Crunch vote tomorrow on future of two Labour Councillors

The Labour councillors responsible for the botched Lendal Bridge trial will formally face calls to resign at tomorrow night’s meeting of York’s Full Council.

Quit

Council Leader James Alexander and Cllr Dave Merrett, the Cabinet Member responsible for the trial, will both face a vote to decide whether they keep their jobs.

The move is part of a Liberal Democrat motion which also calls for the 60,000 motorists fined for crossing Lendal Bridge to be repaid automatically without having to apply for a refund.

So far Labour has only said York Council will reimburse people who apply for a repayment.

The motion follows the embarrassing U-Turn last week when Labour announced that it would drop its appeal against a Government Traffic Adjudicator ruling which said the Lendal Bridge closure was unlawful.

In April Cllr Merrett said that if the trial was proved to be unlawful he would resign, telling BBC Radio York: “Yes, I accept that at the end of the day that if we’ve got it wrong to that extent that I’d have to resign”.

In April Cllr Merrett lost responsibility for Transport, but kept his Cabinet post taking control of Environmental Services.

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Marygate car park – more problems

Marygate car park chargesAs we predicted the new barrier controls at the Marygate car park are causing problems.

The barrier was stuck open on Saturday afternoon

it is impossible to pay for a ticket if the barrier is inoperable, so motorists simply parked for free.

We explained when the barrier scheme was first suggested that reliability would be an issued. So it is proving to be the case.

It is unclear how much revenue the city is losing through unreliability, the improper use of the residents evening free parking ticket system or the inability to pay by card.

The problems are being raised at the Council meeting on Thursday..

Lendal Bridge refunds – Council “don’t call us” statement

The Council has issued the following statement.  Refund_Stamp

It is incorrect as the Council hasn’t yet decided to offer refunds on Lendal bridge fines. At this stage it is merely a proposal from Cllr Levene.

No date has been set for the issue to be formally considered by any of the Council’s decision taking bodies.

The Council statement reads,

The Council has decided to refund people who received a fine during the trial traffic regulation of Lendal Bridge, those who appealed to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal will receive payment from the Council and need take no further action. A refund will be made in all other cases provided a request is made through the council application process. This is due to the clear level of public concern during the trial. It is hoped that this can be seen as a statement of goodwill and we are drawing a line under the matter.

In order to protect the Council against the risk from fraudulent claims a simple application process is currently in development and it is anticipated that this will be launched in the near future. An announcement as to the opening of the application process will be made through the Council website and the Council’s normal communication channels.

Whilst we appreciate that those affected by this process will wish to make their application at the earliest possible date, refunds will only be made when requests are made through the official application process and contacting the Council prior to the opening of the process will not be necessary or assist your claim.

 

£1 million Exhibition Square/theatre bus stop upgrade plans to be challenged tomorrow (Monday)

click for larger map

click for larger map

Plans to remodel the bus stop area outside the Theatre and Art Gallery may be shelved at a meeting taking place tomorrow.

Critics say the plans will do nothing to improve the area, could lead to more traffic congestion and will not contribute to “reinvigorating York”

The Council’s huge expenditure programme for central York has come under fire from many quaters in recent times. It is partly blamed for the increase in the Councils debt and for squeezing the funding available for other parts of the City.

The Theatre bus stop project  is being partially funded from a central government grant and will not therefore directly impact on local taxpayers. The money could, however, have been used to upgrade busy sub-urban bus stops.

The proposals for the Theatre Interchange element of the scheme include:” increasing circulation space for visitors to the Square, pedestrians and bus passengers by reducing the size of the existing bus lay-by; replacing the two existing bus shelters with two new more attractive shelters; and providing real time information and more/better seats for bus passengers”.

Many residents are likely to have some sympathy for having  a least a pause in the Council’s extravagant expenditure programmes

Coalition government gives York £1 million to improve transport

Lendal Bridge recriminations continue

Lendal bridge without traffic

Lendal bridge without traffic

York been awarded a further £1million by the Department for Transport as a dispute about who paid for the Lendal Bridge trial has surfaced.

Refund decision- who decides and when?

