Recently in Ward Committee Category

The Executive of the City Council met on Tuesday 17th of March and considered a report prepared by the Highways Department on the feasibility of building a village by-pass as the Terry's site is developed. The report stated the following:

"The report responded to each of the points in the Council motion and discussed the wider implications associated with the proposed link road.  It described the provision of two sections of link road, from Tadcaster Road to Bishopthorpe Road, at a cost of £6.1m.  The results of traffic modelling suggested that there would be some reduction of traffic flows on Tadcaster Road but that the main benefit would come from the redistribution of traffic flowing through Bishopthorpe.   It was noted that further work would be necessary to improve the punctuality of the no. 11 bus and that cycle connections could be introduced to reduce the traffic implications and increase access to the new Terry's development. However, the consideration of York's Green Belt would make it difficult to support the proposal in planning terms."

Following the above the Executive took the following decision:

"That the contents of the report be noted and that Officers be instructed to cease any further work on this proposal."

So there you have it, potential traffic problems in Bishopthorpe  seem to be  of little importance to the City Council's Cabinet.

It has been stated that following a "Survey" little support for such a by-pass was forthcoming, however this so called survey was not conducted by the Council and no statistics on such a survey have been published.

I am still firmly of the opinion that the only way the village can be protected from traffic chaos once the Terry's site is developed is the construction of the by-pass.

A possible spin off from a by-pass  was the potential for much needed football fields to serve Bishopthorpe being created alongside.

I have no doubt there will be those people who will rejoice at the decision, there are those people  who  politicised my efforts to campaign for a by-pass, so at least some some people will be content, I suspect there are many more who like me are very disappointed at the decision..

The loss of a greenfield was in my opinion a small price to pay to preserve the safety of the village and possibly provide much needed football fields.

Time will tell who was on the right lines and in a way I hope my fears of traffic mayhem in Bishopthorpe will prove to be unfounded, but I doubt it.


The Ward Committee

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The Ward Committee was held on Tuesday evening the 7th of October at Naburn, the meeting was attended by only 17 residents from the combined wards of Bishopthorpe and Wheldrake. There were as far as I could tell only 5 from Bishopthorpe. And that figure included at least two Parish Councilors. It is somewhat disappointing at the low turnout especially when there is always an opportunity to meet officers of the council and take part in general discussion. An opportunity to raise any issue with myself is always provided for in the agenda.

We had a chance to look at the plans for the new Park & Ride opposite London Bridge Filling Station; the scheme looked well with a much increased car park. Access and egress for buses will be by way of the current access point on to a new roadway behind Tesco's into the site. Access for cars will be on a new roundabout just west of the filling station.

A Fire Service Officer outlined plans for possible changes to Fire Stations in York, it is envisaged that the current Fire Station in Clifford Street will be demolished and rebuilt to house one fire appliance and the rescue boat whilst a new Fire Station would be built in the arc between Fulford and Osbaldwick.

The Police as usual were present and informed the meeting of recent crime figures.

A member of the Waste Re-Cycling team was present and a lively discussion took place on re-cycling.

A number of people spoke in support of their bids for funding from the Ward Committee budget which next year will be in the order of £26,000 for the two wards, unfortunately there will be some who will be disappointed as the bids total to far more than the budget, in making the decisions we will be guided by responses from residents.

The final item on the agenda is always a chance for attendees to have a say, not much was discussed relating to our ward rather discussion took place on the planning appeal for Elvington Airfield.