Agenda item
Have Your Say
Your opportunity to discuss local issues and concerns with your ward councillors.
Minutes:
Residents were asked if they had any issues about the ward which they would like to raise.
- Q: I am concerned about the reduction in bus services. Are the council or the bus company short of money?
A: Cllr Runciman:
- This is a constant issue. The council does not control the bus services. The bus companies (First/Arriva) get the tenders. The council does however subsidise some services, usually the late night or the distant area ones.
- We also have to think of local residents who live on bus routes and might be disturbed by the noise of buses constantly passing their houses.
- A colleague of ours is constantly liaising with the bus companies so the issue is not static.
- The council is not able to dictate to the bus companies, but we can try to negotiate. There is currently a traffic commission which is looking into bus routes, but they have no power to say which ones will be formed or be kept.
- The number 5 has been cut a lot recently as well as lots of evening services. Unfortunately the best way to increase reliability is to cut regularity, but this is not what people want.
Q: There has been a 15% rise in Park and Ride bus fares.
A: We agree with your concerns but we cannot control bus prices.
This is up to the company. The council only provide the sites, with the aim to stop traffic congestion in the city centre.
Q: Why are the sites not put out to tender and the bus services controlled by the council through that?
A: We do put out to tender, but we cannot use this as a means to control pricing.
Q: Why couldn’t the council raise the rates of the site if the bus company raises prices?
A: In actual fact the council makes a profit from the lease of the Park and Ride sites, which is unusual. The council also spends a lot (£600,000) on pensioners’ bus passes every year.
Q: The council recognises that there is a problem with fly-tipping, but the council make it very difficult to get rid of garden waste and large items. The new permit scheme is not helpful – I applied for service in March but still have not had my permits through.
A: The councillors encouraged the resident to email them the details and said they would sort it out for her the following day.
Q: The government are giving £4m to re-open Haxby Station. Is this financially viable?
A: The council has proved that there will be enough demand for it through local surveys and investigations. The purpose of the station will just be a ‘halt’, to get traffic off the roads into York, for example Wigginton Road.
Q: The planned Park and Ride site near Rocco gym at Clifton Moor will put more of a strain on the journey from Clifton Moor to Huntington which is chaotic and can sometimes take 1 hour in the rush hour. I am concerned it will create more traffic issues, rather than fewer.
A: The councillors said they were not sure about the effects of this Park and Ride, but re-assured residents that the traffic department are looking in to it. They will feed back this information to Paul Thackray who will be able to feed it into the system and ensure it gets picked up on.
Q: Will the alleygating and speed ramps have to wait for more money from the budget or can we go ahead with the work?
A: The councillors believed that there was enough budget for it, but they agreed to find out and do their best to ensure there was no hold up.
2. The councillors closed the meeting by thanking all the guests and attendees and encouraging the residents to use their local libraries.