City of York Council review space after anti-terror bollards installed

The bollards have been installed in High Petergate and Lendal, with work to start on installing more at the junction where High Ousegate and Spurriergate meet next week.

They were first announced earlier this year by the Liberal Democrat-Green coalition running City of York Council to combat the threat of ‘vehicle as weapon attacks’.

In May the Liberal Democrat-Green coalition was voted out of office and replaced by the Labour Party.

The new Labour council has said it is to review the space around the bollards to maximise room for mobility scooters, wheelchairs, pedestrians and buggies.

The council also committed to act where obstructions are being placed on pavements in areas of the city where they are not licenced to be.

This is me trying to get down the pavement in my on High Petergate. The sensors for the HVM are 770 mm from the wall.
Dept.of Transport guidance Inclusive Mobility says minimum width must be 1000 mm & no account has been taken of the stone step jutting out into the foot path. pic.twitter.com/kF7Bs19Wvs

— Flick Williams (@flickhwilliams) June 11, 2023

Labour’s executive member for transport Cllr Pete Kilbane said the designs for the bollards approved by the previous Liberal Democrat-Green administration made it difficult for disabled people to access the city using the pavement.

Cllr Kilbane said he has begun work with council officers to ensure obstructions are removed.  

“We have already started to address (concerns over access) by relocating sensor stands that were blocking pavements for partially sighted people and users of mobility aids,” he said.

The narrower sensor stands relocated on the opposite side of the street in High Petergate due the obstruction they caused for some users (Image: City of York Council)

“We are trying to unpick the damage that this Liberal Democrat-Green scheme has caused.

“In so doing officers have engaged with those most adversely affected by new bollards as we don’t want to make a bad situation even worse.

Councillors Jane Burton and Pete Kilbane at High Petergate – the small white square on the pavement showing where a sensor stand has been removed to improve access (Image: City of York Council)

“We are determined to welcome back in to our city centre residents and visitors who were excluded by the previous administration.”

Disability rights campaigner Flick Williams, who is visually impaired and a wheelchair user, agreed with Cllr Kilbane and said she was “grateful” for his “swift” action on the matter.

Disability rights campaigner Flick Williams (Image: Supplied)

“It’s disappointing that the previous administration who issued the contract did not take thought that access was given to disabled people,” she said.

Cllr Nigel Ayre, Liberal Democrat leader in York, said: “The design of the barriers was not a political decision. Technical plans such as these are drawn up by professional council officers, not councillors.”

Cllr Nigel Ayre, Liberal Democrat leader in York (Image: Supplied)

Read next:

• High Petergate reopens with bollards in place
• Anti-terrorism bollards appear in York as Labour pledges to reverse blue badge ban
• 'We are potentially going to go under’ – York café boss hits out at ongoing work

Last weekend High Petergate reopened with the new bollards in place and Lendal is set to reopen tomorrow (June 17).

Work almost complete in Lendal (Image: Dylan Connell)

High Ousegate and Spurriergate are to close on Monday (June 19) for six weeks while work gets underway on the next installation.

The bollards are electrically operated and designed to move horizontally to block the entrances to the streets.

A City of York Council spokesperson previously told the Press that further bollards are to be installed in the city to replace temporary barriers previously used for the Christmas market.

Plans from City of York Council showing where the bollards are going to be installed (Image: City of York Council)