A City of York Council Planning Committee has today approved the latest plans to build a Community Stadium at Huntington.

Here is the submission on the plans from Huntington and New Earswick Councillors Keith Orrell, Carol Runciman and Keith Hyman:

Overview: First we should make it clear that we support the concept of the Community Stadium and believe it should be a true “Community” stadium.

We were shocked at the decision to close Waterworld without any consultation with residents, users or staff.

It is clear the extra retail now proposed will add to the infrastructure pressures on Huntington and New Earswick. Since the original plans for the stadium were consulted on the Vangarde development has seen a dramatic increase in traffic throughout our area. In addition three housing developments are currently being built in Huntington and 2,000 more homes are proposed for Huntington and New Earswick in the Draft Local Plan.

Unless you are a Huntington resident or use our roads regularly you will not appreciate the increase in traffic the Vangarde development has had on the main roads and feeder roads such as Brockfield Park Drive. The Report says the levels are below what was predicted – Huntington residents will just not believe this, though the signage failures detailed below will have added to the traffic levels.

We have discussed the proposals with the developers and Council Officers and are pleased that this input has had a positive impact on the proposals. However, it is worrying that with all this development the proposals to deal with traffic in the Report still leave considerable uncertainty for local residents.

This is a unique development and we believe all the proposals related to travel and parking should be strictly conditioned so there is no doubt as to what is required before the development is completed. Members may be surprised that the condition they put on the Vangarde development relating to signage has not been implemented despite repeated requests from Huntington and New Earswick Ward Councillors.

Travel Plan : There are many positive aspects to the Travel Plan but we detail some of its shortcomings below. Condition 37 says “The site shall be occupied in accordance with the Travel Plan dated 11^th December 2014 or such Travel Plan that is subsequently agreed by the Local Authority.” We appreciate that the Travel Plan has to change over time but we believe there should be safeguards conditioned so that the Travel Plan is not watered down by the operator for financial or management reasons.

Traffic management : We are pleased there is going to be improved monitoring of traffic flows from Kathryn Avenue and the impact of this traffic on the main roundabout. It is disappointing that a full review of this roundabout is not envisaged. The signage and road markings for the roundabout need a complete overhaul as some are confusing. There have been a number of minor accidents there but many not serious enough to be recorded.

It would also have been very valuable to carry out a wider Traffic Survey across Huntington to determine measures that could be taken to alleviate the increased traffic throughout the area following the opening of the Vangarde development. If this is not done it will be a missed opportunity.

Match Days : Discussions around match day traffic have sometimes suggested that parking at stadiums around the country happens in residential areas and is acceptable. We have never agreed with this premise for the Huntington Stadium as it is adjacent to a long established residential area. We are pleased that our representations have resulted in a recognition that measures are needed to combat this issue.

It is good, therefore, that there is to be monitoring of the impact on residential areas around Huntington. The Travel Plan says this will be monitored by a Stadium Travel Plan Management Group. The Report says the co-ordinator will be appointed by the developer – we believe the Council should make this appointment. It is also worrying that there is no local representation proposed for this Group. The Report says that “if it were proven that parking displacement of a level and duration that warranted some form of mitigation this would betaken forward”. We believe this should be conditioned.

The Travel Plan, however, is vague on how supporters will travel to the stadium. The Travel Plan refers to Shuttle Buses from more than one area but the Report refers to one shuttle bus service. We believe that there should be a number of shuttle buses from different areas of the city. Currently there are no bus services to Monks Cross from Rawcliffe, Skelton, Strensall and North Huntington with an infrequent service from Haxby. It is unreasonable and unrealistic to expect supporters from these areas to travel into the city to catch a shuttle bus.

Park and Ride : The original plans for the Stadium promised an extra 400 spaces for the Park and Ride site. This has now been downgraded to 82 extra spaces (97 in the Travel Plan). As the Report says this will be adequate for most of the year but is complacent about the impact around the Christmas period – it should be noted that the Christmas period for shoppers at Monks Cross lasts from mid-November until the New Year. The Report says this will only include 2 matches but it is more likely to be at least 4 including a possible FA Cup tie against a “big Club”.

Cllr Keith Orrell says : “I visited the Park and Ride on the first Saturday in December 2014 at 2pm. At that time there were around 120 vacant park and ride spaces. This would leave a shortfall of over 200 places for the Christmas period.” There is a belief that shoppers will avoid the area when there is match on. The Travel Plan Information Boards will help this process and in addition to the proposals in the Travel Plan these Boards should include advice that parking in local residential streets is not allowed.

Signage : One of the reasons traffic across Huntington and New Earswick has increased to the extent it has following the opening of the Vangarde development is the failure to install the signage on the northern ring and other approach roads that the Planning Conditions for the development required. Huntington and New Earswick Ward Councillors repeatedly asked for this to be implemented BEFORE the stores opened but nothing has yet happened.

It is essential that signage for Stadium is in place BEFORE the Stadium opens. Planning permission should be strictly conditioned to this effect.

Cinema opening hours : despite repeated requests for information on the opening hours we have been told that the leases have not yet been finalised and the opening hours will be the same as other cinemas. Yet again there are no specific details which, unless conditioned, could turn out to be completely different from what is now promised.

Nearby residential areas : The 150 residents who live on Forge Close and Saddlers Close are given scant consideration. There are in fact 70 properties there not 50 as the Report states. The increased traffic on this section of Jockey Lane means that they are now suffering increased pollution, made worse by Labour Cabinet members refusal to provide the resources (£25k) for a right turn into the Range store, despite the millions of pounds of Section 106 money the Vangarde development generated.

Access 11.4 We agree with the objector that the Jockey Lane access should be “out only”. We have raised this with the developer and Council officers. An “in” access will result in more queuing traffic on Jockey Lane in addition to that described above and yet more pollution for residents, pedestrians and cyclists.

Traffic Regulation Orders 11.5 : We believe these TROs should be conditioned to be in place BEFORE the stadium opens and the rising bollards also referred to are also conditioned to be in place before the development is completed. If this does not happen there will be a reluctance to spend money on this at a later date.

We look forward to a true Community Stadium being established that will of great benefit to the city but believe that strict conditions should be in place to protect local residents from the inevitable adverse impact this will have across Huntington and New Earswick.