancelled by the council at Government direction during the covid crisis will be rebooked in many instances the Notice of Marriage (NOM) has lapsed”.
A repeat fee payment is not being sought by the Council.
It is unclear whether any discounted divorces will be available although, post lock-down, demand may be be high
Public toilets
The York Council has agreed to reopen public toilets click
Multi storey car parks reopening on Monday
The Council has agreed the following changes to parking arrangements with effect from Monday
1. Approved the re-opening of Piccadilly and Foss Bank car parks when Covid_19 based restrictions are eased and non-essential businesses open on the 15th June;
2. Approved implementing a 2 metre line around all Parking payment machines to assist with social distancing;
3. Approved the scaling up the parking enforcement operation from the 8th June (subject to COVID_19 alert stage), with an advisory letter being used for the first week (up to the 15th June) at the parking service’s discretion;
4. Approved the restart of the Abandoned vehicle service from the 15th June;
5. Approved to reinstate car park capacity in the city centre by the 15th June 2020 to reflect the reopening of retail in the city centre on the 15th June (subject to COVID_19 5 stage) and to transition from free parking for key workers in CYC public car parks to dedicated provision for NHS workers in the coach park at Union Terrace car park. This will be reviewed in September 2020 and work will be undertaken with the hospital to support active travel options. Exceptional circumstances will be managed through free passes.
6. Approved the continuation of the Pay on exit project for Marygate and Piccadilly going out to tender in June and exploring the implementation across all viable CYC car parks with decisions on further rollout to be brought back to the Executive in the Autumn 2020
7. Approved the reprovision of free blue badge parking displaced by the extension of footstreets in CYC public car parks with specific additional space provision in Monk Bar car park.
North Yorkshire Leaders Q & A on Tuesday
There will be another on line session on Tuesday. Generally these North Yorkshire run events are more informative than their York counterparts, although they also claim not to know how many positive COVID tests there have been locally!
“Leaders of North Yorkshire’s response to the Coronavirus pandemic will give an update on the work they are doing, and answer questions from residents and businesses.
North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Julia Mulligan will lead the live update and will be joined by:
Chief Constable Lisa Winward – North Yorkshire Police
Chief Fire Officer Andrew Brodie – North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
Richard Flinton – Chief Executive of North Yorkshire County Council and Chair of the multi-agency North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum
Members of the public are invited to watch the meeting from 1.00pm on Tuesday on YouTube and submit questions in advance by emailing info@northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk, posting on Twitter using the hashtag #NYscrutiny or commenting on Facebook”.
Following the Government’s weekend announcement that places of worship will be permitted to reopen for individual prayer from the week beginning Monday 15th June, York Minster will reopen for individual prayer starting on Tuesday 16th June.
The Minster will be open from 4.30 to 6.30pm, Tuesdays to Saturday and 2.30 to 4.30pm on Sunday for people to come in, light a candle and speak to a member of the Clergy if they need pastoral support and care.
The Minster will be closed on Mondays for the time being.
Social distancing protocols will be in place.
The Minster is expected to announce how it will respond to any further government relaxation of restrictions including the recommencement of services and more general events aimed at the broader local community
In the meantime services are available to view on line and via zoom.
The York Council has published for the first time its post lockdown strategy. The report was considered and agreed today. There was no prior consultation.
The Council has decided to make Coppergate one way (east to west) cutting one of the City’s key bus routes for the next 6 months “or until a vaccine is available”. Cyclists will be able to continue to use the street in both directions although, at the “pinch point” near the Coppergate centre entrance, this may compromise social distancing objectives.
The Council strategy says there will be, ”Active discouragement of the use of public transport and the promotion of walking and cycling”. (Paradoxically the Council has also announced today a bid for funding for more electric buses)
The Council isn’t expecting many retail workers to return to City centre jobs much before December. Restaurant and pub (hospitality) workers may be out of a job for even longer.
More local and county residents are expected to start to visit the City centre from the autumn together with smaller numbers of day visitors from other parts of the region. Later they will be joined by tourists from other parts of the country.
International tourists are not expected to return in any numbers before the late Spring of 2021.
The “strategy” pointedly does not propose a marketing plan aimed at actually promoting the City, and its key visitor/retail economy, over the next few months.
The Council leaders plan involves the closure of the key (for the retail economy) Castle car park without its planned multi storey replacement being opened at St Georges Field.
The notoriously unreliable “pay on exit” mechanisms will also be rolled out to all car parks – negating the social distancing preferred option of contactless payment via smart phone Apps.
The strategy offers little for the suburbs. The option of encouraging devolved open air markets is not even mentioned. There is no publicity support on offer for neighbourhood businesses. More cycle parking is, however, promised.
Many may have sympathy with a key message included in the strategy which “proposes to invest and make bold interventions to create new networks of park and cycle hubs, priority cycle routes, subsidised cycle hire and cycle parking to prioritise active travel”.
Those reading further will see that there are no actions proposed to address the natural barriers to two wheeled transport (poor infrastructure, uneven highways, obstructed paths, etc.) Much less does the statement recognised that some sections of the community because of distance, fitness, luggage or just poor weather, simply don’t have a realistic two wheeled travel option.
No forecasts of modal change are included. The Council simply doesn’t seem to know what effect implementing such a rag bag of tactical polices might have.
So we judge the document to be a profoundly superficial and disappointing proposal shuffled into the light of day with no prior consultation and apparently lacking even sensitivity to the difficult choices now facing many sections of the community.
Hopefully work will have already started on producing something more convincing. First step should be to regain the trust and supportl of local residents.
People living alone and most single parents in England can stay at another household from Saturday. Adults living alone in England, including single parents with children under 18, will be able to form a “social bubble” with one other household
You can meet with up to 5 other people in England, but you must stay outdoors and keep 2 metres apart.
