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York awarded £300k to improve links between Scarborough Bridge,York railway station and city centre

York has been awarded £300k to make further improvements to cycle and walkways between Scarborough Bridge, York railway station and the city centre.

Today’s announcement follows a successful bid by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and City of York Council through the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund.

These improvements will include:

  • An enhanced crossing of Bootham linking into the cycle route through to the district hospital.
  • Improving the riverside cycle route on the Esplanade side of the river.
  • Replacing the steps from St Mary’s to Marygate Lane with a ramp.

The funding will support the £4m upgrade of Scarborough Bridge, which is nearing completion. Works are being carried out by Network Rail to replace the footbridge attached to Scarborough (rail) Bridge on behalf of the council.

The new bridge will greatly improve this crossing and connect cycle/walkways directly to York Railway Station as well as providing access for wheelchair users. This additional funding will be used to improve further links between the bridge and the city centre, the hospital and York Central.

For more information about cycling or walking in York visit: www.itravelyork.info/ 

What’s on in York: Minster joins in York Residents Festival

DATE 26 Jan – 27 Jan 19

TIME 9:30 am – 4:15 pm

LOCATION York Minster

York residents are invited to experience unbeatable, panoramic views of York from the highest point in the city – York Minster’s central tower – for free as part of the 2019 York Residents’ Festival.

Admission to the Minster is free all year round for York residents, but for the festival the cathedral is also offering residents free tower trips across the weekend, which normally cost £5 each.*

On the Saturday, people can also enjoy free interactive activities in the awe-inspiring surroundings of the cathedral’s 13th century Chapter House, including:

  • Drop in family sessions to create a Heart Of Yorkshire inspired sun catcher (10am-3pm)
  • Object handling sessions with items from the cathedral’s historic collection (11am-2pm)
  • Noah’s Ark themed Little Explorer backpacks to help young explorers discover the Minster (9am-4pm) and an activity area for young children with books and toys linking to the Minster.

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What’s on in York: Finding the Words with Andy Armitage, John Foggin and Joan Johnston

JAN Finding The Words

York Explore Library :

Thu 24 Jan :

6.45pm – 7.45pm :

£3/£2 with a YorkCard

Finding the Words is a regular poetry evening every month at York Explore Library. Each evening brings together three poets and we aim to include both published writers and those working towards a collection. We’ll have a bar available and readings last around an hour. The evening is also a chance to share and chat, so please feel free to bring any news or information about poetry local, regional or national.

John Foggin lives in Ossett, West Yorkshire. His work has appeared in The North, The New Writer, Prole, and The interpreters house, among others, and in anthologies including The Forward Book of Poetry [2015, 2018]. He publishes a poetry blog: the great fogginzo’s cobweb.
His poems have won first prizes in The Plough Poetry [2013,2014], the Camden/Lumen [2014], and McClellan [2015] Competitions respectively. In 2016 he was a winner of the Poetry Business International Pamphlet Competition judged by Billy Collins.
He has had published four pamphlets/chapbooks: Running out of Space [2014] Backtracks [2015], Larach (WardWood Publications) [2015] and Outlaws and fallen angels (Calder Valley Poetry) [2016], and two collections, Much Possessed (smith|doorstop) [2016], and Gap Year..co-authored with Andy Blackford (SPM Publications) [2017]
A new pamphlet ‘Advice to a traveller’ is published by Indigo Dreams [2018].

Andy Armitage is a poet and editor from Leeds. His first chapbook ‘Letters to a First Love from the Future’ was published in July 2018.
Andy has a PhD in English and has published poetry in Acumen, Dream Catcher, Strix, Riggwelter, The High Window, and Algebra of Owls. In 2017, he won First Place in the Leeds Museums Poetry Competition and this year he was Highly Commended in the York Mix/York Literature Festival Poetry Competition. He’s written scholarly articles on Ted Hughes’s poetry for the British Library and the Ted Hughes society websites.

