Agenda, decisions and minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on this agenda.

Members were invited to declare at this point in the meeting any personal of prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

No interests were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last City Strategy Decision Session held on 20 October 2009 (to follow).

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the last meeting of the Decision Session – Executive Member for City Strategy, held on 20 October 2009 be approved and signed by the Executive Member as a correct record.

               At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak at the meeting can do so. The deadline for registering is 5:00 pm on Monday 2 November 2009. 

       Members of the public may speak on item on the agenda or an issue within the Executive Member’s remit.

It was reported that there had been 2 registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme. Details of these speakers are set out under the individual agenda items.

This report is in response to the receipt of a petition signed by 10 residents of Old Moor Lane, York. The petition requests the closure of the footpath leading from Old Moor Lane railway bridge owing to recent incidences of crime and antisocial behaviour.

RESOLVED:             That a decision on whether to promote a gating order be deferred for 6 months in order to further review the incidence of anti social behaviour in the area and to allow time for a survey of public opinion, on the issue of snicket closure, to be undertaken.

REASON:                  To enable further investigations to be undertaken to assist the Executive Member in making a decision on the closure request.

The Executive Member considered a report prepared in response to receipt of a petition signed by 10 residents of Old Moor Lane, York. The petition requested that consideration be given to the closure of the footpath leading from Old Moor Lane to Moor Lane railway bridge owing to recent incidences of crime and antisocial behaviour (ASB).

Officers reported that due to the lack of evidence of persistent crime or ASB in the immediate area of the snicket, that the decision could be challenged if the proposal was progressed.

The Executive Member reported receipt of further representations from Cllr Reid, on behalf of all the Ward Member in favour of restricting public rights along the snicket.

Mr Aaron, made representations at the meeting on behalf of the 10 residents of Old Moor Lane who supported either the closure or gating of the snicket during night time hours. He stated that in a survey they had undertaken, less than 1% of local residents used this access and that the crime figures, detailed in the report, did not fully reflect the problems. He went onto describe the types of anti social behaviour and damage encountered in the area and pointed out that it was residents who kept the area tidy and removed any debris. He stated that the behaviour of others was causing misery to local residents.

Cllr Reid, confirmed that the original petition had been resident led and that it reflected the concerns of residents of Old Moor Lane, whose properties backed on to the snicket. She stated that residents were surprised at the low level of crime reported in the area. She pointed out that the study had taken place during works on Moor Lane bridge, which overlooked the area, and which may have discouraged anti social behaviour.She also referred to verbal comments she had received from other residents in the area that they would like to see the snicket closed at night to discourage people cutting through the residential area.In view of the continued concerns of residents she confirmed that Ward Members would be prepared to gather additional information in relation to this snicket for presentation to a future meeting to assist the Executive Member in making a more informed decision.

Officers stated that they only had details of reported crimes to take into account when considering the making of gating orders. If there were other incidences that they were unaware of they were unable to take these into consideration. They went onto refer to the Police monitoring arrangements for calls and suggested that residents should ensure that they obtained an incident report number to ensure that all incidents were logged.

The Executive Member then considered the following options and in light of representations made at the meeting: 

Option A.Do nothing and not progress the request to make a Gating Order to restrict public access along the footpath. This option is recommended.

Option B. Progress the request to make a Gating Order under S129 of the Highways  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

This report is in response to the receipt of a petition signed by 50 residents living in The Reeves area. The petition requested the closure of three snickets leading from Thoresby Road into The Reeves owing to persistent problems with criminal activity and antisocial behaviour.

RESOLVED:             That the Executive Member:

(i)                 Notes that the door to door survey results did not produce a majority in favour of the full time closure of any of the snickets;

(ii)               Agrees that the night time only gating order implementation process be undertaken for snickets 2 and 3 as detailed in the Officers report.

REASON:                  The level of crime and ASB occurring in the area, and also associated with the snickets, meets the criteria of the legislation, which allows the closure of snickets that are found to be facilitating the commission of persistent criminal activity and/or ASB. 

The Executive Member considered a report, which had been prepared in response to a petition signed by 50 residents living in The Reeves area. The petition requested the closure of three snickets leading from Thoresby Road into The Reeves owing to persistent problems with criminal activity and antisocial behaviour (ASB).

Officers reported that the level of crime and ASB occurring in the area, and associated with the snickets, met the criteria of the legislation, which allowed the closure. However, the survey carried out by Ward Members indicated that a significant proportion of residents living in Thoresby Road did not want the snickets closed.

The Executive Member reported receipt of additional comments from Cllr Sue Galloway who confirmed that the level of anti social behaviour in the area had reduced in recent months. She therefore only supported the permanent closure of the snicket between Nos 28 and 30 The Reeves, as this was not frequently used and the night time closure of the other two snickets.

