Pay on Exit introduced in Marygate and Coppergate

From this week, Marygate and Coppergate Centre Car Parks (formally known as Piccadilly) now offer new ‘pay on exit’ car parking.

We think that this is a step forward but the top priority remains to improve digital signage and communications to prevent unnecessary trips by drivers seeking parking spaces. That is particularly important at these two car parks which are accessible only by awkward routes.

It is several years since the Council switched of some of its advance car parking space availability signs. A promise that available space information would be integrated into “Sat Nav” systems has not yet materialised., although this si common on electric vehicle charging platforms

The result is unnecessarily long journeys with all that entails in terms of extra pollution.

So now the City of York Council, in partnership with York BID, have introduced the new ‘pay on exit’ equipment, which has been upgraded to enable customers to pay for parking as they leave the car park, in a hope to improve the customer experience.

The new ticketless systems will enable residents and visitors to pay for parking as they leave, rather than in advance.

A successful ‘pay on exit’ trial was undertaken in Marygate car park back in 2016 and the new system has now been expanded to the Coppergate Centre car park too.

The new system uses ANPR cameras to provide ticketless parking at both car parks. ANPR cameras will read the car registration plate on entering the car park. When visitors leave, all they need to do is go to the payment machine and type in their car registration plate.

Blue badge holders are able to scan their barcode or QR code for free or discounted parking at the Coppergate Centre car park. At Marygate, where designated disabled parking bays are outside the car park and occupied, blue badge holders wishing to park inside the car park are able to scan their barcode or QR code for free or discounted parking.

ANPR cameras will read the car registration plate on leaving the car park and all visitors need to do is pay any required charge for their stay.

The ticketless parking system will recognise that payment has been made and the barrier will raise automatically to allow drivers to exit.

The introduction of ANPR systems mean car park scratch cards are no longer able to be used in the car parks.
If anyone holds a parking permit for a car park where ANPR ticketless parking is in place, they’ll still be able to use the car park as normal. To find out more on this visit the page on the council website.

It’s hoped that the ‘pay on exit’ system will be rolled out across other city car parks.

Please note: Marygate car park currently has reduced capacity during the important Environment Agency works taking place in the area, and larger vehicles will be operating/using the narrow access road.

The new pay on exit payment systems have been introduced as the new national restrictions change from 12 April to include:

Non-essential retail reopening
Outdoor hospitality is allowed
Personal care premises such as hairdressers and nail salons can resume
Libraries, community centres and indoor leisure facilities can reopen (but only for use by people on their own or in household groups)
The rule of six or two households still applies and we can only spend time with those we don’t live with outside.

Restrictions remain in place, which means you will still need to sanitise your hands, wear face coverings and keep socially distanced.

The council is continuing to support local businesses and has prepared for the next stage of lockdown rule easing on 12 April. Extra measures introduced in the city will include:

The installation of temporary public toilets, additional litter bins and additional cleaning taking place in the city centre
extending the Covid Support Marshalls programme until the end of June
submitting planning applications required for temporary managed outdoor spaces to help people see friends and family safely
making it easier for people to get tested, offering a collect option at our testing sites and opening up symptom-free testing to all adults and children of secondary school age and above.

Coronavirus York updates; 19th August 2020

Deaths and test results

The results table has been updated to show the actual date of positive tests in York plus three more positive test results. . This is now available of the government web site click

Monk Bar car park shuttle service news

A Council official has agreed to extend the free taxi service for disabled users which links Monk Bar car park to the City centre. The little used service had been due to end but has now been extended to 6th September.

A behind closed doors meeting held yesterday heard that “the usage thus far has been low but is slowly increasing and it allows that to be monitored, mindful that those shielding have greater freedoms from the 1st of August”.

The opportunity to reduce the number of parking spaces allocated for the service was not taken, so they are likely to remain unused for the remainder of the busy summer period.

Shops busy

The Designer Centre has been busy this week. Typical 15 minutes wait for access. Good news for the local economy.

Coronavirus York updates; 5th July 2020

Test results and deaths

The government has revised its stats to show an additional positive test result in the York area on 29th June. This took the cumulative total to 899.

There has still not been any comment from the authorities about the success or otherwise of the contact tracing process in the local area. The next meeting of the York Councils “outbreak management board” is not due to take place for another week.

The cumulative total of deaths at York Trust hospitals remains at 214.

Where is the plan?

Some traders are reporting that takings yesterday were down compared to the previous Saturday.

The Council has been criticised for multiple failures with its parking strategy. It appears that the “phone only” 2 hours free parking was not applied if a shopper tried to pay for an extra hour (they were liable to be billed at full rate for the first 2 hours).

