Acomb Front Street plans set to take step forward

As The Press reported back in February, locals were asked for their views on the latest phase of improvements to Front Street in Acomb.

The popular local shopping centre made headlines for all the wrong reasons last year when, in the first phase of a regeneration using £395,000 of government UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) cash, 138 bollards were installed by the council's previous Liberal Democrat/ Green administration.

The bollards sparked an immediate backlash from some horrified locals, with one resident describing them as ‘a horrible example of the very worst backward thinking by planners’.

When Labour took power following the May elections last year, they promised to look again at the bollards.

Now councillors will receive an update on plans to improve Front Street in Acomb at a meeting on Thursday (July 18).

In October, the council’s executive approved £570,000 of UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) money for phase 2 improvements to Front Street. The spending deadline for this funding is March 31 next year.

The consultation with residents received 900 responses and more than 5,000 comments have now been analysed. City of York Council says that officers also attended a number of events in the area to get as many views from key stakeholders, including businesses, as possible.

An artist's impression of what Acomb Front Street could look (Image: City of York Council)

The feedback shows the top 5 priorities are:

1 Events and activities (73% considered this high priority)

2. Improvement to “Welcome Gateway” / entrance to main shopping area (69%)

3.New central space (59%)

4. Review bollards (57%)

5. Feasibility study into the long-term aspiration to pedestrianise Front Street (51%)

Cllr Pete Kilbane, the council's executive member for economy, said: “I would like to thank everybody who took part in the Front Street engagement programme earlier this year- it is great to see so many responses. All 5,000 comments have been taken into account as we plan how to deliver improvements that the community actually want.

“One thing that shines through is people’s passion and commitment to the area. We all want what is best for Acomb, Westfield and Holgate. I am grateful to officers who are working tirelessly to progress this project and meet the priorities we have heard clearly from the community.

“This includes finding a way to address the bollards challenge, with plans to significantly reduce their number while also finding other ways to prevent illegal parking, which we know remains of concern to people.

“We will continue to involve the community as this project progresses. We are also committed to exploring any further opportunities to attract more funding which would allow us to deliver on some of the longer-term ideas and aspirations that have been clearly fed back to us.”

As well as being presented with the engagement feedback, members will be asked to agree to a number of recommendations to further progress design work for improvements to the area, with the intention of designs for phase 2 being taken to a decision session in September. This is in order to deliver a scheme against the challenging UKSPF spend deadlines.

Cllr Pete Kilbane (Image: Pic supplied)