We forecast – 25,000 unhappy York motorists on Monday

Only 3382 new Minster Badges sold.

Less than 10% of current users have been prepared to pay £20 for Labours new style parking discount badge

The new badge is mandatory from Monday when the old blue free stickers – issued by the former LibDem run Council – will no longer be recognised by parking wardens.

Many traders fear that the message has not got through to shoppers and that some may be alienated if they receive a parking fine.

Another Lendal Bridge fiasco may be in the making. The quality of the warning signage about the change in the car parks on Monday is likely to come under intense scrutiny by residents.

Of over 30,000 current Minster Badge holders in York, only 3382 have so far bought a new Minster Badge. The badge was an initiative by Labour to try to bridge a £200,000 shortfall on parking income.

But it looks like it will make things worse, rather than better. Take up has been well below expectations and if motorists choose out of City centre retail parks in which to do their shopping, then the car parking account will be hit even harder..

Without the new badge, York residents will have to pay the same parking rates as visitors – meaning a hefty increase

Under the LibDems, in 2011 residents paid £1.10 per hour to park at most City centre car parks (those designated as “standard stay”). Residents will now see that increase by a staggering 82% to £2.00.

Even worse may be the effect on the City centre evening economy where the “free after 6:00pm” parking concession will also be lost.

Earlier in the year, a large petition was collected by residents who wanted to see things left as they were.

With the next Council elections only 8 months away, it is likely that the Liberal Democrats will become the first party to pledge to reintroduce the free Minster badge for residents.

In addition any regular visitor to the City should be able to buy one of the new style badges – in recognition of the money that they inject into the City centre economy and the jobs that it supports.

Another day, another missed deadline

Continuing road works, lane closures and car park construction at Poppleton Bar 1st August 2014

Poppleton – Road works continue

Despite absolute guarantees given at the last Council meeting -that the A59/A1237 road works and Park and Ride construction would be finished by the end of July – work is still in full swing today.

There are lane restrictions, big tail backs on the A59 and temporary traffic signals.

Footpaths have still to be completed and there is no sign of the permanent traffic lights which were due to be installed at the Park and Ride site junction.

The Park and Ride site itself is also far from finished.

The Council can’t blame poor weather for a project which is now over 4 months behind its scheduled (final) completion date.

Vacant spaces at York car parks

Still big gaps in Council information

Last year the York Council stopped providing information on its web site about the number of vacant parking spaces at its City Centre car parks.

York Live web site click to access

It promised that the information link would be reinstated by “May”.

2 months later and the information is still not being provided for the most popular car parks like Nunnery Lane and Marygate.

The responsible cabinet member refused to apologies at a recent Council meeting for the delays.

He said people could use social media to find out where to park (actually none of the social media system provided real time parking availability information)

NB. The Council has also been unable to keep many of the on street “Variable Message Signs” in a good state of repair.

Marygate car park barrier scheme cost £100,000

Labour back down and agree to fit card reader payment option by “early autumn”

The Council will fit a credit/Charge car payment option at the new Marygate pay on exit machines.

Although they blame a “national issue with chip and pin devices” the reality is that the Council forgot to include the option in the original design specification.

The new system should not have been brought into service until a choice of payment options was available.

Card payments can be made at other City centre car parks like Piccadilly.

NB. Only about 1000 of the new £20 Minster badges have been sold so far.

Each of York’s 80,000 households is entitled to a badge which replaces the current free badge which was issued when the LibDems were in control of the Council.

There are around 30,000 active Minster Badges currently in use in the City.

From September, anyone without a badge will have to pay the full rate to park during the day and will also lose the right to free evening parking.

Council now claims A59 Park and Ride site completion date is Thursday 31st July!

On site wind turbine scheme jettisoned

Councillor Levene has now given a absolute commitment that all works connected with the Poppleton Bar park and ride site – plus associated works on the A1237 and the A59 will be completed by 31^st July.

In an answer published to a question tabled at the last Council meeting he says,the contractors are scheduled to leave site by the end of the month.

The premature opening of the Poppleton Bar site has also been under fire although the numbers using the service are claimed to be similar to the figures at other Park and Ride sites immediately after their introduction.

	Month 1 trip numbers	Month 13 trip numbers	Month 25 trip numbers
Grimston Bar (1994):	3,889	14,525	21,891
Designer Outlet (2000):	9,606	18,495	21,524
Monks Cross (2004)	13,550	35,429	43,797
Poppleton Bar (2014)	9,148 (8/6/14 – 1/7/14)

From opening, the number of cars parked at the new Poppleton Park & Ride site is between 70 – 100.

On a Saturday this increases to 200.

With many of the electric buses running empty, the Council has been criticised for unnecessarily increasing CO2 emissions.

In response to a written question the responsible cabinet member has revealed that the provision of an on site wind turbine was aborted at the last minute. He claimed,

“the electric buses charge overnight at the First Depot in York. The electricity grid is off-peak at this time and of lower carbon intensity. There was a wind turbine in the design for Poppleton Bar however the supplier went out of business a month before installation. Officers are currently exploring alternative suppliers of renewable generation equipment for Poppleton Bar which could supply sufficient power for the on-site Rapid chargers which boost the range of the electric buses”.

