Issue details

Purpose of the Report:
The report considers a petition titled “We call on City of York Council to pedestrianise Fossgate”, submitted to City of York Council in November 2023.
The report considers the changes proposed in the petition and whether it would be possible to achieve the aims stated in the petition by implemented these changes or other possible options.
An analysis of these options is presented to support the Executive Member’s decision on the Council’s response to the petition.

The Executive Member will be asked to:
Acknowledge the petition, its request for Fossgate to be pedestrianised, and its aims to provide “enough room to accommodate pavement café licences and the needs of our local disabled community”;
Acknowledge the significant amount of analysis and consultation previously undertaken on this issue and the fact that there is no consensus amongst users of the street;
Acknowledge that even if further permanent access restrictions were implemented in the street, this would not enable more pavement cafés to be licensed as it would not be possible to place tables and chairs in the carriageway;
Acknowledge that CYC cannot support the removal of the kerb delineation between the footways and the carriageway as this would transform Fossgate into a level surface shared space;
Approve Option A - Current restrictions, no change, and Option E - Market day approach, where vehicular access to the whole or part of the street would be restricted for specific events. The closures would be managed as events and the organisers would have to ensure that they have all the required permissions in place, including the support of the Security Advisory Group, and that they are able to meet the events’ costs.