Vehicle restrictions during York Christmas Market
Between 13 November and 21 December, Make it York will once again host it’s Christmas Market, with the usual mix of stalls and places to eat and drink.
On public safety grounds, North Yorkshire Police have recommended an Anti-Terrorism Order to be put in place during the Christmas Market, to protect those in the city centre at what is a very busy time. This was approved by the Council’s Executive in October.
- Vehicle access arrangements
- Information for Blue Badge Holders
- Information for businesses and residents within the footstreets
- Emergency vehicle access
Vehicle access arrangements
From Thursday 13 November to Sunday 21 December, after 10.30am each day, only emergency services and a very small number of authorised vehicles will be allowed inside the hostile vehicle mitigation barriers (sliding bollards), to enable the city centre to function. These measures are in place from 10.30am until 7.00pm every day during the Christmas Market.
No entrance or exit through the barriers will be allowed between 10.30am and 7.00pm, except for emergency vehicles and a small number of pre-authorised vehicles.
To ensure public safety, a parking and loading ban will be in place on city centre footstreets between 10.30am and 7.00pm.
Unauthorised vehicles will receive a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and may be towed to a location outside the barriers. The penalty charge will be £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days.
Information for Blue Badge Holders
During the Christmas Market between 10.30am and 7.00pm access into and out of the barriers will be closed.
In November the council’s Executive discussed arrangements which included mitigations for Blue Badge Holders.
Blue Badge holders’ access during the Christmas Market
Outside of footstreet hours, along with all other vehicles, Blue Badge holders can continue to access the city centre, via the bollards at Blake Street and Goodramgate, between 7.00pm and 10:30am, rather than at 10.00am as was first planned. This means that you can stay longer inside the footstreet area, allowing access to essential services such as banks and pharmacies.
All vehicles will need to have left the footstreet area by 10.30am, as a parking and loading ban will be in place between 10.30am and 7.00pm.
Additional Blue Badge holders’ parking
To create more Blue Badge parking, we are changing a loading bay on Duncombe Place for the duration of the Christmas Market, to create a further dedicated facility for Blue Badge holders. This is in addition to the existing Blue Badge bays available in Duncombe Place, Spurriergate and Piccadilly.
Blue Badge holders can park:
- on double yellow lines, where you can park for up to 3 hours if this doesn’t cause an obstruction
- free of charge and without any time limits in council car parks, in paid on-street parking bays, and in resident parking bays
Shopmobility subsidy
We’re giving a £5000 grant to Shopmobility, to provide free mobility aid hire for Blue Badge holders using the city centre.
This is to encourage more membership of the scheme, and the funding is equivalent to up to 625 individual equipment hires.
Visitors who want to use this service are asked to book ahead to secure a mobility aid for their visit. This can be done by contacting Shopmobility on telephone: 01904 679222, or email: enquiries@shopmobilityyork.org.uk.
In October Shopmobility announced it will be operating extended hours, with mobility aids available 7 days a week during the Christmas Market.
Information for businesses and residents within the footstreets
Vehicle access into and out of the footstreet area will only be allowed between 7.00pm and 10.30am each day.
Emergency vehicle access
Where emergency repairs are needed for a building or utilities and a vehicle is required, we may authorise access under specific conditions.
Where emergency repairs are needed for any of the utilities (such as water, gas, power or telecommunications) we expect that the utility companies will be in touch with us directly to arrange access to the footstreet area.
We require that repairs are organised between 7.00pm and 10.30am wherever possible. If this is not possible, we will ask whether that repairs can be undertaken without a vehicle accessing the area within the barriers.