Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive and note apologies for absence.

There were no apologies.

At this point in the meeting, the Executive Member is asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary interest, or other registerable interest, they might have in respect of business on this agenda, if they have not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

[Please see attached sheet for further guidance for Members].

The Executive Member was asked to declare, at this point in the meeting, any disclosable pecuniary interests, or other registerable interests she might have in respect of business on the agenda, if she had not already done so in advance on the Register of Interests. None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the Decision Session held on Tuesday, 17 June 2025.

Resolved:   That the minutes of the Decision Session held on Tuesday, 17 June 2025 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 to speak can do so. Members of the public may speak on agenda items or on matters within the remit of the committee.

Please note that our registration deadlines have changed to 2 working days before the meeting. The deadline for registering at this meeting is at 5.00pm on Friday, 12 September 2025.

 To register to speak please visit www.york.gov.uk/AttendCouncilMeetings to fill out an online registration form. If you have any questions about the registration form or the meeting please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting whose details can be found at the foot of the agenda.

Webcasting of Public Meetings

Please note that, subject to available resources, this public meeting will be webcast including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The public meeting can be viewed on demand at www.york.gov.uk/webcasts.

It was reported that there had been four registrations to speak at the session under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Mark Venables spoke on item 6, on behalf of Poppleton Traffic Action Group, asking that the successful Bishopthorpe model be adopted in Poppleton and other villages desirous of a 20mph speed limit. He also asked that specific traffic calming measures be implemented.

Cllr Nicholls spoke on item 6, on behalf of Bishopthorpe residents. He supported options 3 and 5 of the report, with specific suggestions regarding where traffic enforcement should be used.

Joe Nasson spoke on item 6 cautioning against returning to a 30mph limit on Appleton Road and Sim Balk Lane, particularly around the Junior and Infant schools. He felt that raising to 30mph would concede that the 20mph limit was not being adhered to, and rather than raise the limit again he suggested that stronger enforcement of the present 20mph limit should be implemented.

Chris Polack spoke on item 6, on behalf of York Civic Trust in support of option 5. He welcomed the successful trial of the 20mph zone. He noted that government guidance was that there should not be “excessive reliance” on enforcement, but the report had supposed there should be “NO reliance” on enforcement at all.

This report presents the findings of road safety feasibility work and consultation undertaken following receipt of a petition from residents of Irwin Avenue and Malton Avenue, Heworth. The petition was presented to Full Council in October 2021.

A decision is required so that the council can respond in an appropriate manner and demonstrate that the concerns of all residents are being carefully considered and actions being progressed.

Resolved:   To approve Option 3

i. To do nothing and leave Irwin Avenue as existing.

ii. To commit to a future scheme to review the Dodsworth Avenue/Heworth Green junction.

Reason:     The view of most residents was that the proposals do not address the main areas of concern and this would therefore be a waste of resource, with funds better used elsewhere.

The report was presented by Highways Engineering Design Manager. He explained that recent consultation had not achieved consensus, and recommended that the scheme in its current form should be withdrawn, but that the council consider this area for a future potential scheme.

The Executive Member thanked officers and expressed full sympathy with residents, emphasising that the council were still absolutely committed to creating safer streets for walkers, cyclists, and residents.

She noted that the points closure system suggested by residents would not work in the context of the wider area, but the current one-way system was also not working, due to restrictions on vehicle access. She agreed that both schemes provided some very localised benefits, but the transport strategy required more strategic, widespread benefit for the city.

Given this, and the lack of support for the present scheme among local residents, the council would instead look to include this area in the forthcoming movement and place plan for wider benefit, along with a zebra crossing application for Heworth Green/Malton Road which had been designed but was on hold awaiting Section 106 funding.

The Executive Member

Resolved:   To approve Option 3

i. To do nothing and leave Irwin Avenue as existing.

ii. To commit to a future scheme to review the Dodsworth Avenue/Heworth Green junction.

Reason:     The view of most residents was that the proposals do not address the main areas of concern and this would therefore be a waste of resource, with funds better used elsewhere.

The report provides a review of the experimental 20 miles per hour speed limit that is currently in place in the village of Bishopthorpe. The review includes residents’ views provided during the consultation period and speed survey data, undertaken before and during the experimental period.

The report analyses the different options available to the Executive Member to make a decision on permanent speed limits for Bishopthorpe.

Resolved:   To approve Option 5 – to make a reduced area of the experimental Order permanent and allocate funding to undertake further work to reduce speeds on the approaches to the village.

Reason:     This option introduces the reduced area as a permanent 20mph area whilst committing the Council to undertake further work to assess existing speeds, street character and measures, which supports the implementation of the wider ETRO area as a 20mph area with good levels of compliance.

Reallocated funding from the Mayoral Combined Authority budget will be required; the Executive Member noted that £400k funding was available.

The report was presented by the Highway Regulation Manager. He summarised that this was a review of the existing experiment order in place across the village of Bishopthorpe.

He advised that this provided a review of the experimental 20 miles per hour (mph) speed limit currently, including residents’ views provided during a consultation period and speed survey data, undertaken before and during the experimental period.

He detailed the different options available regarding permanent speed limits for Bishopthorpe and recommended Option 3 - making the 20mph signed only speed limit permanent for most of the village, with the exception of three areas where compliance with the “signed only” limit had been poor. He acknowledged the points raised in public participation.

The Executive Member thanked officers, acknowledging the amount of work that had gone into recording speeds at various times, consulting residents and considering the different point of view.

She noted that across the City of York, an average of around five people every year lost their lives, and around 35 people suffered life-changing injuries, where speed was a significant contributing factor.

She stated that the impact of this, physically, emotionally and financially on those affected, emergency services and the city was unacceptable. She cited statistics from Wales and London evidencing that reducing speed has led to a reduction in casualties and agreed that doing so in York ensured a safer place for people to walk, cycle, and live. She noted that the transport strategy committed to “Vision Zero”; meaning eliminating all road deaths and taking action to reduce vehicle speeds constituted part of this strategy.

The Executive Member stated that the data from Bishopthorpe had indicated an overall a drop in speed since the 20mph speed limit was introduced, and there was a strong degree of support from the residents to retain that 20mph limit. She recognised that the compliance was not as good as it might be on three of the approach roads (with a top speed on Sim Balk Lane of over 90mph in September 2024 and 50mph on Church Lane, both in populated residential areas). She said that it was clear the 20mph signed only limit was working well in the bulk of the village but needed additional measures on these three approach roads to bring the speeds down.

She acknowledged the speaker from York Civic Trust who had noted that the local authority “decides and provides” rather than “predicts and provides” concluding that the council’s role was to create safe and healthy environments where people live, and she consequently intended to proceed with Option 5. She noted that there was £400,000 of Mayoral funding for speed reduction to implement additional measures to slow vehicles down.

She stated that she would also like to include consideration of the 30mph speed limit as far out as Middlethorpe, or speed reduction measures appropriate to enable people to walk and cycle along that road and cross the road to get to the bus stop.

She also noted that many other  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.