Deaths
The have been no more coronavirus deaths at York Hospital. The total remains at 126.
A spokeswoman for NHS Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said it had now discharged 500 patients who had tested positive for Covid-19 from York Hospital and Scarborough Hospital to continue their recovery.
The total number of positive COVID lab test results for York remains at 462
York preparing to reopen more of the city for residents to enjoy safely says Council
“One way system being introduced in some streets”.
Public toilets reopening
City of York Council is preparing to reopen more of the city from Monday 15 June for residents to enjoy safely, following recent changes in national guidance.
The re-opening is part of the council’s Economic Recovery – Transport and Place Strategy, to build resident, visitor and stakeholder confidence that York is a safe, healthy and attractive place for everyone to enjoy.
In line with the Government relaxing the restrictions for retailers and businesses on Monday, the council is introducing a number of new measures to support the reopening of our city.
From Monday, the city centre pedestrian zones will be extended to support local businesses, providing residents with more space to social distance, making access to shops and businesses easier.
The council is also exploring a further extension of the pedestrian zone hours into the evening, to coincide with the reopening of our cafes, bars and restaurants. This could include pedestrian areas being opened up to help businesses operate outside, to ensure space for social distancing.
New safety and guidance street signs/floor stickers and markings are being placed across the city centre for pedestrians. This will be extended to York’s secondary shopping areas, which could include areas like Haxby and Acomb.
One way pavement sticker
Signage will be placed at key areas on footstreets and the highway to provide guidance on which routes are one way, where to keep left and where to social distance.
The same signage is included and has been shared as part of a comprehensive guidance for retailers wishing to welcome customers from 15June.
All the pack contents and many more designs and posters, including resources for display within staff areas, are available to businesses to download and print.
To receive one of these packs for free, businesses, charities and other organisations welcoming customers are advised to register at www.york.gov.uk/BusinessToolkit . The packs will be available to collect on 12 and 13 June this week from convenient locations. Please register by midday Thursday for a collection on Friday.
Public toilets
To coincide with many retailers and businesses reopening their doors, the council is also reopening its public toilets on the Monday 15 June.
Changes have been made in the toilets to protect members of the public and staff, including:
automatic flushes
automatic water and soap dispensers
replacing hand dryers (which cannot be used) with hand towels
more regular and increased cleaning
Clear guidance has also been placed in all toilets, including:
social distancing floor stickers
advice on how to wash hands or use hand santiser
instructions on not touching surfaces or handles and using paper towels where possible.
Residents will be able to give feedback about the plan by participating in the city-wide consultation “Our Big Conversation” helping to set the long-term vision for our city. This will be launched in the next couple of weeks
Residents can stay up-to-date with the latest proposals and Our Big Conversation by signing up to the weekly resident newsletter:www.york.gov.uk/form/EmailUpdates
To stay up-to-date with the proposals or find out more information please visit: www.york.gov.uk/letsbeyork
Live Q&A to discuss resident questions on reopening the city centre and schools
Join the next live #AskTheLeaders Coronavirus Q&A on the council’s Facebook page this Monday 15 June at 5-6pm, as the panel discuss your questions and comments about the city’s response to Coronavirus
This next question and answer session will discuss your questions, with a special focus on the further re-opening of city centre businesses, phasing children’s return to school and how York will do this safely.
Residents can watch live on Facebook to hear from:
Cllr Paula Widdowson, Executive Member for Environment and Climate Change
Cllr Ian Cuthbertson, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education
Cllr Andrew Waller, Executive Member for Economy and Strategic Planning
Sharon Stoltz, Director of Public Health
Amanda Hatton, Director of Children, Education and Communities
Maxine Squire, Assistant Director of Education and Skills
James Gilchrist, Assistant Director for Transport, Highways and Environment
Andrew Lowson, Executive Director, York BID
In this, the council’s third live coronavirus question and answer session, special guest Andrew Lowson from York BID will be taking questions regarding next week’s further re-opening of the city centre as restrictions lift to allow non-essential business to open.
How can I get involved?
Residents can interact with the session by either submitting questions in advance by emailing them to YourQuestions@york.gov.uk or commenting on the live video on Facebook where leaders will read out questions and respond.* Questions may be answered by theme rather than individually, so that the conversation covers as many topics as possible.
Birth registration resumes for new parents
Following updated government guidance and the installation of several health and safety measures, York Register Office is opening for birth registrations from Monday 15 June, by appointment only.
The Register Office will not be open to the public for any other reason, until further government guidance is given, in order to reduce the chance of infection.
To start with, we want to give priority to those whose babies were born earlier in the year who have been unable to register until now and are asking that new parents yet to register a birth on or before 23 March book an appointment.
In the coming weeks new mums and dads of babies born after 23 March will also be able to book an appointment to register the birth. We will provide further updates on our website and social media.
Parents are asked to contact the Register Office to let us know you need an appointment by emailing registerabirth@york.gov.uk. When sending the email, please provide your baby’s date of birth, parents’ names and a telephone number for us to call you on to set a time for your appointment.
Those unable to email can call 01904 654477.
A number of safety measures have been put in place to allow the Register Office to undertake registrations:
Perspex screens have been installed in the interview rooms
Hand sanitiser is available in all areas
Regular disinfecting of the office throughout the day
A one way in/out system has been introduced with clear directional signage to the interview rooms and exit point
Reduced the need to touch surfaces at the office including doors.
People are asked not to attend their appointment if they:
have any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 – continuous cough, fever or loss of taste and smell
are living with anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19
Those who are shielding should follow the advice they have received from their GP and or the government. The latest information for those shielding is available at www.gov.uk/coronavirus
The Register Office is closely monitoring guidance around other services, such as weddings and will update residents with any developments.