Joan Johnston was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and lives on Tyneside. She has worked as a writer in hospitals, prisons, day-centres and schools and with the homeless, women’s groups, and older people in residential care. She is the recipient of a Hawthornden Fellowship and teaches creative writing in Adult Education and on a freelance basis.
She has published three poetry collections and three pamphlets – her latest pamphlet An Overtaking was published by Red Squirrel Press in 2016. Her poems have also been widely published in magazines and anthologies – most recently in Land of Three Rivers (pub. Bloodaxe, 2018)
‘Joan Johnston knows what poetry can do. She reveals wonder inherent in the everyday. I like her work very much’. – Kathleen Jamie

Please visit our ticketing website to book a place.

Building plans near Moor Lane nature reserve

Askham Bog

Developers submit plans which could threaten the future of Askham Bog.

Developers are seeking “outline planning permission (with all matters reserved except for means of access) for up to 516 residential units (Class C3) with local centre (Use Classes A1-A4, B1a, C3, D1) public open space with pavilion and associated infrastructure and full application for demolition of existing buildings and structures and creation of ecological protection and enhancement zone”.

The location is on Moor Lane “OS Fields 5475 7267 And 8384 Moor Lane Acomb York” Click this   Reference for full details 18/02687/OUTM

The application went “live” on the Councils “planning on line” web site only yesterday. Objections have to be lodged by 9th January with a statutory expiry date of 30th January.

Some believe that the application has been timed to coincide with the busy festive season when resident’s attention is distracted.

The proposal is highly controversial.

Sir David Attenborough said during a visit to the site in 2016,

“If someone was proposing to put a building site next to York Minster there would be an outcry. This is a treasure that is irreplaceable.

“The citizens of York are lucky to have it on their doorstep and it is their responsibility to look after it.”

A Yorkshire Wildlife Trust spokesperson said the bog was a remarkable survivor of the ancient fenlands of Yorkshire, a ‘wonderful mosaic of fen, woodland and meadow,’ occupying the site of an ancient lake left behind by a retreating glacier 15,000 years ago.

The present Council specifically took the step of excluding the Moor Lane area from the development plans when it published its Local Plan. In 2 months time an independent inquiry will take place into the Plan.

It seems that the developers want to “bounce” a decision on the proposal before the formal Local Plan can be adopted.

They may be hoping that Labour will regain control of the York Council at the local elections which are taking place in May 2019. When Labour were last in power, they slated Moor Lane and other areas of Green Belt for development.

These decisions were revoked in 2015 by the new coalition administration.

Unfortunately the present Council is also guilty of pre-judging the Local Plan having succeeded recently in “bouncing” a plan to develop playing fields at Lowfields through the planning system. They did so before residents had the opportunity to voice their views at the public inquiry.

Opposition to the proposals is being coordinated by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Click this link to go to their website www.ywt.org.uk

Moor Lane development plans December 2018

York Councillors asked to approve funding for York outer ring road dualling

Councillors will be asked to approve match funding for the dualling of the York outer ring road from the A19 Shipton Road through to Little Hopgrove (Malton Road), when they meet at Executive on Thursday 20 December.

The plans don’t include improvements to the Ouse river crossing, one of the main pressure points on the existing network. Nor are there plans to introduce split level intersections  raising concerns that the existing junctions, even with larger roundabouts, will continue to be pinch pints on the network.

A Council report asks the Executive to recommend  that £2.8m match funding, approximately 10 percent of the estimated £28m cost of the dualling element of the overall upgrade scheme, is provided in the Council’s Capital Programme.

The opportunity for funding of the scheme using the new Major Road Network Fund was announced by the Secretary for State earlier this year.

This follows on from the outer ring road roundabout upgrade scheme which will see seven roundabouts upgraded ready for dualling as part of a West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund scheme.

Work is nearly complete at Wetherby Road roundabout after starting earlier this year. Monks Cross is the next in line with ground clearance works set to take place early in 2019. It is proposed to join the dualling and roundabout schemes together as early as possible to reduce overall costs and disruption.

Subject to the decision on the match funding proposal at this Executive meeting a formal Outline Business Case (OBC) would be submitted to the DfT this month.  This is the first stage of the DfT’s approval process. Dependent on a positive assessment of the OBC and Ministerial approval it is anticipated that Programme Entry status would be granted for the scheme by March 2019.