As we said when the scheme first started it was simply to complicated to be understood by casual visitors (even assuming that they had downloaded the mobile RingGo parking app).

Key shoppers car parks like Castle & Marygate were excluded from the scheme.

The Council compounded the problem by saying that the Castle car park would be closed, but without saying when. (They need to forget that idea for at least 12 months. This would give the City centre economy time to recover and for alternatives to become established)

Some traders have suggested that there should be free parking at all car parks from 3:00pm each day. That would at least have the merit of being understandable (and would also help the evening economy).

Shop Local - Serving the WI & IL State Line Area

The Councils’ preferred alternative transport mode – cycling- still suffers from a lack of secure parking. This is also an acute issue at some suburban shopping locations.

The provision of additional “social distancing” space – at the expense of highways and car parking – has been largely random. In most cases like Marygate car park the provision has mostly been ignored by users.

In others, contraflow cycle lanes have introduced additional hazards.

All in all then, the lack of a thought through recovery strategy is becoming of more concern each day.

Marketing alone will not be enough.

In an occasional lucid moment the York Council has displayed some advertising flair. Not least with the widely applauded “Don’t be a Tosser” anti litter campaign.

They may also say that people are right to be very cautious about visiting busy locations. They would be right in saying that safety must come first.

But that doesn’t excuse the absence of a 3 – 6 month revitalisation strategy.

As regulations allow; arts, music, poetry, comedy and sports should come to open spaces throughout the City. Sub-urban areas and villages must be included. Most shops, takeaways, restaurants and hairdressers in those areas have now reopened.

They – like the arts – have had little support from the authorities.

A festival atmosphere would provide a huge lift for the morale of residents and visitors alike. It should encompass large visitor magnets like the Minster, Museums and Guildhalls.

But it does needs to start quickly now.

Corona Virus update – 28th March 2020

Aldi queue priorities for NHS & emergency services

Supermarket Aldi has said that nurses, police officers and firefighters will take priority in its queues.

In a statement, it said: “All day, every day, key workers in the NHS, police and fire service will take priority ahead of queues into our stores upon showing a valid ID.

“This is in addition to early access on a Sunday, where they can enter stores 30 minutes prior to opening.

Thank you from everyone at Aldi.”

York Council guidance updated

The latest council guidance can be found on this link.

Regrettably it still does not address the issue of “routine” food shopping, stock positions, “least busy time” advice and the lack of delivery & contactless payment options (other than plans to use volunteers to help the needy – see below)

A national briefing on the position at supermarkets can be found here https://brc.org.uk/news/corporate-affairs/coronavirus-latest-retailer-announcements/

Financial support for residents

The York Council have announced a details of emergency funds totalling £1.25m for residents affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents will be able to receive financial help from two funds, depending on their circumstances and how much help they need. The two funds are the:

Emergency hardship fund for residents affected by Covid-19
Council tax COVID-19 hardship fund

More information at at www.york.gov.uk/coronavirus

York Council community response and hubs

“We have invited people in need to contact us via the council’s standard number as well as via covid19help@york.gov.uk Calls are being dealt with by the Customer Centre (now operating 7 days a week). Any requests for help that fall outside of normal service requests are being forwarded to a unit that we have established to respond to individual need. We are dealing with a wide range of requests for help. We are responding according to the nature of the need, for example:

Referring to a voluntary organisation providing a relevant service
Sending a volunteer to do shopping for the individual
Arranging a delivery of food via the foodbank
Arranging delivery of food that we have procured
Arranging follow-up welfare calls using volunteers
Linking the individual into the local Facebook groups

To support this effort we are in daily contact with all the relevant voluntary organisations to understand their needs as well as what they have to offer. We are working particularly closely with the foodbank to focus on food issues to understand demand and adapt our approach accordingly.

Our response will now be bolstered through the establishment of community hubs. The hubs are part of the city’s co-ordinated response to the COVID-19 emergency. They are not open to the public and are at strategic locations around the city. In the first instance these respond to the government’s requirement to deliver food to the “medically shielded” (we will be provided with a list of who these people are) prior to a national door to door delivery system kicking in. We expect our first delivery of food imminently to our central warehouse. Our hubs will also provide a safety net for this system should any individual be missed. 10 hubs are now ready to pack food into boxes as soon as it is delivered. A further 14 can be opened if required”.

