COUNCIL bosses will not make a decision on whether to permanently exclude through traffic from The Groves until December, The Press has learned.

The letters pages of The Press have been deluged recently with letters from people both for and against the controversial experimental road closure.

The reason for that is that in November last year the council set a six month deadline for objections to be made. That deadline would have expired at the end of May.

However, the authority's deputy leader and executive member for transport Cllr Andy D'Agorne confirmed today that a decision on the controversial scheme was not expected to be made until December. And he stressed that people were still able to make their views on the scheme known.

“The last set of changes to the Groves traffic order made in November 2020 gave a deadline date for objections which was six months after the changes, which is why the notice and letter included the date of May 24, 2021," Cllr D'Agorne said.

"However, as the evaluation period continues, objections and views on the scheme can still be made." To have your say, visit york.gov.uk/TheGroves

"We do not have a set date for the consultation to end yet, although we expect a decision on the future of the scheme to be scheduled to be taken by December 2021 following further monitoring and evaluation work," Cllr D'Agorne said. "We have received hundreds of emails and letters so far and expect to receive more feedback in the months to come. I would like to say thank you to all those who have provided feedback so far.”

Feedback will be included in a council report and this will 'inform the officers recommendations'. Cllr D'Agorne says. Feedback will be anonymised and published alongside the report.

The experimental traffic order was originally introduced on September 2 last year, for a maximum period of 18 months 'unless revoked, amended, or made permanent'.

When councillors meet to discuss the traffic scheme in December, they will have to decide which it is to be.

LETTERS SPECIAL - Should The Groves remain closed to through traffic? Centre pages