Agenda item

Item 2 - My Castle Gateway project Question and Answers: Following the presentation, it then moved on to the question and answer section

Resident: the castle car park has been used as an overflow site when the river floods Peckitt Street.  Where will we be able to put our cars now if there's going to be limited parking and will the agreement still be honoured that we can put our cars at the castle car park site when it floods? We would probably not be able to use St. Georges fields because it's in a similar situation with flooding, so is there a nearby car park that we will be able to use, and has this been considered in the plans?

Response: We will consider this, yes, and will look at an alternative arrangement. Is that a formal arrangement? Resident replied that: yes, it is a formal arrangement. Regeneration team and councillors said they would raise this and let residents know.

Resident: asked for a new design to be drawn up, for the project brief and bid to go back out to tender seeking an alternative designer that would have local knowledge of the area and its needs. Suggested that BDP design is not the ideal contractor in this project, asked will supply development? Does not believe that the design has been adapted for the area or is sustainable enough. The design line should be reviewed as well. (Three parts to their question.)

Response: City of York Council are encouraging active travel and this would include reducing use of cars in the city centre. The design is not final and the designs/plans on the website are also not final. The  final decision on the closure of the car park will be made as a members’ decision when the business case is taken back to  executive meeting in spring.

Resident: Plan for the my castle gateway has been going on for 30 years. What has taken so long and why has it not yet gone forwards? As to the car-free vision City of York council have for York – how would visitors be able to access the city centre? With this, there would be no parking in the city centre

Resident: Resident parking zones as one option for ensuring residents can park where they live

Resident: Agrees with other comments made this evening. Asked why spend money on designs before the business case is approved to close the car park though? Pensioners - where can pensioners sit – are there designs or plans for benches or picnic table? Doesn't just want to see concrete blocks offered as seating. Lots of ideas for young people and for people with accessibility issues but what about pensioners’ needs?

Response: benches are part of the wider scheme. Benches are planned to be circling the base of the tower. There will also be bike racks. There's more information about the plans on the YouTube video where it goes into more depth and detail.

Resident: people have been running up and down the banks, they have been damaging the flowers on the bulbs, the daffodils, and also there is the risk of injury. What would be done to mitigate this problem or reduce this?

Answer: that's certainly something we could look into. Again signposting to the YouTube video which goes into more detail and to let us know your comments and suggestions in the engagement opportunities.

Cllr Clarke: will there be any other events where people can feedback their suggestions, their comments, their thoughts? Are there other events scheduled or coming up after this one?

Answer: This is the last event now, last weekend there were onsite tours and an online event was held earlier in the week, both by My Castle Gateway, but there's still plenty of time to feedback before the deadline (20th September)