Agenda item
Public Participation
At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered to speak can do so. The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Wednesday 13 March 2019. Members of the public can speak on agenda items or matters within the Executive Member’s remit.
To register to speak please contact the Democracy Officers for the meeting, on the details at the foot of the agenda.
Filming, Recording or Webcasting Meetings
Please note that, subject to available resources, this meeting will be filmed and webcast, or recorded, including any registered public speakers who have given their permission. The broadcast can be viewed at http://www.york.gov.uk/webcasts or, if recorded, this will be uploaded onto the Council’s website following the meeting.
Residents are welcome to photograph, film or record Councillors and Officers at all meetings open to the press and public. This includes the use of social media reporting, i.e. tweeting. Anyone wishing to film, record or take photos at any public meeting should contact the Democracy Officers (contact details are at the foot of this agenda) in advance of the meeting.
The Council’s protocol on Webcasting, Filming & Recording of Meetings ensures that these practices are carried out in a manner both respectful to the conduct of the meeting and all those present. It can be viewed at
Minutes:
It was reported that there had been eight registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme.
Alexander McCallion (Director of Works and Precinct) and Mark Calvert (Chair of the Neighbourhood Forum) spoke on agenda item 4 (Minster Precinct Neighbourhood Plan Area and Forum) in support of the officer recommendation to approve the designation of a Neighbourhood Plan Area and Forum. He advised that the Minster and surrounding area was a much loved and visited part of York with a unique and valued atmosphere. He advised the Executive Member that all parties would be represented with a public consultation, workshops and regular meetings for the wider forum and the public and that they would also work closely with representatives from York Minster, in order to produce a plan for the community based on the needs of the community.
Councillor Waller, Ward Member for Westfield Ward, presented a petition from local residents in relation to junction safety on Thanet Road near Acorn Rugby Club. He advised that, the previous day, work had started on the installation of a longer line of utility boxes. The petition asked that “no additional utility boxes be placed on Thanet Road due to the safety problems with being unable to see traffic clearly when leaving sports club car park” and requested that “the council work with utility companies to reduce the number of boxes here”. He asked the Executive Member and officers to consider this petition.
With regard to agenda item 4 (Economy and Place 2019-20 Transport Capital Programme), Councillor Waller queried when the list of highway repairs would be published and referred to a letter he had sent to the director to advise of several heavily used roads in his ward that were in need of significant repair. With regard to agenda item 7 (Vehicle Activated Speed (VAS) Indicator Device Trial) he expressed his support for residents’ requests for action in relation to speeding on Wetherby Road and for the use of the new style VAS signs. With regard to agenda item 8 (Petitions relating to highway and transport issues) he expressed concern regarding the proposed response to the Kingsway West petition in light of recent damage to verges on Dijon Road and highlighted this as a example of development in areas with narrow roads.
Councillor Carr, Ward and Parish Councillor for Companthorpe, spoke in support of agenda item 5 (Request to authorise taking a definitive map modification order out of turn). He expressed his desire to maximise the benefits to the community of Copmanthorpe by moving the crossing of the east coast mainline to a more convenient location while still meeting Network Rail’s requirements. He presented the Executive Member and Officers with a set of annotated plans showing three routes (the present position of the crossing, the location proposed by Network Rail and the location which he felt would be most beneficial to the community of Companthorpe) along with a satellite photo showing all 3 routes. He stated that he would be happy to meet with the Executive Member, officers and Network Rail to discuss the best location for the crossing.
Lawrence Mattinson, Strensall with Towthorpe Parish Councillor, addressed the Executive Member in relation to agenda item 7 (Vehicle Activated Speed Indicator Device Trial). He expressed his support for York Road in Strensall to be used as a trial site for a new speed indicator device as this would enable data to be collected to see if the device was effective in reducing vehicle speeds in the area.
Susan Hamilton, a local resident and organiser of a petition requesting highway maintenance to be undertaken on Grange Street (agenda item 8), spoke in support of the petition which had been signed by residents of Grange Street and neighbouring streets. She expressed concern over the state of the road surface stating the danger that potholes posed to cyclists. She advised that the paint which had marked the potholes for repair had faded and that the potholes had just been filled with tar that morning. She asked the Executive Member to consider resurfacing the street as a more economical long term solution rather than continual patching of potholes and then repatching of patches.
Councillor A D’Agorne, Ward Councillor for Fishergate, also spoke in support of the petition discussed by the Ms Hamilton (agenda item 8) He advised that due to cars parking on both sides of the street, the two track marks in the centre of the road needed attention. He expressed the view that the repeated process of patching patches was not a good use of council resources and asked the council to look at a more flexible approach to repair of potholes rather than just the options of resurfacing the whole street or repairing individual holes and to consider the use of other materials which were more resilient to damage. With regard to agenda item 9 (Consideration of Modification to Bishopthorpe Road Crossing Points), he welcomed option 1 as detailed in the report.
Councillor I Cuthbertson, Ward Member for Haxby and Wigginton had registered to speak at the meeting in relation to 8 petitions which he had previously presented to officers on behalf of local residents which related to the poor and deteriorating quality of concrete or asphalt/tarmac coated concrete roads in Haxby and Wigginton. He was not able to attend the meeting but submitted a written representation which set out the problem and asked that the Council took steps to deal with it (with Coppice Close as a priority) at the earliest possible time.
Councillor J Crawshaw spoke in relation to agenda item 9 (Consideration of Modification to Bishopthorpe Road Crossing Points). He noted that although parents’ preference was for a push button crossing, this could not easily be achieved and he welcomed the intention to monitor the impact of the recommended change to the crossing and consider the potential for a signalised crossing if the proposed change was not effective. He expressed his support for option 1 but stressed this needed to be in conjunction with speed reduction measures. He advised that existing ResPark schemes in the area had impacted on parking in neighbouring streets and further petitions in favour of residents parking would be submitted in due course. He raised concerns that the report referred to possible parking partially on the footpath as part of the proposed Respark scheme and stated that he could not support that without formalising an approach.