Bishopthorpe Road closes for street party (From York Press)

What an inconvenience this was! My daily drive to the off-licence in my 4x4 which usually takes about 10 minutes there and back, took me 20 minutes as I had to drive to Bishopthorpe instead!
Only kidding. I was there and it was great! I hope it will become an annual event. Well done everyone involved.

Please could we have a conference to discuss the possibility of a future free from morris dancers?

This was a result of so much hard work and community spirit from the people who live and work in this area- minimum noise and disruption and NO stupid drunken behaviour from the large crowd who gathered on the grass outside the Swan
- the street was immaculately clean this morning. Credit to all those involved and may there be many more in following years.
At last something created for and by the residents ........take note York Council ....

"You should make a point of trying everything once, except incest and morris dancing"

Sir Thomas Beeching

How many readers remember this article:..... .....
http://www.yorkpress
.co.uk/features/ecoi
nfo/8240693.Hundreds
_of_travel_and_eco_e
xperts_converge_on_Y
ork/ ........ ........... .....
with stupid comments from 'King Edward' and 'piaggio' about the street party being for 'hippies'... well I didn't see anybody there, amongst the 2000 or so ordinary local people who looked like a grubby festivalgoing dready. I saw families and children, parents and grandparents, teens, couples and groups, just the normal range of people who live within 10 minutes walk or cycle of Bishy Road, all having a super time.... ...
And the lovely thing? So many of them said to me (as an organiser) 'can we do this again, tomorrow, or on CarFree day in September, or annually?' ..
So, the ordinary people of York will open that road to pedestrians again, it WILL happen ............ ............... ....................
. The even better thing is that now, definitely on the agenda, is that the City of York, within the Walls, could become open to pedestrians and closed to selfish car drivers. There will be solutions to the problems faced by disabled and mobility impaired, and to deliveries, but lots of other cities have done this, and I'll be campaigning from now on to make this happen. Watch this space.... .... ....
John (with a history of success with changing things for the better)

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear lets get a few things right John. Firstly I was there so please don’t patronise me with numbers like 2,000, more like 500. Secondly people were enjoying themselves but as I know many of them I can assure you that at least 90% of them have at least one car and many two which they use regularly. Yes it was a bit of fun but closing more roads on a permanent basis just isn’t going to happen. Once or twice a year maybe, but as soon as your new friends are unable to drive to the supermarket or Monks Cross or Macarthur Glen they would disappear quicker than last night’s rubbish. It’s the same middle class hypocrisy that protests about rat-runs whilst driving down everyone else’s street. Well done on organising the party but please don’t believe your own hype.

"John (with a history of success with changing things for the better)"
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Members of the anti-car fringe sometimes get accused of being sanctimonious and smug. Can't imagine why.
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This is nothing new BTW - don't get carried away thinking that this represents some sort of anti-car groundswell. I was attending 'Reclaim the Streets' events back in the early nineties... good fun too, but not really the people you go to for transport advice!

My Mum, who's 89, went and had the time of her life. The unmistakable sound of joy in her voice as she too said "I hope we do it again next year because it brought everyone together" means a great deal. It says to me that community = life.

John Cossham wrote:
How many readers remember this article:..... ..... http://www.yorkpress .co.uk/features/ecoi nfo/8240693.Hundreds _of_travel_and_eco_e xperts_converge_on_Y ork/ ........ ........... ..... with stupid comments from 'King Edward' and 'piaggio' about the street party being for 'hippies'... well I didn't see anybody there, amongst the 2000 or so ordinary local people who looked like a grubby festivalgoing dready. I saw families and children, parents and grandparents, teens, couples and groups, just the normal range of people who live within 10 minutes walk or cycle of Bishy Road, all having a super time.... ... And the lovely thing? So many of them said to me (as an organiser) 'can we do this again, tomorrow, or on CarFree day in September, or annually?' .. So, the ordinary people of York will open that road to pedestrians again, it WILL happen ............ ............... .................... . The even better thing is that now, definitely on the agenda, is that the City of York, within the Walls, could become open to pedestrians and closed to selfish car drivers. There will be solutions to the problems faced by disabled and mobility impaired, and to deliveries, but lots of other cities have done this, and I'll be campaigning from now on to make this happen. Watch this space.... .... .... John (with a history of success with changing things for the better)

I'm a car driver, but I'm not selfish, so will I still be allowed in?
What about all the tourists who bring millions into the economy and choose to drive? Maybe we should just close York to outsiders and keep it entirely for bigots like you. A sort of "Escape From New York" in reverse. Insular and parochial pillock.

much as i hate to support anything john says i have to take issue with redr's counting cos there was certainly a lot more than 500 there. i think 2000 was a good estimate. the place was packed to the gunnels. it was a lovely evening. for some it was about being car free - for some it was about community. bishy road is a special place, and it was lovely to have the road closed for a few hours. personally i'd be happy to have the road closed permanently but clearly that causes problems for people needing to get about. surely it should be about balance, between everyone's different needs. sorry to be so moderate and all. a big thank you to the organisers - they did a fab job. busy sweeping the streets at night time - perhaps they could get a job with the council!

fair comment that john!! ....................
.............but the lot of em are a bunch of middle class t***ers,
bet you dare.nt do it down clifton??

piaggio wrote:
fair comment that john!! ....................