None of the Council’s decision making bodies has considered a proposal to repay Lendal Bridge fines. It is merely a proposal to creep out for a “behind closed doors” meeting of the Labour Group.  It is a key decision but does not appear in the Councils forward plan.  The last time the Council considered the issue Labour Councillors combined to vote down a request for an independent scrutiny review of the failings of, and lessons to be learned from, the Lendal and Coppergate trials.

Now a decision date will have to be set and a report on the methodology – and costs – of setting up a refund system will have to be written and published. The ultimate success of a proposal to repay fines is not in doubt, as both Opposition parties (LibDem and Tory) have previously called for the refunds to be made. There is considerable doubt, though, about when such payments might start and what paperwork vehicle owners may be expected to complete.

How much did it cost and who pays?

The present government allows Local Authorities a large measure of devolution on transport spending priorities and last year the Councils Labour Leadership chose to spend some grant money on access restriction hardware (such as ANPR cameras).

This totalled around £100,000 and is money that has now effectively been lost. The latest grant allocation (see below) was made before the York Council made its announcement about refunding Lendal Bridge fines, so it remains to be seen whether the fiasco will adversely impact on future transport funding allocations for the City.

The vast majority of the costs of the Lendal Bridge and Coppergate schemes were funded by fine income. The detail was reported to the Cabinet earlier in the month Click here for report Para 23 makes it clear that £1.756 million in fine income had been received by the end of March. Administrative costs were £718,000. In the main, those were the costs of enforcement and processing the FPNs. The Council has never revealed how much it was charged by the Peterborough based company that it used to process the  fine notifications.

LTP3 – What did it say?

Some commentators are also claiming the the Local Transport Plan (LTP3), submitted to government in 2010 when the Council was LibDem led, somehow prompted the Lendal Bridge access restriction trial. The plan can still be viewed on the Council’s web site click here

The Plan does suggest a trial which would have given public transport priority on Ouse Bridge (not Lendal Bridge) in the medium term (2019). However that was conditional on other network improvements being completed – notably to to the northern by pass and to Park and Ride facilities –  in the interim. The Labour Leadership must accept full responsibility for trying to bounce an ill considered Lendal Bridge scheme,  onto an unsuspecting public, before even the two new Park and Ride sites had been completed.

£1 million more from Government

We hope that the Council will get back to basics and ensure that there is full public discussion of their plans for the use of this money. They have gone backwards recently with the removal of card payment options at the Maygate car park, travellers can no longer look on the web to see which car parks are full and on street visual display boards are often not working.

Well used sub-urban bus stops still don’t have real time “next bus arriving” screens yet.

All are issues that need addressing before anymore money is squandered on “vanity” projects
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York Council to repay Lendal Bridge Fines

 

Coppergate fines stand – for now

Lendal bridge notice

In an amazing U turn – before even the results of their appeal against the traffic adjudicator ruling have been revealed – the York Council’s Labour Leadership has announced that they will refund  over £1 million in fines levied against motorists who used Lendal Bridge during the ill fated access restriction trial.

They have yet to submit the proposal to a formal Council decision meeting.

The Council have already spent over £700,000 – of the £1.8 million fine income that it raised from Lendal Bridge and Coppergate – on administering the trial, so taxpayers are in for a hefty hit.

The Council only broke even on its budget during the last financial year because of the ANPR camera bonanza.

The failed experiment ultimately led to the demotion of Labour Councillor Dave Merrett, although he still holds a £20,000 a year Cabinet job.

Residents will now be looking at the future of Council leader James Alexander who bears ultimate responsibility for the financial  and organisational disaster.

The Council have not said how motorists will be able to claim a rebate.

There is a suspicion that visitors – particularly those from overseas – may never hear about the change of heart. They may continue to be out of pocket as a result of the Councils unlawful actions.

Last month Labour Councillor Stephen Burton (Westfield) led an attempt to block plans to have an independent inquiry into the fiasco.

When unveiled a year ago, Liberal Democrats opposed the trial saying that it was badly timed and poorly executed.

In September 2013 (after only a few weeks of the trial) Liberal Democrats called for it to be abandoned against a background of huge enforcement issues.

If the Council had accepted then that they had made a major mistake, taxpayers would not now be facing a £1million bill.

The Council statement comes only 2 days after a Liberal Democrat Councillor tabled the following question for next Thursdays Council meeting.

