Could it be 'bye-bye' to the hated bollards in Acomb's Front Street?

Council bosses are expected next week to agree to ‘engage’ with local residents to look at how the area could be further improved.

And among the ideas they are looking at is pulling up some of the 138 bollards that were installed last year at a cost of £28,000.

The bollards were put in under York’s previous Lib Dem/ Green administration in the first phase of a planned ‘regeneration’ of the area being paid for with £570,000 of government cash.

But they sparked an immediate backlash from horrified locals.

Bollard Avenue; Front Street in Acomb (Image: Rachael Maskell)

Acomb resident Vicki Hill, who set up the 'What a load of bollards’ campaign calling for them to be removed, told the Press in April last year: "Everyone is in shock.

"It’s a horrible example of the very worst backward thinking by planners and has pretty much ruined what was one of the nicest areas of York.”

Now council bosses are considering the next phase of the regeneration.

'This could have been a beautiful, accessible living space...' says the message tied to this bollard in Acomb's Front Street (Image: Supplied)

And Labour’s executive member for economy and transport, Cllr Pete Kilbane, says reducing the number of bollards is likely to be a priority.

He said: “We recognise that the works carried out under the last administration, using UKSPF (UK Shared Prosperity Fund) money, were not universally popular.

"There were some positive changes that we can build on, including repaired pavements and new accessible seating, tactile crossings and cycle racks.

“But the bollards are disliked by many in the community, and we will use this latest funding to address that issue.”

The campaign against the Acomb bollards often took a darkly humorous turn - as with this Western-style 'un-wanted' poster (Image: Supplied)

Councillors will be presented with a ‘proposed approach and potential scope of works’ for Front Street at an Executive Meeting next Tuesday (February 20).

Suggestions are expected to include:

• ‘substantially reducing’ the number of bollards and creating a more ‘people friendly space’
• introducing pedestrian crossings and accessible car parking
• extending the regeneration area beyond Front Street itself
• in the longer term, considering pedestrianisation of Front Street.

The council says it wants to get more feedback on the proposals through ‘further public engagement’, before finalising detailed designs for consideration and approval by the council’s Executive in Summer 2024.

READ MORE:

- Petition launched to 'banish the bollards' from York shopping street

- Front Street, Acomb: Bollards could now be pulled up

Responding to the latest developments today, Vicki Hill said members of the ‘What a load of Bollards’ campaign had initially been excited that the council had appointed an experienced urban designer to help come up with proposals.

But she said the authority seemed determined to put ‘too much stuff’ in the street – including pedestrian crossings, pop-up seating, murals, and signposts so that ‘local people know where their library is’.

'Rip them up and start again' was the message from members of the 'What a load of Bollards' campaign (Image: Supplied)

None of that was really necessary, she said.

She said what locals she had spoken to really wanted was for all the bollards to be removed; for the street to be closed to all motorists apart from deliveries and cars carrying blue badge passengers – and for it to be opened up and made more accessible for pedestrians.

The area did not need to be filled up with more clutter, she said. “Sometimes less is more, not more is more.”

Lib Dem ward councillor Andrew Waller said he was pleased that the delayed second phase of the Front Street improvements was finally getting under way.

“The previous Lib Dem-led administration worked hard to secure the funding that is key to making Acomb an even better place to work, shop and relax,” he said.

“The number of new businesses that have opened in the area recently, and existing businesses opening for longer in evenings, demonstrates that all of the work put in by the council, local businesses and volunteers over recent years to regenerate the area is paying off.”

Members of the ‘What a load of Bollards’ campaign will be at next week’s council meeting, Vicki Hill said.