Local residents in Lowfields are objecting to plans to remove the railings which protect their garden boundaries.
The plan by the Council to replace the railings was first revleaed on tyhis site at the weekend.
According to their Facebook site, the Lowfields Residents Action Group is leading a campaign to get the Council to consult neighbours on their plans.
Their main concerns are about the appearance of a new fence, its impact on the natural environment, damage to existing landscaping and the money which would be wasted if the existing railings – which are in good condition – were junked.
Separately the Council has announced today that it will commence construction work on the site in two weeks time.
It is writing to residents telling them about a consultation meeting which is taking place next week and which will involve the Wates building contractors
The Residents Group has responded saying, “We think this is pretty short notice for a consultation event.
The letter includes an evasive reference to “Yorspace” who we understand are still struggling to find funding for their communal living site.
It also pointedly doesn’t admit that the Council have failed to find a developer for their proposed elderly persons care home.
Nothing more either, on the public buildings (Health Centre and Police station) which seem less and less likely now to happen.
This means that there is no chance of building work on the whole site being finished within 2 years”.
Plans for the new St George’s Field multi-storey car park and coach park have been submitted and are available for viewing and comments as part of the next steps in the Castle Gateway project.
The submission of the planning application for St George’s Field is a major milestone in the delivery of the regeneration of the Castle Gateway. Once complete, the new car park will allow for the permanent closure of Castle Car Park, to create an expanse of new high quality public space for the city.
The relocation of the car parking would also remove a significant number of car journeys from inside the inner ring road, helping residents and visitors get around more sustainably in this part of city.
The planning application has been developed through a range of in depth public engagement events that took place throughout the spring and summer to explore the design options for the multi-storey car park and public spaces..
The new, modern four-storey car park would provide 372 large car parking spaces over 5 levels, with the fifth level of parking situated on the roof. 15 % of the parking spaces will be for electric vehicle charging with the ability to increase these as demand grows.
City of York Council have worked closely with the Environment Agency and Historic England, to ensure the proposed plans have minimal impact on the functioning floodplain and surrounding heritage, creating high quality architectural design. Vehicle and pedestrian access at first floor level of the car park means it would continue to be in use even when the River Ouse is in flood.
After the planning application has been validated by the council’s planning team in the coming days, it will be available to view at www.york.gov.uk/planning under reference number 19/02063/FULM
The new car park would be funded through a new residential development on the site of the now demolished Castle Mills Car Park. 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 planning application for the residential development on the site of the Castle Mills building, providing new riverside apartments for sale, council housing and a pedestrian/cycle bridge across the Foss can be expected later in October.
Councillor Nigel Ayre, executive member for finance and performance, said:
“The planning application for St George’s Field Car Park marks a key stage in the Castle Gateway regeneration. The Castle Gateway area offers a great opportunity to put family-friendly public spaces, better transport links and places for York businesses at the heart of the city.
“The design of St George’s Field car park is built on extensive public engagement, bringing together the diverse range of opinions on an important part of our city. The application is now open for comments, so please take a look and participate in this important process.”
The proposed building includes living walls, a feature external staircase, and solar panels. New government regulations that have been introduced since the plans were last shared with the public have restricted the use of timber cladding on car parks, so the plans propose an alternative natural and sustainable material to achieve the same effect alongside the green ‘living’ wall.
Latest figures published by the York Council suggest that anyone who has a planning application rejected by the local authority has a 30% chance of having the decision reversed on appeal. Appeals are considered by independent inspectors.
The figures reveal that inspectors rejected two appeals against decisions that the planing committee had made and which were in conflict with the recommendations of local planning officers.
One of the these concerned the controversial Spark Container Village who tried to avoid providing cladding on the public frontage of the shipping containers.
Some 18 months after the containers were occupied, the cladding has still not been provided. With the Council still not having advertised the Piccadilly site for sale, there is growing concern that the situation will drift on.
The planning permission for the containers does expire in June 2020 so the matter must come to a head within the next few months.
Residents and businesses can have their say on plans which could guide future developments on the former Bootham Park hospital site.
The former hospital site, which includes a series of Grade 1 and 2 listed buildings, is back on the market after a sale fell through earlier this year.
