PICKERING'S residents have voted for the permanent closure of the Market Place on Mondays – but only by a narrow majority.
County highways bosses sent out 3,400 letters to every house and business in the town at the end of last month explaining the reasons for the year-long traffic ban trial which began last November and outlining some of the problems that had been encou
ntered.
It asked whether the Market Place closure should be made permanent or whether it should be scrapped.
A total of 1,040 replies were received – with 53 per cent supporting the continuation of the traffic ban and 46 per cent against.
Now a meeting of the county council’s Ryedale area committee next week is being recommended to make the controversial trial closure between 10am and 4pm permanent.
Matthew Wilkinson, of Television House, in the Market Place, was a fierce opponent of the trial and collected names of more than 40 traders on a petition objecting to it. They complained they had not been properly consulted.
Now he says he accepts the findings of the latest survey, although he wished he could be exempt and have deliveries to his store on Mondays.
Mr Wilkinson said: “Just as long as the closure is only on Mondays and not six days a week then I’ll live with it, if that’s what the majority of people in Pickering want.”
The letter to residents and traders from Richard Marr, area highways manager, explained that because of the need to exempt certain vehicles for deliveries and hotel access a complete ban on traffic could not be imposed and this left the closure order open to abuse.
But he said a comparison traffic count for a July day last year and late June this year showed that while the experiment had not been totally effective, it had brought a “dramatic” reduction in traffic.
His recommendation will be discussed at Wednesday’s meeting at Lady Lumley’s School, Pickering, at 10.30am.
l WHAT do you think? Did you reply to the letter over the permanent closure of Market Place? Write to Malton and Pickering Mercury, 49 Market Place, Malton YO17 7LX, email sheila.elgey @yrnltd.co.uk or text MPMEDITOR with your message, name and address to 81800. texts cost 25p plus your normal network rate. See public notices for full details.
The full article contains 400 words and appears in Malton & Pickering Mercury newspaper.