.............but the lot of em are a bunch of middle class t***ers,
bet you dare.nt do it down clifton??

"the lot of em??? middle class t***ers",??? You what mate? I was there and I'm as working class as they come, and proud of it!

gwen10 wrote:
much as i hate to support anything john says i have to take issue with redr's counting cos there was certainly a lot more than 500 there. i think 2000 was a good estimate. the place was packed to the gunnels. it was a lovely evening. for some it was about being car free - for some it was about community. bishy road is a special place, and it was lovely to have the road closed for a few hours. personally i'd be happy to have the road closed permanently but clearly that causes problems for people needing to get about. surely it should be about balance, between everyone's different needs. sorry to be so moderate and all. a big thank you to the organisers - they did a fab job. busy sweeping the streets at night time - perhaps they could get a job with the council!

I was just wondering if you tried really hard in your balanced and moderate ways if you could be a little more patronising to the street cleaners?

BTW 500 tops.

John Cossham wrote:
How many readers remember this article:..... .....
http://www.yorkpress

.co.uk/features/ecoi

nfo/8240693.Hundreds

_of_travel_and_eco_e

xperts_converge_on_Y

ork/ ........ ........... .....
with stupid comments from 'King Edward' and 'piaggio' about the street party being for 'hippies'... well I didn't see anybody there, amongst the 2000 or so ordinary local people who looked like a grubby festivalgoing dready. I saw families and children, parents and grandparents, teens, couples and groups, just the normal range of people who live within 10 minutes walk or cycle of Bishy Road, all having a super time.... ...
And the lovely thing? So many of them said to me (as an organiser) 'can we do this again, tomorrow, or on CarFree day in September, or annually?' ..
So, the ordinary people of York will open that road to pedestrians again, it WILL happen ............ ............... ....................

. The even better thing is that now, definitely on the agenda, is that the City of York, within the Walls, could become open to pedestrians and closed to selfish car drivers. There will be solutions to the problems faced by disabled and mobility impaired, and to deliveries, but lots of other cities have done this, and I'll be campaigning from now on to make this happen. Watch this space.... .... ....
John (with a history of success with changing things for the better)

Dear John Cossham, if every residents group decided to party and apply to close roads, not only is there a cost to the council, no doubt 100% is not recouped from said groups, but often a cost to businesses and employers from outside the group area. Please think about for those trying to make a living who pay taxes to keep you and your children in schools, medical care, pensions et al.

piaggio wrote:
fair comment that john!! .................... .............but the lot of em are a bunch of middle class t***ers, bet you dare.nt do it down clifton??

T***ers come in all shapes, sizes and classes. For goodness sake get a grip - (nearly) everyone had a fantastic evening. I've lived in the area for 22 years and have seen it become more and more niceified - So What! I have a business in the area and my customers get on great - there is very little snobbery or inverted snobbery for that matter. Yes - why not Clifton or Acomb ? -I'd go-It just so happens that the organisers who put hours of effort into the event have a shop down Bishy road - They are just hard working people who care about our community -Well done Andy and Piers!

Bo Jolly wrote:
"John (with a history of success with changing things for the better)" _ Members of the anti-car fringe sometimes get accused of being sanctimonious and smug. Can't imagine why. - This is nothing new BTW - don't get carried away thinking that this represents some sort of anti-car groundswell. I was attending 'Reclaim the Streets' events back in the early nineties... good fun too, but not really the people you go to for transport advice!

Well, Bo Jolly, guess what... some of the Reclaim the Streets people are now planners and, ahem, 'experts' and, indeed, in positions of political power. There is a growing movement that wasn't around in the 1920s (when cars were still 'romantic') and in the 60s there were a just a few voices of dissent to the growing car culture, and in the 90s the youth party culture helped the movement grow: now this is beginning to flower (if you'd have attended the conference you'd know) and the early seeds are spreading.
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I say again, watch this space!
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Oh, and yes, I accept that I may be seen as someone with an ego, but two things... think about what YOU have done to make a better community, a better York, a better Planet... and, secondly, I believe that if you don't like yourself, no-one else will like you. Someone with my approach to life will obviously attract negative comments as well as many many friends. I am a happy man as when I got involved in the Green movement in the 80s, it was widely regarded as very cranky, and now has matured into 1000s of ordinary people saying things like roads without cars are better, and how can we do more of this? ....................
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So, which roads do people think we can reasonably open to people and keep the city accessible to public transport and deliveries? Write to the Press with your thoughts!
John :-)

oh just get back in yer volvo.s

I remember just how much cannabis was smoked at those Reclaim the Streets events - It may just explain some of the bizarre logic employed by York's transport planners at times!
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Perhaps I can add 'pompous' to the list as well, BTW.