Increasing the capacity of the ring road leading to the redistribution of trips will complement the city’s transport policies and help to enable more sustainable travel options to be delivered in the urban area of the city.

The York Outer Ring Road improvements programme is being funded through the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund, and the Leeds City Region Growth Deal – a £1 billion package of Government investment through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.

For more information about the York outer ring road roundabout upgrades visit www.york.gov.uk/yorr

Executive takes place on Thursday 20 December from 5.30pm and is open to members of the public or is available to watch live online from: www.york.gov.uk/webcasts

To find out more about the report, or to attend, visit: https://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=733&MId=10475&Ver=4

Rough sleeping in York falls from 29 to nine people in 2018

The number of people sleeping rough in the city has reduced this year from 29 to nine, following work by City of York Council and partners.

In 2017, the official number was 29, in 2016 and 2015 it was 18. Work continues to reduce this number further and help more people off the streets into safer, more stable lives.

The count this year was conducted on 21 November into the early morning the following day. That night, all known locations where people sleep out and those reported to Streetlink were visited by officers from the Salvation Army and North Yorkshire Police.

For two months beforehand, information on people who beg, people who have accommodation and those who do not, had been gathered from the city’s agencies. The agencies met after the count to evaluate that information and the people found on the night. Actually six people were found sleeping rough on 21 November, but the agencies added to the list three more known rough sleepers who hadn’t been seen that night and who were known not to have taken up accommodation. The final figure of nine was verified independently by Homeless Link.

To support more rough sleepers off the streets, the council and charity Changing Lives opened 11 extra emergency beds ahead of the winter months this year giving the city a total 29 to match last year’s number of rough sleepers. Also, a new early help and prevention hub was opened by The Salvation Army in the summer at 63 Lawrence Street where any single person without a bed for the night should visit between 10am-midday.

To help address the complex reasons underlying rough sleeping, the council has secured £193,000 for 2018/19 to provide a more targeted and innovative approach, including additional support for those with mental health issues.

Anyone who sees someone sleeping rough can ring Streetlink on 0300 500 0194. This national helpline alerts local agencies to visit the location and offer support.

We encourage people not to give cash direct to those appearing to beg, but to contribute to personalised support for genuine rough sleepers by texting YORK35 £3 – or whatever sum they’d like to give – to 70070.

What’s on in York: YorNight – York Researchers’ Night

Nov _17ResearchKing’s Manor and the Yorkshire Museum :

Sat 17 Nov :

3.00pm – 8.00pm :

Free

Prepare for a journey of discovery as we explore the fascinating world of research at York Researchers’ Night (YorNight) 2018.

Through talks and fun activities for all ages, find out about the diverse research being carried out in our city, and its power to influence and transform our daily lives.

Held on Saturday 17 November and hosted by the University of York, YorNight offers a warm welcome at the historic King’s Manor and the Yorkshire Museum.

All events are FREE and no booking is needed.

YorNight 2018 is presented by the University of York with support from the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF).

For more information please visit our website.

Wetherby Road roundabout – final resurfacing works due to start next week

Work on Wetherby Road roundabout proceding on schedule

The final stage of the Wetherby Road roundabout upgrade, the first of seven to be upgraded, will begin on Monday 19 November when overnight road surfacing works take place.

To keep disruption to a minimum work will take place overnight from 8pm-6am. The work is scheduled to take ten nights, from 19 – 28 November  including Saturday and Sunday

In order to carry out the works safely the use of a temporary road closure on the A1237 from the roundabout at A59 to the roundabout at Askham Lane and the closure of Wetherby Road from the junction of Beckfield Lane to the junction of Grange Lane will be necessary whilst works are taking place. The road will remain open as normal outside the above hours.

Clearly signed diversion routes will be set out for traffic. The closure is to ensure that health and safety is maintained for everyone.Site staff will be on hand to advise and assist residents about the access restrictions once the works are ongoing.

