NEW anti-terror bollards installed in York city centre are "damaging the local heritage", a trust says.
York Civic Trust is calling for a re-think on the bollards that are being installed in the city centre - which they say is being done without public consultation.
The £3.4 million hostile vehicle measures (HVM) scheme is now being installed to protect residents and visitors in public spaces within the city centre from attack by vehicles.
Organisations including York Civic Trust were involved in influencing the design of the hostile vehicle measures in 2018, but the trust said there has been no public consultation since then. The scheme was given the go-ahead in August 2022 by the then City of York Council executive.
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Duncan Marks, York Civic Trust society manager, said: “York’s city centre and economy relies on - and is made better by - the quality of its historic and modern streets and buildings - 8.4 million visitors a year can’t be wrong.
"However, it is painfully obvious that the hostile vehicle measures - essentially glorified bollards - are not in keeping with the rest of the city and is damaging to local heritage.”
To install the sliding bollards at the base of the Shambles, historic cobbles had to be removed.
The soon-to-be Blake Street bollards will be sited directly in front of the Grade-I listed Assembly Rooms - one of York’s most iconic Georgian buildings which for nearly 300 years has gone unobstructed by street clutter, says the trust.
The installation of the HVM outside the Assembly Rooms has been pushed back until January - and York Civic Trust says this is a good opportunity to stop and consider the impact of these bollards, both on heritage and on people.
Andrew Morrison, chief executive of York Civic Trust, said: “If the planning process had been used and the public given adequate time to review the plans, then the schemes would have been improved. The low-level sensors act as trip hazards for many and the Shambles - which is York’s most popular street - has been damaged.
"Now that there is time before the next installation, the council should facilitate public consultation on these measures, both to protect York’s heritage and to reduce the issues they pose to pedestrians, particularly those with low mobility.”
The council is currently due to install a set of bollards outside the Assembly Rooms in January 2024, but the Civic Trust said there are currently no plans for public consultation.
Mr Marks added: "The current hostile vehicle measures in Spurriergate do not bring confidence that the council will not cause harm in the next round of installation. The bollards are a cluttered mess, including an old iron bollard required to protect one of the new sensors from vehicles hitting it.
"The relaying of the paving in Spurriergate has resulted in a random mess of partly painted yellow lines scattered across the whole area. Surely, we can do better than this for York?”
The Press has contacted City of York Council for comment and will publish this once it is receieved.
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