Anti-bollard campaigners stage event in Front Street Acomb

The "What a Load of Bollards" group, founded by three mothers, spoke to shoppers in Front Street, Acomb, as part of their campaign against the way City of York Council is changing the shopping area.

Afterwards they said they were confident that their petition against the bollards had reached 1,000 signatures.   Some signed during the event and others have signed in local shops supporting the campaign. 

"We've not found one person in favour of the bollards and we've spoken to hundreds and hundreds of people," said one of the group, Vicki Hill.

Campaigners tied knitted skulls to bollards and encouraged people to tie tags on the bollards expressing their views about them.

As the Press reported earlier this month, the group objects to the bollards saying that they make it difficult for people in wheelchairs or with other wheeled transport to cross between shops and detract from the appearance of the street.

Bollards near a bench in Front Street, Acomb. Pic by Megi Rychlikova

They say some of the bollards are installed directly in front of benches and that a trip hazard outside the Gateway Centre that existed before the work had not been removed but had had a bollard installed next to it.

The bollard near Gateway Centre where campaigners say a trip hazard should have been removed. Pic by Megi Rychlikova

The bollards are part of a major regeneration of Front Street and now line most of the pavement on either side of the street between its junctions with Carr Lane and Green Lane. The scheme has received £395,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

At the start of the work, Cllr Nigel Ayre, executive member for finance and major projects, said its aim was to use the "huge potential of Front Street to respond to resident concerns and improve the area to offer a welcoming place where local people can live, work and relax."

A council document produced after a public consultation in 2021 about the future of Front Street said: " More choice or variety of shops, more activities, more choice of food or drink during the day and more plants, trees or flower boxes were the top things that would make residents and shoppers visit Front Street more often. These were also the top things that businesses thought would make residents and shoppers visit Front Street more often."

Forty one per cent of local residents and shoppers consulted said they liked Bishy Road or some aspects of Bishy Road.

The campaign group says bollards were never mentioned in the consultation and that no resident asked for them.

They dispute Cllr Andrew Waller's statement that the bollards were needed to prevent cars causing damage to the pavement by parking on it, saying that cars didn't park on the pavement before their installation.

They also claim that the bollards are deterring people from shopping in Front Street and affecting local businesses.

The campaigners were joined by York Central MP Rachael Maskell, whose constituency includes the street.

She raised the issue in the House of Commons earlier this week.