The Council are planning to introduce access restrictions aimed at forcing vehicles to enter the British Sugar development site on Boroughbridge Road direct from the A1237.

They say that “access only” will be allowed in the area encompassed by Wetherby Road, Beckfield Lane and the A59. Most of the roads in this area are cul de sacs anyway so they don’t have any “through” traffic.

Including Wetherby Road in such a zone would, of course, prevent vehicles travelling through it to Acomb!

click to enlarge

In turn this would produce chaotic congestion on other access routes and significantly increase journey times and fuel costs.

No funding has been identified for the dualling of the A1237 between Wetherby Road and the A59 (and beyond) with even the most optimistic estimate giving a 2024 start for such an improvement.

The Council is probably concerned about traffic levels on Beckfield Lane when the 998 homes are completed on the British Sugar site.

Add in the 308 homes that Labour now also wants to build on the former Civil Service Sports Ground at Millfield Lane and there is the potential for a huge growth in traffic.

Making Beckfield Lane itself “access only” might offer some relief to local residents.

But the real solution is to scale back some of the housing targets to realistic and sustainable levels.

Balfour Beatty has been appointed to deliver the first phase of the £22.7 million Access York project, which received the green light from the Department for Transport in March.

The scheme, which is one of the largest single investments in York’s transport infrastructure, involves the development of two park and ride sites on the outskirts of the city.

Congestion levels along the routes into the city centre will be cut by increasing the parking capacity to 1,100 vehicles at Askham Bar Park and Ride and building a new 600-vehicle facility at Poppleton Bar.
Junctions to the new sites will be provided off the A59 and A1036 and major improvements to the A59/A1237 roundabout will be delivered as part of the works, which will run for a total of 54 weeks from May 2013 through to May 2014.

For more information about the new Park & Ride sites please visit www.york.gov.uk/parkandride http://www.york.gov.uk/parkandride

The Local Trading Standards team is putting its weight behind a national campaign to tackle rogue traders and help protect local consumers from being ripped off with new cold calling zones being researched across the city this week.

Operation Rogue Trader week runs from Monday 22 to Friday 26 April during whichthe council’s Trading Standards teamas part of its ongoing work is visiting traders advising on customers’ cancellation rights and legislation on branding and quality. It’s also been visiting consumers to advise them on their rights when entering into contracts at home following visits by door-to-door sellers.

The council’s team of consumer rights experts has also begun investigations into breaches of consumer protection legislation which involves a trader falsely claiming to be a member of a trader’s association, and has conducted a formal interview of one trader alleged to be carrying out unnecessary roof repairs.

Yorkshire and the Humber Trading Standards Group – known as the Scambusters team based at City of York Council – has started legal proceedings against five individuals for a total 13 offences involved in a council tax rebate scam.

This involves cold calling local York residents offering to challenge their council tax banding, lower their payments and recoup past overpayments. Following a £175 payment upfront, submissions are rarely made to the council tax office and when they are, their quality is so poor they are frequently rejected. The charges being levied include conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, blackmail and acting as a director when banned from holding the post.

Trading Standards team members will also be attending the council’s Crime Summit and will be offering residents advice from a stall at the day-long city centre Community Safety Market on Thursday 25 April.

Energise has become the first swimming pool in North Yorkshire to introduce new Swimfit sessions. Swimmers at City of York Council’s leisure centre on Cornlands Road, will be some of the first in the UK to try the new sessions, developed by experts at the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA).

(more…)

The Police have issued the following statement.

“Being the largest single county force in England, we are dedicated to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour that affects our communities.

We are now looking for talented individuals who have the personal resilience and commitment to provide a professional and visible response that protects those who are vulnerable, ensures that the issues that matter to our communities are being addressed, and that our communities are safe and feel safe.

If that sounds like you, then what are you waiting for? If you believe you meet the eligibility criteria and can commit to the extensive recruitment and training programme, then apply now for this exciting and rewarding opportunity!”

The Council have finally published a new map indicating where they hope to introduce the new 20 mph speed limit.

It can be accessed by clicking here

click to enlarge

The “new” proposals show little change from those originally published.

Once again the Council has failed to justify the £600,000 cost of introducing a City wide 20 mph limit.

Plans are also now available for:

• Copmanthorpe

• Bishopthorpe

A public meeting, which includes an item on the 20 mph limit, will take place at Dringhouses Primary School on Thursday, May 2. The meeting starts at 7:30pm

Brands-for-less homeware retailer HomeSense, located on Foss Islands Road, is again sponsoring the free Busking event, which will take place on Saturday 25 May from 11am to 7pm and Sunday 26 May from 12noon to 5pm in the city centre.

For more information about Buskival visit http://www.yorkfestivals.com/ www.facebook.com/Buskival or follow @York_Festivals on twitter

Three new mobile phone bus and travel apps may make it easier for commuters, residents and visitors to navigate their way around York at a touch of a button, with the launch of three new bus and travel apps.

Available from all app stores: the YorkLIVE, Bus York and York Park & Ride are available to download for free now.

(more…)

Below is the latest list of planning applications received by the York Council. Full details can be found by quoting the application reference on the “planning portal” web site. Click here.

Representations can be made in favour of, or in objection to, any application via the Planning on line web site.

NB. The Council now no longer routinely consults neighbours by letter when an application is received.

Ref No: 13/00654/CLU Location: Flat 1 2 Front Street York YO24 3BZ Proposal: Certificate of lawfulness for use as a house in multiple occupation (resubmission) Applicant: Miss Lydia Williams Consultation Expiry Date 13 May 2013 Case Officer: Heather Fairy (Mon – Wed) Expected Decision Level DEL

Ref No: 13/00822/FUL Location: Project Parts York 114 Gale Lane York YO24 3AE Proposal: Conversion of ground floor shop to 2no. self contained flats, erection of front boundary wall Applicant: Mr David Aujla Contact Mr Peter Schofield Consultation Expiry Date 13 May 2013 Case Officer: Victoria Bell Expected Decision Level DEL

Ref No: 13/00837/FUL Location: Village Tea Rooms 6A Front Street York YO24 3BZ Proposal: Change of use of patio area to form external seating area for café Applicant: Ms Alison Harris Contact Mr Richard Borrows Consultation Expiry Date 13 May 2013 Case Officer: Victoria Bell Expected Decision Level DEL

Ref. No: 13/00850/LBC Village Tea Rooms 6A Front Street York YO24 3BZ External alterations including repainting facade and display of signS

Ref. No: 13/00841/ADV Village Tea Rooms 6A Front Street York YO24 3BZ Display of 5no. non-illuminated signs to front, side and rear elevations and 1no. hanging sign

Ref. No: AOD/13/00087 10 The Green Acomb York YO26 5LR Condition 3 (details of materials) 13/00381/FUL

The Police have published a list of the numbers of motorists caught exceeding the speed limit during the second week in April.

click to enlarge

In total 169 cases were recorded in York by the police mobile camera van.

Of these 151 were dealt with by the offer of a speed awareness course, a further 16 attracted an “on the spot” £60 fine plus 3 penalty points while 2 offenders, who were driving well over the speed limit, face a court appearance.

The roads with the poorest records were:

• York Road, Haxby

• Beckfield Lane

• Greenshaw Drive, Haxby

• Main Street, Askham Richard

• Temple Lane Copmanthorpe

In total 1458 speeding violations were recorded across York and North Yorkshire during the week.

The data can be downloaded by clicking here