Emergency services will be permitted through the works in any situation, however, cyclists will be subject to the same traffic management as other vehicular road users.

As with any construction work, there is likely to be a certain amount of disruption and inconvenience to the public, however we will try at all times to keep this to a minimum.

There may be further works following on from this period but these will be carried out under lane closures and temporary signals with the A1237 and Wetherby Road remaining open.

When the roundabout is completed it will be the first of seven to receive three lane entrances and two lane exits as part of a £38m scheme to reduce congestion on the York Outer Ring Road.

The York Outer Ring Road improvements programme is being funded through the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund, and the Leeds City Region Growth Deal – a £1 billion package of Government investment through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Regio

For more information about the York Outer Ring Road improvements visit www.york.gov.uk/yorr (more…)

Vehicle speeds in York – Comprehensive stats released by police

The North Yorkshire Police have published updated statistics which reveal the speed of vehicles using roads in York. The figures have been derived from automatic equipment which has been deployed over the last 4 years. Usually the sites for the equipment have been selected following complaints raised by members of the public.

The stats are separate from those collected by the speed camera vans which are sometimes deployed in the area. The request for the data was partly prompted by a concern that the speed vans weren’t concentrating their time on roads with poor accident records.

250 roads have been checked in the York area during the last 4 years.

Information covering the results for the whole of North Yorkshire can be downloaded by clicking this link

The information for the monitoring equipment was routinely reported to a York Council meeting until 2015.  The process was centralised in North Yorkshire thereafter and largely fell out of the public gaze.

The published information shows the mean speed and the 85%tile speed recorded on each road. The latter figure is the speed that 85% of vehicles drive within. It is most commonly used by professionals to decide whether a road has a speeding problem. (Vehicles exceeding that limit could include emergency vehicles)

The stats also record the number of accidents – where speed is an issue – recorded on each road.

There are several conclusions which can be drawn from the data:

  1. A 30-mph speed limit is observed by most drivers using roads in the urban area
  2. 20 mph speed limits are not being observed although on those roads there have been no speed related accidents while mean speeds generally remain below 30 mph. The only monitored road with an 85% speed of less than a 20 mph limit was St Johns Walk
  3. The only roads where there have been speed related accidents, and where drivers were routinely exceeding the speed limit, were North Lane (Huntington), Jockey Lane (Huntington), Heworth Green, Intake Lane (Acaster Malbis) Osbaldwick link Road, York Road (Naburn) and Huntington Road (nr Cats Protection office). Accident prevention works have subsequently taken place at some of the these sites.
  4. Of the roads with speed issues in the York area, during the early autumn, the speed camera vans visited Millfield Lane (Poppleton), Strensall Road (Huntington), the Monks Cross link road,  Temple Lane (Copmanthorpe) and Tadcaster Road in Dringhouses. However, the vans  spent most of their time on the A64 and A59.

Overall the figures suggest that excessive speeding is not a problem on most monitored roads in the City.

Speed related accidents are also relatively low. In the City, since the beginning of 2017, there have been 5 serious injuries caused by speeding vehicles plus a further 13 accidents which were classified as “slight”.

The York Council would be wise to reintroduce a regular public monitor of the statistics and the action taken to reduce the possibility of accidents in the future.

They could usefully begin by reinstating the missing speed warning signs (VAS) on streets like Wetherby Road.

What’s on in York – Book Launch: The Story of Museum Gardens Story

Nov _7Museum

York Explore Library :

Wed 7 Nov :

2.00pm – 4.30pm :

Free

Join us to meet Dr Peter Hogarth and Professor Ewan Anderson as they introduce this new copiously illustrated book.  Discover the story of the gardens, including the Roman fortress, the medieval St Mary’s Abbey, the Yorkshire Museum and the botanical garden.

Signed copies of the book, published by The Yorkshire Philosophical Society, will be on sale at a discounted price. Refreshments will be available.

The book will interest garden lovers, historians and anyone with treasured family memories of visiting the gardens.

This event will take place in The Marriott Room and there will be refreshments available.

For more information please call the library on (01904) 552828 or york@exploreyork.org.uk.