Julian Sturdy

Local residents living on the edge of Copmanthorpe are up in arms at the potential loss of their bus service. York City Council has decided to re-organise the bus route which currently runs down Temple Lane serving Drome Road and Temple Garth. The new services will completely by-pass this area leaving local residents without any direct access to public transport.

The strength of feeling amongst local residents against this proposed cut to their bus service was demonstrated at a recent public meeting which we organised. At the meeting the Council Officers who attended were asked to look into alternative arrangements whereby a service could be provided. We have since followed this up by organising a petition of local residents against the Council’s decision to cut these services which was presented at the full Council meeting last week.

This would be a devastating blow for local residents if the Council carried through with its plans to cut this service. The Temple Lane area is isolated from Copmanthorpe village centre by the East Coast mainline, and consequently many people rely on this bus to visit the local shops, access the doctors or dentist and without it they will be completely cut off. I believe this is unacceptable and action to secure this service has to be taken.

Following a number of meetings with the bus companies and a huge response to our local campaign, York Pullman Bus Company have stepped in to run the evening services for the number ten route that First York will stop running on the 26th April. The Yorkshire Coasterliner has also agreed to divert through Copmanthorpe village to cover the number thirteen route after 7.30pm.

In the middle of March First York put forward proposals to cut evening services on a number of their bus routes. This proposal would have had a huge impact on a number of villages on the edge of York. The Villages of Upper and Nether Poppleton, Dunnington and Copmanthorpe would have been particular badly affected so I am delighted that these evening services have been saved.   

I am delighted that York City Council has refused the latest application to build a mobile phone mast on Green Belt land at the bottom of Church Lane in Huntington, thank you to everyone who joined my campaign against the proposal. However, as York City Council goes through its latest Local Development Framework proposals looking at where the City will be able to provided the 850 houses a year the Government is imposing on us, it begs the question, surely there must be a better way?   

Our green and open spaces provide a precious amenity which is important to people living in and around York. However in our area, just as all over the country, the Government is implementing binding top-down housing targets through regional plans on local authorities. These are imposing unsustainable levels of development on local communities and as a consequence are putting our green belt under threat.

An incoming Conservative Government in direct contrast to Labour’s top down approach would abolish the whole process of regional planning, scrapping regional spatial strategies and return powers to local Councils. This means the number of homes to be built would be decided locally, putting local decision making at the heart of housing policy. This would enable us to protect our green belt and open spaces, which should be treasured for future generations to come.