The Executive Member pointed out that the survey results in Tables 1 and 2 of the Officers report (page 39) had been transposed between snickets 2 and 3. He confirmed that this required correction in order to gain a true picture of resident’s views on closure.

Angela Sweeting, a resident of The Reeves, made representations in support of the closure of the snickets. She referred to the high levels of anti social behavior in the area including damage to property. She stated that residents felt that by cutting off these escape routes it would have a significant affect in reducing the problems. She also referred to a number of unreported incidents, which were affecting resident’s quality of life.

Officers then detailed the stages that would be required in taking the gating orders forward, which could result in the gates being installed in approximately 12 months subject to funding.  

The Executive Member confirmed that there was no local consensus on closing the snickets and that two were well used. He stated that in view of the residents survey and representations made he was considering the night time closure of snickets 2 and 3. He considered that Community Ranger patrols would be able to provide a sufficiently reliable locking/unlocking service together with a nominated local key holder as a fall back. He made reference to the restrictions of the current legislation and to the hurdles that had yet to be overcome prior to implementation of any restrictions. 

RESOLVED:             That the Executive Member:

(i)                 Notes that the door to door survey results did not produce a majority in favour of the full time closure of any of the snickets;

(ii)               Agrees that the night time only gating order implementation process be undertaken for snickets 2 and 3 as mentioned in the Officers report. ^1.

REASON:                  The level of crime and anti social behaviour occurring in the area, and also associated with the snickets, meets the criteria of the legislation, which allows the closure of snickets that are found  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

This report highlights the strategic importance of Wigginton Road as a cycle route, examines options for making the route more cycle friendly, develops an outline scheme proposal and discusses how this might be taken forward towards implementation.

RESOLVED:             That the Executive Member agrees to:

(i) Give in-principle support to the outline scheme proposals shown in Annexes C and D of the report, which involve a mixture of on and off-road cycle facilities to create a continuous cycle route between the existing Foss Islands cycle path to the north, and Bridge Lane to the south. The scheme also provides additional on-road facilities to serve cyclists travelling to and from the Clarence Street junction along Wigginton Road;

(ii) Ask Officers to arrange to undertake further detailed design and public consultation, including the advertisement of any necessary Traffic Regulation Orders on the scheme, and then report back to a future Decision Session;

(iii) Requests that any shared use sections of path be delineated in line with the emerging standards to be included in the cycling infrastructure design manual, which was considered at the last Executive Member meeting.

REASON:                  Officers consider that this scheme will; support the Council’s aspiration of providing an uninterrupted cycling route between Haxby and the city’s railway station, provide better cycling access to the hospital buildings, provide significant improvements for cyclists on Wigginton Road, and generally contribute to the aims of the Council as a Cycling City.

 Consideration was given to a report which highlighted the strategic importance of Wigginton Road as a cycle route, and examined options for making the route more cycle friendly, developed an outline scheme proposal and discussed how this might be taken forward towards implementation.

The Executive Member referred to additional representations received from Cllr Merrett. He had welcomed the proposed scheme but had raised a number of issues in respect of the route within the hospital site.

Officers confirmed that they were working with the hospital to ensure that satisfactory arrangements were agreed for the route through their site.

The Executive Member confirmed that this scheme would provide the missing link on the core cycling network.

The Executive Member then considered the following options:

Option 1 – Support the outline scheme shown in Annexes C and D of the report for further development and public consultation;

Option 2 – Support the outline scheme, with some changes, for further development and public consultation;

Option 3 – Reject the proposed scheme, and reconsider the route to the rear of the hospital.

RESOLVED:             That the Executive Member agrees to:

(i) Give in-principle support to the outline scheme proposals shown in Annexes C and D of the report, which involve a mixture of on and off-road cycle facilities to create a continuous cycle route between the existing Foss Islands cycle path to the north, and Bridge Lane to the south. The scheme also provides additional on-road facilities to serve cyclists travelling to and from the Clarence Street junction along Wigginton Road;

(ii) Ask Officers to arrange to undertake further detailed design and public consultation, including the advertisement of any necessary Traffic Regulation Orders on the scheme, and then report back to a future Decision Session;

(iii) Requests that any shared use sections of path be delineated in line with the emerging standards to be included in the cycling infrastructure design manual, which was considered at the last Executive Member meeting. ^1.

REASON:                  Officers consider that this scheme will; support the Council’s aspiration of providing an uninterrupted cycling route between Haxby and the city’s railway station, provide better cycling access to the hospital buildings, provide significant improvements for cyclists on Wigginton Road, and generally contribute to the aims of the Council as a Cycling City.