HIGHWAYS bosses are suggesting a compromise after residents claimed a proposed new pedestrian refuge in a busy York road would leave them unable to park.

Two new refuges are being proposed in Main Street, Fulford, in response to requests for better crossing facilities from local people, particularly pensioners.

But as the Evening Press reported recently, residents living in Main Street have complained that associated parking restrictions would leave them with nowhere to leave their cars, causing great hardship.

A report to tomorrow's meeting of City of York Council's planning and transport (east area) sub-committee says parking must be restricted near refuges to ensure pedestrians do not have to cross from behind parked cars.

But it says a petition signed by the occupants of 11 properties near one of the proposed refuges, near Elliot Court, has been received.

The petition said that while they are generally supportive of a new crossing, residents believe they will be severely affected by the proposed parking restrictions.

Some residents have suggested a different location where a refuge could be accommodated, to the north of the bus stops opposite the Pavilion Hotel and a petrol filling station, where its impact on parking and the environment would be less.

The report by David Webster, the council's senior transportation and highway safety engineer, says initial investigations have indicated that a refuge could be accommodated between Elliot Court and the Pavilion Hotel.

He recommends that the council should consult on whether there are any objections to this location and associated parking restrictions, and discover how it compares for pedestrians with the originally proposed location.

He urges the committee to authorise officers to go ahead with the scheme if no substantive objections are received.

Claims in a press release, apparently sent to the Evening Press by a couple of residents and suggesting that the council was "trying to pull a fast one" by failing to inform them of the debate at tomorrow's meeting, were denied by a council spokeswoman.

She said that consultation leaflets sent out to 300 residents about the Main Street proposals had informed them of the November 11 meeting.

Updated: 10:25 Wednesday, November 10, 2004