Following on from our story yesterday which plotted how “footfall” was increasing in York an independent organisation has now reported that “spend” is also recovering.
The “Centre for Cities” says that York is just outside the national top ten of centres that are doing well.
York has an index of 97. The best is Bournemouth with 117.
Larger Cities like London and Manchester are doing less well.
Deaths and test results
There has been one additional positive test result announced today. That brings the cumulative total to 976. The trend in case numbers based on a 7 day moving average continues to increase.
There have been no additional hospital deaths
Marygate car park has been full today with around half a dozen cars at anytime patrolling the service roads waiting for someone to vacate a space.
The 40 odd spaces on the railway side of the car park are still coned off. There is little use made of these by cyclists and an alternative is available – using the service road – only a couple of feet away.
The old shared use footpath is also very lightly used making social distancing easy.
Residents will wonder what it takes to get the Council to review this obviously perverse decision.
Perhaps the Groves counter-revolutionaries will pay a visit and realign the cones?
In the meantime the Council is losing around £400 a day in car park charge income.
With City centre car parks very busy this week, it is surprising that LNER haven’t taken the opportunity to sell more spaces on their otherwise largely empty car park at the railway station.
Not many people are going to pay £18 for a days parking but the company could help themselves by marketing spaces at a discounted rate.
At the moment they are bringing in no income for the beleaguered, state owned, outfit.
After the shambles of the Bishopthorpe Road closure and before it the Lendal Bridge fiasco, you might have expected that proposed major changes to the road network in York would have been handled with caution by the Council.
It appears not judging by the reaction to the road closures in The Groves yesterday. Activists even took to removing some of the physical barriers (planters) while a Press headline pronounced a (slightly exaggerated) “Gridlock” on Lord Mayors Walk..
If gridlock is to become a reality, then it is likely to be in wet weather following a return to school and the reopening of city centre offices. It is then that the emergency services together with public transport, utilities and delivery drivers will face their greatest challenge.
Unfortunately, without the consent of residents, changes like this will always result in confrontation.
Executive Cllr Andy D’Agorne approved a plan to limit traffic in the Groves area at a meeting held on 24th October 2019. The plan was supported by the two Labour Councillors and one Green who represent The Groves area.
Later Green Party supporters were to try to blame the LibDems for the plan using an “only following orders” from the coalition defence. In truth, the LibDem leadership stood aloof from the issue and chose to watch on while the drama unfolded. The Tories as usual were late into the game, waiting to see how the wind blew before acquiring retrospective wisdom. The timetables attached to the Tory government transport grant offer helped to provoke the stumble.
We believe that Andy D’Agorn is a sincere man who holds passionate, albeit uncompromising, beliefs. He deserves respect for standing up for his views in a very public way. However such drive needs to be tempered with humility and a willingness to take a step back.
A decision was made by Cllr D’Agone on 22nd June 2020 to restyle the proposals as a reaction to the COVID crisis. Ostensibly he wanted a slice of the governments sustainable transport grant. Significant changes were made to the original proposals although there was no further consultation.
There was no poll which could have offered all affected residents, whether they lived in the Groves or elsewhere in the City, the opportunity to support the new plans or opt to retain the status quo.
A change of this scale should have been publicised by delivering a leaflet to every home at least in east York. It was not. Publicity relied heavily on social media.
The Variable Message Signs on York streets referred to changes in The Groves, repeating the Lendal bridge failing. Many motorists do not actually know the names of the bridges, streets and neighbourhoods that they might be driving over or through.
“On street” signage was woeful – possibly the consequence of the rushed implementation.
Sat Nav systems still direct drivers into what are now dead-end streets. A nightmare for the growing number of delivery drivers who have filled the supply void since the pandemic.
So what can be done? It is true that things will “settle down”. Police action could force drivers onto alternative routes like the already congested Clarence Street.
If “through traffic” is to be excluded from The Groves, then a gate or rising bollard could be introduced on Penley’s Grove Street and Lowther Street. This would allow selective vehicle access for local residents together with emergency vehicles, utilities, deliveries etc. It might be a costly system with reliability an issue but it would remove some unnecessary journey’s, and the pollution which they would generate, from neighbouring roads.
There does need to be an attempt to find a consensus solution, which could attract wide support in the City, before any more impulsive decisions are made.
York could follow other cities like Milton Keynes and Cambridge by introducing a new 12-month trial to offer e-scooters and e-bikes at York Hospital and the University of York.
If approved by City of York Council, the preferred supplier will work alongisde York Hospital and the University of York to bring forward the trial later this month – ensuring safety, security and engagement with key groups are core to the trial being implemented.
The trial is part of efforts to support a ‘green’ restart of local travel and help mitigate the impact of reduced public transport capacity.
Funded and run in partnership with the Department of Transport (DfT), the trial could be rolled out in the city at York Hospital and the University of York.
There may be some scepticism about this project. Cycle hire schemes have not been successful in the past with some of the bikes ending up in the river.
We do have some doubts about the safety of electric scooters given the poor standards of road maintenance in parts of the City.
Still it may be worth a trial as long as taxpayers money is not put at risk.
A background report can be read by clicking here
The latest footfall camera figures for central York confirm that visitor numbers are steadily increasing.
By the third week in August they had reached over 80% of the figures seen during the equivalent period last year.
The figures for the bank holiday are not yet available but it did appear to be busy in the City last weekend.
Comparisons of numbers for the weekends in the earlier part of the month suggest a slower recovery. This may be due to more people visiting the City during the week as they make the most of the school holidays.
The difficulties in arranging foreign holidays may also have given the City a boost.
There is still some way to go to achieve pre COVID numbers with some traders still suffering from the lack of office workers in the City centre.
Still the resurgence – which is born out by the numbers using the City’s car parks – is probably stronger and quicker than many might have predicted.
NB. Figures from some footfall cameras are unreliable and have been excluded for this analysis.
Pleasant weather brought out the crowds in York today. The numbers in the City centre were comparable to a normal bank holiday. Parts of the market were particularly busy with long queues at several food outlets.
The was some surprise a few days ago when a scheduled report on homeless problems in the City was pulled.
The Council failed to explain why the report was abandoned and it remains unclear what the report contained.
It may be that the Council is embarrassed by the seeming increase in the number of empty homes that it owns.
Two on Foxwood Lane have been empty for over 6 months (i.e. from before the pandemic caused delays) . Both properties are bungalows which are always popular with “downsizers”, so finding new tenants shouldn’t have been a problem.
On the basis of the last published stats, there were 22 homeless households with dependent children in living in temporary accommodation in York.
According to the Councils own figures, the average number of days to re-let empty properties has risen from 27 days to 37 days during the last couple of years.
There are 1597 people registered on the York housing waiting list.