Homeless support

We are aware of the government’s announcement about how council’s should be supporting homeless people. People sleeping rough in the city are among the most vulnerable in the city and it is important for their immediate and long-term health to get them into accommodation. We have accommodation for those who are still outside. From there, we can provide them regularly with food and support for their other needs.The Government has asked us to triage people to different location according to any underlying health issues and we’re working on this. More information on our support we are offering was outlined in our press release from earlier this week.

Business support

The business briefing includes how we’ve worked with Make it York, York BID and the LEPs to make the case for small employer support, and are raising some teething issues with over government-backed loans with the British Business Bank. Now we are asking businesses to tell us what other support their business needs by completing this short survey from Make it York – whether they are a member or not.

Mental wellbeing

Public Health England has tailored Every Mind Matters to provide advice and tips on how to manage anxiety during social distancing and isolation. People can find guidance, advice and tips on how to maintain mental wellbeing while at home or are worried and anxious about the outbreak is the NHS site.

Service changes

Register office

As of Monday 30 March, York Register Office is closed to the public following the Coivd-19 pandemic. Following Government guidance we are now asking people to register a death by telephone. If you have been given a medical certificate of cause of death from a doctor, you will need to deliver this to the Register Office (post through the letter box) or post the certificate to us.

Before delivering or posting please ensure you add the following details, clearly, on the medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) envelope:

name of the person who will register the death
a contact number and email address for the person who will be registering the death
the name of the funeral director (if known)

Once we have received the MCCD we will call you to arrange the registration. If you have not received a MCCD from the doctor, please call 01904 654477 or email registrar@york.gov.uk. We apologise for any inconveninence.

Changes to public transport

Following the Covid-19 pandemic City of York Council have worked with York’s bus and train operators to ensure key workers and people making essential journeys are still able to get in and around the city.

After the Government announced guidelines stopping all but essential travel the number of people using bus and train services in the city has dropped substantially. In light of this we have worked with operators to remove non-essential services. We are also reminding those who are travelling need to consider social distancing whilst they move around.

Bus services:

Bus operators and the council have looked at bus usage over the past week after restrictions were put in place to assess what trips are required for key workers, essential journeys, and also to gauge demand levels so services can operate within social distancing guidelines. Most services are continuing to run, but on a less frequent timetable. Some services will stop where there are other options for travellers. Specific changes are:

Park and ride services from Askham Bar, Poppleton Bar and Grimston Bar will cease from Sunday. FirstYork will take park and ride tickets on adjacent services on their town network (for example, service 12 for Askham Bar, service 10 from Poppleton Bar and Grimston Bar). The park and ride services from the Designer Outlet, Rawcliffe Bar and Monks Cross will continue to run, although at a half hourly frequency. The car parks at Grimston Bar and Poppleton Bar will be closed, although the car park at Askham Bar will remain open. The Hospital Shuttle Bus from Rawcliffe Bar will continue to run.
“Local” services in York will run at a reduced frequency. Most of First’s network will operate at a half hour frequency, with half-hourly services becoming approximately hourly. Service 13 (Connexions) will run hourly. Service 20 every 2 hours, with frequency reductions also on services 24/25/26. Service 19 will cease to operate, although its stops in Rawcliffe and Clifton will be served by the Hospital Shuttle Bus.
CitySightseeing services will not operate.

Longer distance services are also effected.

Coastliner services are combined with Cityzap and will operate every hour. Service 415 to Selby will operate every hour, services from East Yorkshire have also been reduced. Services 22, 30, 40 and 412 will operate but at reduced frequencies.

Bus users are asked to check operator websites before they travel for the most up to date information. These can be accessed via itravel York website www.itravelyork.info Whilst these temporary changes are in place bus timetable apps and screens will not be displaying the correct information.

Rail services:

Train companies are now offering a reduced service – ensuring key workers are still able to travel as required. Timetables changes will be introduced from Sunday and full details are available via the National Rail Journey Planner and train operating company websites

Car parking:

A reminder that free car parking for key workers and food workers:

Key workers who work in the NHS or are health and social care related services or work in supermarkets and food outlets without parking (this does not include takeaways) will be able to park for free in council car parks to support the fantastic work they are doing during the corona virus pandemic. Our only ask is that they put in the windscreen a letter on their employers headed paper confirming that they are a key worker in one of the services mentioned above.

During the outbreak the council are mindful that people may not be able to move their car whilst they self-isolate some discretion is being shown to people who park legally provided they are not causing an obstruction or wilfully breaking the law. Any urgent enquiries on this can be sent to parking@york.gov.uk where officers will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please note Fossbank and Piccadilly car parks are currently closed.

Healthy child service

In line with government advice, a few changes have been made to our healthy child service offer.

