Residents stuck with ‘not fit for purpose’ walkway through new National Railway Museum
A key route through the planned York Central development which a planning inspector said had “significant” shortcomings will not be redesigned despite opposition from residents.
People living in the area will no longer be able to access York Station or the city centre via Leeman Road after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps granted proposals by the York Central Partnership to close it.
The closure, which attracted 1,400 objections via a petition, will allow the National Railway Museum (NRM) to press ahead with plans for a new central gallery.
York Central Action (YCA) and the St Peter’s Quarter Residents’ Association have written to the council to ask them to renegotiate the ‘walkways agreement’ which sets out what access members of the public will have through the NRM.
Residents say it is “not fit for purpose and should not be accepted”.
YCA said in their letter: “There is no provision for mobility scooters or disabled people who use cycles, the agreement is extremely limited to NRM opening hours, allows for frequent closures at the whim of the museum and provides no protections for users that are the norm under the Highways Act, thus giving security personnel a wide range of discretion to deny access.”
New agreement call
A planning inspector called it an “long and unwelcome diversion”, adding: “It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that those drafting agreement have put the economic interests and convenience of the NRM above the amenity of those who would be expected to use this as an alternative route”.
York Central action group have asked for a new agreement that is “inclusive, accessible and serves the interests of local people”.
YCA’s Chris Barrett said: “The council’s continuing heedlessness about the impact this early part of the development will have on local people will poison the well of goodwill for many years to come.”
Neil Ferris, Corporate Director of Place at City of York Council, said: “All partners are committed to making these new routes a vast improvement on Leeman Road, in order to provide safer, segregated active travel routes. Local communities and active travel groups will be engaged in the design process to make sure we get it right, with routes animated by people, local businesses, lighting and CCTV.
“The reserved matters planning application and the pre consultation being undertaken by the National Railways Museum, followed by the statutory consultations through the planning process, will provide opportunities for local communities to comment directly on the detailed designs.
“The walkways agreement is providing in part, the framework for these consultations and does not need to be renegotiated.
“We have been aware that it was unlikely to provide 24/7 access and would only ever partially mitigate against the re-routing of Leeman Road, as the re-routing principal has been previously agreed in the outline planning application, following significant public consultation and engagement.
“It is worth underlining that the York Central development will deliver new routes by 2025 that will reduce the additional time to half a minute on foot and less by bike, while journey times from St Peter’s Quarter will reduce when compared to now.”