Countdown to Scarborough Railway Bridge replacement
Marygate car park to be closed during February
Rail passengers, York residents and visitors to the city are being reminded to plan ahead this half term as the old bridge deck of Scarborough Rail Bridge will be lifted out and a new one installed.
The work to refurbish the bridge means that no trains can run over it between 14 and 23 February, with coaches replacing First Trans-Pennine Express trains between York and Seamer.
The worksite in York will also affect local residents and visitors. Marygate car park will be closed from 2 to 27 February to safely accommodate the crane and other construction equipment. The footbridge alongside Scarborough railway bridge which also carries National Cycle Network route 65 across the river will be closed from 9 February to 2 March and the shared use paths on either side of the river under Scarborough railway bridge will close between 14 and 22 February.
(more…)
Cllr “bleep” deleted from York Council webcast
Yesterdays webcast of the Council Urgency committee meeting has now reappeared on line (click).
Usually we associated early 20th century Soviet Union regimes with air brushing dissidents from photos.
Now, in a bizarre twist, any mention of Councillors allegedly under investigation for misbehaviour, have been “bleeped” out of the video.
In theory it means that only those present at the meeting and those viewing the original transmission know who Labour Councillors sought to publicly vilify and who was mentioned in the Tory response (about 10 minutes into the meeting).
Comrade Williams airbrushed from history
Of course. though, even a casual glance at the agenda papers will reveal who was being talked about.
It is an awkward shambles with no one publicly yet taking responsibility for the censorship. much less the original ill judged comments.
Traffic signals and parking barriers still proving to be unreliable in York
Traffic signals
This year to date (1st Jan to 3rd Dec) there have been a total of 696 traffic signal faults reported to the York Council’s maintenance contractors.
This number was 678 for the same period last year.
The Council does not have a means of recording the total duration for which signals have been out of operation; however, for high priority faults in this period – which are recorded in their own indicator – 91% were resolved within 4 hours, compared to 82% for the same period last year.
Marygate car park
Barrier faults have occurred during a total of 17 days since they were introduced at the Marygate car park. Currently income from the car park is less than it was when operated on a pay and display basis.
Income from the Marygate car park, from the start of July to the end of October, totalled £231,000 in 2014/15.
The equivalent figure for 2013/14 was £246,000.
The York Council spent £100,000 installing the barrier system at Marygate.
NB. The Council has admitted that due to faults on its automated vehicle counting systems it doesn’t know how many motorists have taken advantage of the free parking offer which is available at some car parks from Thursday to Saturday.
Overall income from car parking is, however, over £400,000 below budgeted levels.
Car park signage criticised
St. Leonards Place car park
Some motorists have been confused by the signing at the entrance to the – now privately run – car park on St Leonards Place. Several have thought that the entrance had been moved as part of the Exhibition Square refurbishment, although this isn’t the case.
For a Conservation Area the signs are borderline intrusive anyway.
Users of the car park find that they are expected to pay up to £12 to park. Unfortunately the operators – a Leeds based company – allow only cash payments for tickets.
Parking machines at St. Leonards Place car park. click to enlarge
It is several years since the Council made credit card and “pay by phone” options available at its central car parks.
There is also no parking available for those with disabled badges although it is the most central facility for those accessing most of the shops in the city centre.
This is a good location for cycle parking facilities and it would have been worth the Council continuing to operate the car park facilities until the apparently endless saga over the future of the adjacent office block is finally settled.
There is no sign of work commencing on site despite the council announcing a development scheme almost 3 years ago.
The Council is also remaining tight lipped about the planned hotel at the Barbican site which is now 4 years behind schedule.
York Council heading for £1.3 million overspend?
A report being considered next week suggests that the York Council could over spend its budget this year by £1.3 million.
Coppergate – York Council failure, to win appeal against unlawful fines issue, could plunge it into a financial crisis
The – much delayed – half year report does not include any deficit which may arise from outstanding issues on the Coppergate/Lendal bridge fine refund policy.
Other areas of concern identified in the report include
- Waste There is a forecast overspend of £98k due to lower than budgeted income from commercial waste, £100k shortfall in income from garden waste subscription, £100k due to the forecast shortfall in dividend from Yorwaste and £233k pressure at Household Waste and Recycling Centres primarily due to lower than expected income from charges
- Car Parking There is a continued shortfall from parking income (£408k) and “ongoing monitoring will be required to assess the impact of the current parking initiatives, including the charges for Minster Badges, the free parking introduced in late June and pay-on-exit at Marygate”.
- Social Care There is a significant projected overspend of £864k within the Elderly Persons Homes budgets.
A separate report identifies problems with the Councils capital investment programme.
Failure to move ahead with the reuse of the Guildhall means that £350,000 of “critical” repairs will now be needed.