New parents will still be offered a face to face visit from a Health Visitor when they have been discharged by the midwife. Health visitors will call before they visit to ask about symptoms of coronavirus in the household. Health Visitors can support new parents with feeding, help to understand baby’s communication cues and answer questions relating to baby’s health, safety and development.

Health visitors and school nurses can still be contacted by phone and are on hand to provide advice and support. Please do not come to the centres, we will contact you by phone and visit only if it is essential and safe to do so.

The team can support over the phone with behaviour, toileting, sleep, healthy eating, ideas for activities during isolation and lots more.

Young people can contact the school nurses confidentially by text or call on 07833 437363 Monday- Friday 08:30-17:00

Our health visitors and school nurses can be called (Monday to Friday 8.30am -5pm) on:

The Avenues children’s centre 01904 551760
Clifton Children’s centre 01904 552322
Hob Moor children’s centre 01904 555475

100 lost car parking spaces, brutal architecture & a dodgy cycle crossing feature in latest St Georges Field plans

York residents are being invited to see the final plans for the St Georges Field and Castle Mills developments.

City of York Council is sharing plans for a multi-storey car park at St George’s Field, a new bridge over the Foss and a residential development at Castle Mills area ahead of submitting planning applications over the next two months.

The proposed developments are “the vital first stages to deliver the centrepiece of the vision for Castle Gateway – a new public space around Clifford’s Tower and the Eye of York”.

The four-storey car park at St George’s Field is “needed to replace the parking places which would be lost on the current Castle Car Park, and would be funded through the new residential apartment developments on the site of the now demolished Castle Mills Car Park. By moving the car park, the plan would remove a number of journeys from inside the inner ring road”.

As part of the plans a new public bridge spanning the River Foss would connect Piccadilly and the rear of the Castle Museum, opening up a planned cycle and pedestrian route along the river into town.

The plans involve the loss of 100 car parking spaces to which can be added to those already lost when the Castle Mill car park was closed a couple of years ago. The multi storey car park is further away from the main shopping streets. Its lower floor is likely to be unusable when river levels are high.

How the retail community will view this reality remains to be seen.

There is a new shared cycle/pedestrian crossing at the junction with the inner ring road. The proposal fails to separate these users from general traffic, a failing also evident in the solution proposed for cycle priority in the Leeman Road/Marble Arch area.

There will be a shared cycle/pedestrian bridge across the Foss near the rear of the Castle Museum.

More controversially the artists impressions for new residential buildings on Piccadilly show an unrelentingly brutal architectural approach. It will not be to everyone’s taste.

The Council claims that the plans have been refined since they were shared at public events, online and through social media in March.

The two drop-in events feature an exhibition of the proposals and the opportunity to talk to the team about the plans. There is also the chance to take guided walks of the area to explore the developments on location:

Saturday 1 June
Drop-in 11am-2pm / Guided walks at 11:30am and 1pm
Spark : York, Piccadilly

Wednesday 5 June
Drop-in 3pm-7pm / Guided walks at 4pm and 6pm
Friends Meeting House, Friargate

Residents are invited to a drop-in session or to join the conversation on twitter @MyCastlGateway , www.facebook.com/MyCastleGateway.

You can also view the plans online from Friday 31 May at https://www.york.gov.uk/CastleGatewayMasterplanLatest

The Castle Gateway masterplan was created after City of York Council teamed up with a local group called My Future York to develop ‘My Castle Gateway’. The ongoing, open conversation has taken in walks, talks and conversations on social media to develop a brief and explore emerging ideas before this masterplan was finalised.

Car park occupancy in York

Car parking space availability signs still not working

It looks like the Council may finally be reinstating the remote car park space availability systems.

The real time information – available on street signs and via the internet – was abandoned some 5 years ago.

Now a £98,000 contract has been awarded to Swarco Traffic Ltd for the provision of new control equipment

Bad news for small car owners in York

5.2 metre long hybrid behemoths could get discounted parking in York

The York Council looks set to end the discounts available for the owners of small cars who park in central York. The decision will mainly affect Respark districts although some car park season ticket holders also stand to lose their concession.

In March 2004 the then LibDem controlled City of York Council took the pioneering step of offering Respark permit holders, who drove small low emission vehicles, a substantial discount on their parking permit costs. It was the first scheme of its type in the country.

At the time the discount was aimed at maximising the number of vehicles which could be parked in ResPark areas. Then, as now, demand for on street spaces exceeds their ability particularly in terraced areas.

|The “short car” initiative meant that maximising the use of vehicles like the 2.7-metre-long Smart car could allow everyone a space. They also had the advantage of being economical, low emission vehicles although it was several years later that central government started to encourage low emission cars by establishing vehicle excise duty bandings which favoured small cars.