Labour Councillors have claimed that the decision to open the Poppleton Park and Ride site was taken by “officers” implying that they had no influence over the blunder.

Despite this 3 Labour Councillors were featured in a media photograph which covered the sites official opening.

Eight garages available to rent in Foxwood from £6-99 per week.

8 garages have become available for rent in the Foxwood area.

click to enlarge

They are available for £6-99 a week for tenants or £8-39 for other residents.

There are also vacant garages available in Ascot Way, Windsor Garth, Ridgeway, Thoresby Road and Bramham Road as well as on many other estates across the whole City.

Rents for garages near the City centre are higher.

To express an interest in renting a garage tel 01904 552096

Lib Dems fight to resolve parking chaos in Clifton

Clifton Liberal Democrats are pushing for Newborough Street to be converted into a residential parking zone due to the shocking lack of availability for local residents.

Newborough Street

Local families are unable to park outside their own homes due to a large number of local workers and city commuters taking advantage of the street’s unrestricted parking. This problem is only set to increase with the completion of the new eco-homes development, local homeowner and Liberal Democrat campaigner Tobie Abel is calling on the council to take action.

A petition to convert the street into a residential parking zone has been gaining momentum and will be submitted to City of York Council on the 17th of July. Residents can show their support by contacting Tobie at tobieabel.libdem@gmail.com.

Tobie commented:

“After speaking to local residents it is clear that the current situation cannot continue. Newborough Street’s proximity to the hospital, the football club and the city centre puts a real strain on the limited parking available. Everyone I have spoken to has been very supportive of the petition, and we are calling on the council to take action.

The residential parking zone would finally give Newborough Street homeowners the spaces that they desperately need.”

Confusion at Marygate car park

Liberal Democrats have raised concerns over changes made to a city-centre car park ahead of this weekend’s Tour De France.

The changes, introduced earlier this week, will mean that motorists will no longer have the option to pay by mobile phone at the council-owned car park on Marygate.

More surprisingly there is no option to pay by debit or credit card with only cash payments accepted.

Liberal Democrats say the move is a step backwards and has not been properly advertised. The changes are believed to have cost £100,000 with the installation of new ticket barriers.

Usually Labour Cabinet members are falling over themselves to have their photographs taken next to their latest vanity project. But they have been strangely quiet on this one.

The Council haven’t even formally announced the change through a media release.

And no one has yet admitted responsibility for the decision not to accept charge card payments.

The move follows the unpopular introduction of a new charge which means residents will have to pay £20 for a Minster Badge parking pass.

Cllr Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Transport, commented:

“The poorly advertised changes at Marygate represent a step-backwards for car parks in York as the pay by phone option will no longer be available meaning that motorists will no longer be able to use their cards to pay. As more and more services become cashless, it seems that Labour run York Council is going the opposite way.

“There are some serious questions to be answered about spending £100,000 on the changes at the same time as asking residents to pay £20 for their discount Minster Badge. I don’t think local people will believe this represents value for money.

“I am also concerned that these changes have been poorly advertised and many drivers will turn-up at Marygate expecting to be able to pay by card, but will instead have to trudge to a cash machine. Introducing the scheme just days before the busy Tour De France weekend is also questionable.”

Foreign language instructions, clearly still visible, state that credit card payments can be made.

Yesterday several bewildered visitors were wandering around the car park asking for help with “change”.

The machine claims to give “change” but whether it could always be stacked up with a big enough float of £1 coins to fulfil this promise remains to be seen,

Marygate car park gets barrier

Marygate car park will be changing to pay-on-foot barrier operation from 06:00hrs Wednesday 02nd July.

— York Travel (@york_travel) June 30, 2014

The new equipment for Marygate has apparently has cost £100,000.

The reliability record of this type of system is also patchy

There are some big questions to be answered about value for money with residents discount Minster Badges now costing £20. .

Apparently the facility to pay by charge/credit card (or phone) will be withdrawn. Not clear whether it is a “no change given” machine. Assume it will accept notes!!

NB. Will charges apply in the evening? How will badge holders exit without paying?

Residents now asked to pay £20 for “Minster” parking sticker

The Council’s Labour Leadership are going ahead with their threat to scrap the free “Minster” badge which entitles residents to discounts on car parking charges.

This was introduced some years ago as a way of recognising that residents had paid for the car park to be established in the first place.

Residents will have to apply online to purchase a replacement badge. (Ironically, today, the web site https://www.york.gov.uk/minsterbadge links weren’t working).

The Council says that the charge will go towards making up a £280,000 shortfall on car parking income.

The shortfall has arisen since Labour increased car parking charges, some by as much as 80%, when they took office.

The new scheme means the end of “free” evening parking for residents. Free evening parking was something Labour campaigned for in 2007 when a £1 per evening charge applied for residents.

Now any resident, without one of the new Minster Badges, faces a £2 charge (the same as visitors).

When announcing their plans earlier in the year, Labour claimed that they wanted to provide an incentive for “frequent visitors” to return to the City, but it now appears that those living in the City’s hinterland will NOT be able to buy a badge.

With around £300,000 in car parking income now at risk because of the free morning parking introduced at some car parks on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturday, it seems unlikely that the council has got its sums right.

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