While City of York Council and local health partners do not own the site, they have joined forces to influence the plans of future owners.
The council and the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust have included their own land to the north and east of the former hospital to show how a larger site could respond to the healthcare, housing, transport and green space needs of this area and the wider city.
The site development report was produced after consultation late last year, and shows how a sensitive and appropriate development could provide:
147 dwellings
52 key worker apartments
a new physiotherapy suite, medical training and research centre of excellence
a 70 bed care home
60 assisted living/supported living apartments
a new children’s nursery
Multi-storey car parking to maintain existing parking capacity and open up the site
extensive public open space
Councillor Nigel Ayre, City of York Council executive member for finance and performance, said:
“The consultation last year confirmed how important the Bootham Park Hospital site is to York and its residents.
“It has been a focal point for the community and played a huge role in the city’s healthcare since the hospital building first opened its doors in 1777.
“While we don’t own the site we are exploring how to make sure that future developments respect that heritage and play a part in meeting some of York’s 21st Century challenges.
“So please take a look at the plans, give us your feedback and we’ll use them to influence future owners of the site.”
You have until Friday 11 October to make your comments on all elements of this proposal.
You can see all the details and join the conversation in a number of ways.
Exhibitions (available from Tuesday 17 September)
City of York Council’s West Offices, Station Rise, YO1 6GA
The foyer of York Hospital, Wigginton Road, YO31 8HE
Meet the team and talk through the proposals at these events:
Tuesday 17 September 3pm to 6pm, Marriott Room, York Explore, Library Square, YO1 7DS
Saturday 21 September, 1pm to 4pm, York City Church, Citadel YO31 7EA
Wednesday 25 September, 4pm to 7pm, York City Church, Citadel YO31 7EA
Tuesday 1 October, 2pm to 5pm, York City Church, Citadel YO31 7EA
You can see all the details and find a link to an online survey (also available from 17 September) through the council website, or join the conversation on social media.
The Councils leadership is being recommended to reject a proposal which would have seen a joint neighbourhood plan prepared covering the Acomb and Westfield Wards. The proposal was widely criticised as being ”too big” to meet a key community of interest test.
The majority of respondents to the Councils consultation opposed
the plan.
Opponents included the local residents association, an
action group and the Westfield ward Councillors. (The Acomb Ward Councillors didn’t
respond to the consultation)
A report points out the proposed population of the planning area at 23,440 is 4 x the optimum size of 5500 suggested by central; government legislation.
A council official claims that a parallel proposal to create
a “Neighbourhood Forum” could be approved although the report fails to analyse
claims that the governance structure of the proposed body is bogus. The forum was criticised by consultees as introducing
unnecessary additional bureaucracy at least in the Westfield area where several
residents groups already operate.
The report author concludes that a Neighbourhood Plan,
including a revised “forum”, could be approved for the Acomb ward only.
We believe that the plan to exclude the Westfield area is correct.
However the proposal to jump to an “Acomb Ward only” model
is premature. Such a move would rule out drawing up a neighbourhood plan for
the Front Street area. Part of this district includes the Acomb Ward side of York
Road which would be subject to a different plan under the new proposals.
Front Street in older times. This part of Westfield may require better protection.
No consideration has been given to including the area of
land between the built-up area and the A1237 northern by pass) in any new arrangements,
thereby failing to recognise the importance given by many residents in the area
to the protection of open space.
The Council should simply reject the current ill-considered
neighbourhood forum and plan proposals which are before it.
New proposals may then emerge which could be subject to re-consultation.
The Friends of Rawcliffe Meadows(FRM) are objecting to a plan to raise and extend flood barriers on the river Ouse near Rawcliffe.
Rawcliffe Meadows
They say “FRM believe the Environmental Statement is fundamentally flawed and must be comprehensively revised to give an honest and comprehensive account of the likely destruction of and damage to SSSI grassland”.
They go on to say, “There will be adverse impacts on the Cornfield Nature Reserve which are of regional or at least district-wide significance”.
The report says, “The application is for works to repair and extend the Clifton Ings barrier bank. This is one of the projects within the agencies flood alleviation scheme (FAS) to reduce flood risk throughout the city. £45 million has been allocated to the EA which will upgrade defences in 19 areas (referred to as flood cells).