(xxxiii)             To the Cabinet Member for Transport from CllrAspden: “ Would the Cabinet member confirm the number of Fixed Penalty Notices issued for breaches of the access restrictions on Coppergate since 1st April 2014 and would he confirm that no action is currently being taken to enforce the restrictions?”

The Council was also finally set to discuss a motion submitted 4 months ago by Cllr Ann Reid which read,

To deal with the following Lendal Bridge notice of motion referred back to Council by Cabinet,  from its meeting on 6 May 2014, after consideration of the evaluation of the trial. A copy of the Cabinet report and minute are attached as Annexes 1 and 2 (Annexes A to G of this report are available online only).

(i)        From Cllr Reid

“Council notes the report in The Press on 27th February which revealed important facts about the Lendal Bridge closure.

Council further notes that:

  1. The Labour Cabinet’s six-month trial closure of Lendal Bridge should have finished at the end of February
  2. The closure has brought widespread criticism from local residents, business owners, tourists and tourist groups
  3. Negative media and social media coverage has been generated to the detriment of our city
  4. The closure has failed to significantly improve overall bus journey times
  5. Traffic displaced by the closure has caused increased congestion elsewhere in the city e.g. Foss Islands Road and Water End at Clifton Bridge
  6. Officers have admitted that the trial closure has had little impact on overall air quality
  7. The Labour Cabinet Member responsible has admitted that the signage at the start of the trial was “very confusing”
  8. Around 45,000 motorists have received fines for crossing the bridge.

Council therefore resolves to ask Cabinet to:

  1. immediately end the trial closure of Lendal Bridge
  2. publicly admit that the trial has been botched and to apologise for this
  3. immediately publish the raw data on the trial ahead of their detailed evaluation report
  4. commit to consulting with residents and local businesses before bringing forward any future plans for Lendal Bridge.”

It seems, that with many Labour Councillors now deserting a sinking ship, the Leadership has decided to try to find a lifeboat of its own!

 

 

Still more A59 road works to come

More traffic delays are in prospect as lane restrictions are re-introduced on the A59 near its Boroughbridge Road junction with the A1237.

The lane restrictions had been lifted for the Tour de France.

 Now, with work at the junction dragging on, further congestion and inconvenience for drivers is expected.

 The nearby Park and Ride site is also far from finished and the delays and the decision of the Council – to start bus services from the unfinished site – will be considered at the York Council meeting next week (17th).

 Questions tabled include:

 (xxxiv) To the Cabinet Member for Transport from Cllr Reid:
“Who took the decision, and when, to open the new Park and Ride site at Poppleton before work had been completed (the outstanding works on 9th June included car parking space, signage, traffic signals, road junction layout, layout, A1237 junction improvements etc) and when will all work connected with the Park and Ride site and associated road works be completed?”

(xxxvi) To the Cabinet Member for Transport from Cllr Reid:
“ What has been the number of vehicles parked on average each day at the new Park and Ride site at Poppleton and how many passengers have been carried by the new buses on each day since 9th June?”

Hob Moor tunnel closure badly signed

Footpath closed. Queue forms

Footpath closed. Queue forms

The Hob Moor to Tadcaster Road cycle/pedestrian route under the East Coast Railway line is now closed.

The closure is poorly signed from the Gale Lane and Windsor Garth access points onto the cycle path.

There is a diversion signed from Hob Moor Terrace but not using a route that visitors would find easy to follow.

 

 

 

 

 

University Road Cycle Route; Safety Improvements Consultation

City of York Council in partnership with the University of York, are proposing to undertake safety improvements and construct a cycle route alongside University Road to help make the area more accessible and safer for students and residents.

The proposed cycle path will extend along the northern side of University Road between Siwards Way and Innovation Way roundabouts, and will mainly be new construction within the existing verge area. The existing path areas near the library bus stops will be retained.
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Businesses challenge each other in the ‘York Cycle Challenge’

cycle to work

Ahead of the Tour de France coming to the city workplaces in York are invited to take part in a fun, free competition to encourage more people to get on their bikes.

Both Aviva and Natural England are two of the 65 business who are already getting into gear ahead of the York Cycle Challenge. Over 1800 people are expected to get on their bikes throughout the challenge which runs from 16 June until the Tour de France comes to York on 6 July.
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