The Council used the new bandings to offer discounts for owners who bought season tickets for the Councils off street car parks. Drivers of excise duty bands A and B received a 50% discount.

Small cars will lose their discount entitlement

Now the Council, is set to reverse its policy on encouraging small cars. Instead they intend to offer discounts on ResPark permits (and parking season tickets) only to the users of “ultra low emission vehicles” (ULEV). These are cars which emit less than 75g/km or less of CO2 per mile.

815 existing permit holders would be affected by the change.

In effect this means the only vehicles to benefit from a discount will be “all electric” and “plug in hybrid” models.

This is a step in the wrong direction at least as far as ResPark permits are concerned.

Many of the ULEV vehicles available are not “small”. They include models like the Mecedes S Class 500E which is over 5 metres long. The smallest is a VW e-UP (3.5 metres) which is all electric and has a range of 90 miles (probably less in the real world).

E-up would get a discount but must recharge every 90 miles

……and that is the second problem. These vehicles must be recharged after each journey. There are no kerbside charging points in ResPark areas at the moment and not likely to be in the foreseeable future. Owners would have to drive to and from a public rapid charging point of which there are a limited number in central car parks.

The councils new plan – which will be discussed at a meeting taking place next Thursday – is ill considered.

It seems designed only to increase the Council’s income from car parking charges. It mimics central governments excise duty decision which focus on a vehicles value rather than environmental impact.

It is estimated that the change could bring in around £140,000 a year extra for the civic coffers.

Rose Theatre shoots up but chaotic scenes at Castle car park

Contractors are making good progress in erecting the “Rose Theatre” in the Castle car park. It is due to open in a few weeks’ time.

Rose Theatre 10th June 2018

Sadly, all is not well with car parking in the area. What is left of the adjacent Castle car park was “rammed” before lunchtime today.

No “alternative parking” direction signs were in place. Space may be available at both the Piccadilly multi story car park and St Georges Field but neither are sign posted.

Car parking space availability signs still not working

The Council has been heavily criticised for failing to repair the parking space signs which are located on the arterial roads leading into the City. They failed about 4 years ago and, despite promises that they would be reactivated once the City’s gigabyte broadband network was working, we seem to be no closer to restoring a system which worked well in the last decade.

Nor has the web-based system been upgraded.

Anyone visiting the web site will be told all the spaces at each car park are apparently available.

In reality, the site hasn’t been updated for several years.

When performances start at the Rose Theatre things are likely to get worse.

On line web site information hopelessly out of date

Advanced signage is essential if more and more cars are not to circle the City centre seeking somewhere to park. They would potentially add to congestion and pollution.

The York Council has had plenty of time to sort out this problem.

City traders, who are likely to suffer most, have a reasonable expectation that facilities, which worked well in the last decade, can be reactivated in June 2018.

Littering fines to rise to £100 in York

Car parking charges up

Councillors are expected to day to confirm increased charges for many York Council services.

There is an eyewatering 33% increase in the fine level for anyone found littering the streets They will pay £100 a time (early payment discount £75-00) Unfortunately very few fines have been issued in recent years and litter remains a problem in parts of the City

The Council is also hiking the rent for garages. This despite many having been left empty. The Council could bring in more income by actively marketing the vacancies. Filling the garages would also reduce on street parking problems in some suburban estates. Council tenants will pay £7-43 for a garage while private individuals may rent one for £8-92. There are higher charges for high demand are while areas with a low demand attract discount rates

Car parking charges are increasing by 10p per hour. 5 hours parking at a short stay car park will cost £11-50

No elasticity of demand analysis is included in the Council budget papers. In recent years the Council has rarely achieved its budgeted income from parking charges

A list of the new charges can be found by clicking here

RingGo smartphone parking – questions answered.

The change of cashless parking operator in York last month provoked some criticism due to a perceived lack of prior publicity.

The Council says, this contract represents very good value for money and has a key focus on innovation and how best to use new technologies, for example connecting our customers to local retailers.

The Council claims that 2 weeks’ notice of the change of contractor was given. Publicity mainly used social media channels and signage although a media release was issued a couple of days before the system went “live”

We saw little evidence of this marketing until 48 hours before the change was made.

We have so far been unable to find evidence that the decision to award the contract was recorded in the Councils decisions register nor does it seem to have been included yet on the contracts register.

On the other hand, we have seen no evidence of quality issues on the new service, so hopefully it will “bed in” and become the payment method of choice for car park users.