The objective of the FAS is to protect against the 1 in 100 year flood (1% AEP) plus climate change and where this cannot be achieved then deliver the maximum level of protection in each cell within the context of existing flood risk and considering other environmental, social and cultural aspects.
The purpose of the barrier bank is to reduce flooding from
rivers (fluvial flooding) to the Clifton / Rawcliffe area.
However, during the floods in 2000, water from the river
outflanked the flood defences, spilled onto Shipton Road and flooded over 100
homes. The flood basin at Blue Beck also exceeded its capacity in 2000. In
these instances, the Environment Agency had to provide temporary pumps to
reduce flooding upstream on Blue Beck.
The barrier bank was constructed in 1980. It is of earth
fill construction and is up to 4.5m high. The embankments on both sides of the
River Ouse currently have issues with stability created by high pressure in the
banks when the reservoir empties. This has meant that the drawdown rate for the
reservoir has had to be reduced from 1,360mm/day to 300mm/day in order to
reduce the risk of failure. This reduction in the drawdown rate significantly
impacts on the operation and effectiveness of the reservoir as a flood defence,
particularly for any consecutive flood events.
Clifton Ings provides a flood storage reservoir on the eastern side of the River Ouse close to Rawcliffe Park and Ride and the sports clubs Clifton Alliance and York. When not flooded, the northern section of Clifton Ings is used for grazing and the southern section is used as open land by the public. A Sustrans cycle route runs through this area.
During high flow events it has a flood capacity of 2,300,000 m3. It is owned and maintained by the Environment Agency.
The Planning Committee is meeting on Thursday at 4:30pm. The
meeting will also consider a separate proposal to create a temporary access
route into the site.
A planning application, which would have seen the residential accommodation above the Premier shop on Gale Lane converted into 5 letting rooms, has been withdrawn.
The proposal was criticised by some residents who feared that 5 separate, unrelated, tenants would generate additional parking problems in the area. There are already issues with inadequate parking on St Stephens Road.
Other criticisms related to the lack of waste bin space and the absence of any cycle storage.
The owners may be permitted to use the first floor accommodation for single family use.
……..as Spark finally submit proposals for cladding their shipping container village
City of York Council has received notification from the Planning Inspectorate that the applicant for the Moor Lane planning application (18/02687/OUTM) has appealed the Council’s decision to refuse the outline permission for up to 516 residential units.
The Planning Inspectorate has notified the Council
that the Inquiry will start on 12th November 2019 and it is anticipated that
the Inquiry will sit for 12 days.
The Council will send notification of the appeal to
any person who was notified or consulted about the application and any other
interested persons who made representations.
If however the representation was part of a
petition, each individual on the petition will not be notified by the Council.
Spark
Separately the Spark container village people have finallysubmitted details of their plans to provide cladding on the development frontage.
cladding plans
They say, “We propose to attach to this frame a secondary timber structural frame which will be over clad with treated softwood or Siberian Larch battens of 50mm width running vertically with a 50mm gap forming a continuous wrap and palisade along the external boundary. The timber cladding will be overplanted with Clematis growing from planters situated at first floor level”.
The development reaches the end of its 3 year lease next
June. We doubt very much whether even fast growing clematis will make much difference
to its appearance during the intervening months.
NB. The Council has so far failed to say how much “profit
share” they enjoyed from the Spark lease last year.
Local Government Association (LGA) report says the house-building rate in York is comparable to rest of the country.
The net new supply in York increased the existing housing stock by 1.5% during 2017/18.
This is much higher than the England average of 0.9%, suggesting the level of local supply is unlikely to be an issue. The Government’s national target of 300,000 homes per year is equivalent to 1.3%.
Population growth in York is set to average 686 people per
year from 2020 to 2041, with projected average annual household growth of 430
households over the same period. This is significantly lower that the Council
is forecasting in its draft Local Plan
According to the report, which was published this week, the average house price in York in 2018 was £254,000. The median ratio of house prices to local earnings is 8.8. This is higher than the England average of 8.0, suggesting high house prices are likely to be an issue for some
Private rents in York in the 12 months to September 2018 ranged from £565 per month for a lower quartile one bed to £2,058 for an upper quartile four (or more) bed property. The overall median private rent was £745, which is approximately the same as the England average of £690, suggesting that high private rents may also be an issue.