And a major problem is arising with the Councils existing Elderly Persons Homes. These were supposed to have closed by now having been replaced by the new care village at Lowfields. But that project is 3 years behind schedule and the existing buildings will need to be patched up at a cost of £500,000!
The report ominously warns “existing EPH’s are currently in need of renovation, some aspects of which are threatening their ability to pass Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection”.
Only 7076 new Minster badges sold
98 residents fined for using old badges in evening
Only a small proportion of the 30,000 old style Minster badge holders have opted to pay £20 to get a new badge
The latest figures released by the York Council suggest that 7076 of the badges have been sold
The badges entitle holders to free parking at Council car parks in the evening.
98 residents have incurred Penalty Charge Notices for relying on the old style badge during September.
It seems though that some are opting to pay the £2 a night evening charge. Evening car park income has increased since last year
- 2013 £34,042.05
- 2014 £40,754.50
No assessment has yet been made on the effects of the increased charges on the evening economy.
NB. The Minster badge also entitles users to pay lower day time car parking charges.
Parking income problems mount for York Council
Marygate
It looks like the installation of barriers at the Marygate car park – which cost taxpayers £100,000 – has reduced Council income by around £35,000 (20%) over the last 3 months.
Income from Marygate Car Park in the 13 week period from 30th June to 28th September totalled £142,000 in 2014/15.
The equivalent figure for 2013/14 was £177,000.
Those expecting the blame to be placed on faulty barriers – they have been jammed in the raised position on a number of occasions recently – will be disappointed.
The York Council says,
“There have been some minor faults which, as with all newly introduced schemes, is to be expected whilst the system beds in. These have been dealt with expeditiously with minimal disruption to the fee-paying public”. (!)
It is the latest in a series of parking management blunders since Labour took control of the Council in 2011.
Most residents have faced a 100% increase in the amount that they pay to park while the Council sold off the Haymarket car park for a fraction of its true value in the depth of the recession.
Minster Badges
In response to a question tabled by the Liberal Democrats at the last Council meeting, Labour have admitted that only 6,300 of the new £20 Minster badges have been sold so far.
Over 30,000 of the old style badges were in circulation.
A Minster badge is necessary to qualify for free evening parking. It also entitles users to a discount on day time parking fees.
The relatively low take up of the badges suggests that the charging scheme may be discouraging residents from visiting and shopping in the City centre.
“Free” parking
The Labour Councillor with responsibility for car parking in York has admitted that he doesn’t know how many drivers are taking advantage of the “free” car parking available at a limited number of locations on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
More worryingly, he says that the impact of the scheme on the Councils car parking account is impossible to calculate because of other factors such as the opening of the new Park and Ride site at Poppleton.
The Council are promising to check the vehicle counters at individual car parks over the next few weeks to try to get some idea of the impact that the – very expensive – scheme is having.
Subjectively it does appear that the morning rush hour has been busier over the last couple of months with journey times increasing.
When introduced, the free parking scheme was criticised by many as encouraging more vehicles onto the road during the morning peak period.
Marygate car park barrier problems to be questioned.
With the barriers at the Marygate car park apparently out of action again, Liberal Democrat Councillor Keith Hyman has tabled two questions for the Council meeting on Thursday.
The £100,000 scheme was controversial from the start with no provision being made for card payments.
Currently the barriers are raised allowing free car parking.
It is unclear what damage this is doing to the Councils income or whether Labour Councillors will be forced to increase charges at other car parks to make up for any deficit.
The two tabled questions read:
- (xxv) “How does the income derived from the Marygate car park, since it had a barrier system installed, compare to the equivalent period last year?”
- (xxvi) “How many faults have occurred on the new barrier/ticketing installation at Marygate car park and does the Cabinet Member judge the barrier system to have been a success?”
The same cabinet member will be asked to reveal how many drivers have taken advantage of the “free” parking made available, on 3 mornings a week, at some of York’s car parks.
Morning congestion levels have increased recently on routes such as Water End and Fulford Road, with the Councils decision to encourage more rush hour car journeys using the free parking incentive being partly to blame.
It is hoped that the impact on other car parks – and Council income – will be revealed.
Minster Badge change
No reminder notices in York car parks
We said on Saturday that the York Council had to ensure that all old style Minster Badge owners were reminded that their stickers were invalid from today (1st September 2014).
After the fiasco of the poor signage on Lendal bridge, we expected that the Council would have gone to extreme lengths to ensure that notices were posted in car parks reminding drivers that only Labour’s £20 new style badge would entitle users to a discount ( and free evening parking).
However, it appears that the advice has gone unheeded as there were NO warning signs displayed in York’s most popular car park (Castle) this morning.
No warning notices in Castle Car Park about Minster Badge change
Those seeking to pay charges using the mobile phone and text services likewise receive no reminder of the change.
How many residents have received penalty notices may become clear in a few days time.
However it is likely that the parking adjudicator may once again be faced with a large volume of complaints from York – possibly leading to the introduction of a costly refund process.