House prices in York in December 2018 are higher than their 2007/08 peak by 25.4%, compared with England at +27.3%.
Employment in York improved from 75.3% in 2014/15 to 78.7% in 2017/18; unemployment changed from 3.6% to 3.1%; and economic inactivity changed from 21.7% to 19.4%.
Gross domestic household income in York was £18,070 per
person per year in 2016, compared with £14,133 in 2006. By comparison the
figure for England changed from £15,349 to £19,878 over the same period.
The overall population in York changed by +0.6% due to migration in the 12 months to June 2017: +0.2% from domestic sources and +0.4% from international.
By age, the largest single contribution to growth was from 19-year olds.
The average life expectancy for people born in 2015-17 in York is 80.2 years for men and 83.5 years for women.
The equivalent national figures are 79.6 and 83.1 respectively.
The report confirms that second home ownership, empty homes
and inward migration numbers are not significant issues for the City compared to
the rest of the country.
Following the recent decision by the Secretary of State not to call in the planning decision for York Central , City of York Council says it will “now continue to maintain momentum across the York Central site with the decision to release the next tranche of funding for the project”.
“The Council will now engage with its construction partner in finalising the design work for the enabling infrastructure; this includes the access road bridge and spine road through the site, a pedestrian bridge on Water End and a rail link to the NRM”.
There is no mention of addressing the “elephant in the room”. That is the major outstanding issue. – cycle/pedestrian movement from Leeman Road to the riverside and the City centre
The early plan showed a shared cycle track still using the (appalling) Marble Arch tunnel (which still has no waterproof membrane). Vehicle movements would be traffic light controlled, with public transport one of the main victims
This simply won’t do.
The Council needs to find an alternative route possibly via a new tunnel built to modern standards which provides access to the green spaces next to the river while also providing a traffic free cycle link to the City centre and beyond.
Te Council must address this issue in its imminent submission of a Reserved Matters planning application to open up the site.
The planning application will be funded partly by Homes England and partly from the York Central Capital budget agreed by Council in November 2018.
A report to the Councils Executive next week also sets out what opportunities can be taken, moving forward, to maximise the benefits of the York Central site; including a greater proportion of affordable homes, higher sustainable build standards, inclusion of York Central in the Clean Air Zone and an option to build a new bus lane ahead of schedule.
A report, published today, sets out the key benefits already secured, including:
· extensive pedestrian and cycle route provision into and through the site
· 20% of homes available at affordable rates,
· the highest sustainable design standards , and
· around £15m developer contributions to improve transport infrastructure to encourage more bus passengers, cyclists and pedestrians.
The report outlines that the council, while waiting for government decisions on planning and funding, will work with the York Central partnership to explore other measures to amplify these benefits.
For housing, this could mean a greater proportion of affordable homes, higher sustainable build standards and community self-build in early phases of the development.
To improve the environmental impact, the council could require sustainable energy generation on site, include York Central in the bus Clean Air Zone, increase the number of electric charging points and build a new bus lane ahead of schedule to increase more journeys by sustainable transport.
The report highlights the delays to the programme due to the referral of the planning decision to the Secretary of State, and the decision over an application for £77.1m to the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund. The report asks the council to allocate £750,000 to fund early contractor involvement to finalise a planning application for the bridge and spine road which will allow access to the site from Water End.
The York Central Partnership (YCP) members, Homes England, Network Rail, The Railway Museum and City of York Council, have been working collaboratively for the past four years to develop proposals and assemble a £155m funding package for infrastructure works to unlock the brownfield land. City of York’s Council has played a key role in providing significant funding streams to help deliver the project and fund the enabling access and infrastructure works.
York Central
The approved outline planning application includes proposals to build 2,500 homes, 20 per cent of which will be affordable, and a commercial quarter creating up to 6,500 jobs adding a £1.16 billion boost to the economy.
The Executive meeting takes place on 18th July. The York Central report can be found byclicking here.
