Andy D'Agorne

Tonight's City strategy meeting had a theme of street lights wending through various items. The council has managed to save enough money to cover the increase in energy costs in the past year by the simple strategy of counting how many lights it has and how many hours they are needed rather than let the company with the contract estimate this data! However we also learnt that we are replace the vast number of 80 lamps a year out of 17,000 so it will take rather a long time before we have energy efficient lighting, unless that 'saviour' the PFI contractor comes to the rescue.

 We will also save money by things like replacing illuminated bollards by reflective rubber once that bounce back if hit by a lorry, and investigating whether we can arrange for the lights to be dimmed after 2am when all civilised folk are tucked up safely in their beds. I did get them to commit to specifying that we buy 'green energy' - if it is available, because there is more demand for the stuff than the suppliers can provide!

Meanwhile a resident of Crockey Hill was grieving the loss of her rural dark sky, now that the about to be improved junction is being lit up by a row of tall bright lights. The Labour Councillors and myself were keen to push for a better deal for cyclists wherever possible, but of course these roads are so fast and dangerous that there is not really any call for provision - a Catch 22 situation, even in the City of York! And, on discussion about one of the major LTP2 schemes to put more lanes around the Hopgrove Roundabout, we were told that overhead gantry signs with a 6.5 m clearance would be needed across the A64- look out forthem next time you go in the Yorkshire wheel or up the Minster tower, as they are sure to be a prominent landmark on the night sky. I did point out that this is Green Belt but of course Highway engineers can do what they like if justified by the need to assist the hapless motorist.

 We also had an explanation of the Speed Management Plan for York, which consists of lots of Education and Awareness campaigns but nothing much from our boys in blue to slap fines or bans on the worst offenders. In a somewhat uncharecteristically non PC moment Cllr Dave Merritt described it as a 'limp wristed report'. I slammed the rather pathetic dismissal of Home Zones wrongly described as 20mph zones (DfT guidance read out to them to stress that they are 'areas where the motorist should feel a guest in the street, designed to acheive speeds well below 20mph') We also got a pledge from Steve Galloway that the use of Vehicle activated speed signs would NOT have to be justiied by a casualty record for the section of road,(After I had strongly opposed this wording in the report) and that there would not be an assumption that ward committees would have to fund schemes if they met the corporate priority criteria, even if they had raised the issue.

No doubt we will return to debate these in the election

Yes, belive it or not there is such a thing! I was introduced to its existance by glancing through the book The Cloudspotters Guide, which includes a lot of serious scientific explanation of the meterology behind the different cloud formations as well as more anecdotal stories such as the US fighter pot who miraculously survived parachuting from 46,000 feet through a massive thunder storm, taking 40 minutes to reach the ground as he went up and down in the storm. The website is at www.cloudappreciationsociety.org

My fascination for the subject was boosted about a decade ago when in Sheffield (and presumably other parts of Yorkshire) we were treated to a phenenomenon of rainbow coloured lenses in the sky (Known as 'Mother of Pearl') for most of the afternoon caused by high ice particles. Needless to say I didnt have a camera with me at the time, but grabbed one as soon as getting home to capture the dying light of this amazing spectacle. A Sheffield company even made it into a postcard, so I can tell you it was on Friday Feb 16th 1996!

Here's what the website has to say about the book:

The Cloudspotter's Guide is a UK bestseller:
The society's first official publication, The Cloudspotter's Guide, is an amusing and informative tour of the skies, which shows you how to recognise the different members of the cloud family, explains how they form and explores the way our relationships with clouds are expressed in the arts.
It is taking the world by storm... literally.
You can find out more about it by looking at the website and following the links.

 Foreign editions will include Italian, French, German, Swedish, and Dutch. Watch this blue space...

The World-Famous Cloud Gallery:
You can search the gallery of our members' fantastic photos by cloud type, and photographer's name. And don't miss the collection of clouds that look like things.
So many fantastic photographs have been coming in recently - clearly, cloudspotting and photography skills go hand in hand. We are very grateful to all the cloud lovers out there.

If you have cloud photos that you would like to share with everyone, and you are prepared to wait for a while for them to appear, then please see our Photograph Submissions page.

The Truth of Skies
Every cloudspotter should be familiar with the sage words of John Ruskin, so we have put up an excerpt from ‘Modern Painters' in which he wonders, as do we, why people don't look up more...

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Posted by: andydag    in: Relax

The Public Inquiry into the proposed University expansion onto Green Belt land resumed today with most of the day being devoted to evidence from York Green Party. The session opened with a response from the Head of Highways Peter Evely explaining why a road will have to be built across part of Deans Acre rather than skirting round this land that has a covenant to 'protect' it from any development. This was placed on it to protect the view of Heslington Church, but this doesnt seem to count for much compared with government highway standards for 'sightlines'. Apparently according to Mr Evely a 30mph road has to be designed with curves that can safely be taken at 37mph as the speed linit is widely ignored - err perhaps that is more likely if we provide such a road in the first place!

My evidence on transport issues focussed on questioning whether the council would really block the expansion of a key part of the development if the university Green Travel Plan was failing. I made reference as an example to the recent modification to the Barbican's planning  permission that will now deprive the people of York of a central swimming pool.

On the issue of potential traffic increases Peter Evely said that they would all be within the 'Environmental Capacity' of the roads, which in the case of Badger Hill he assured us was not exceeded even at school run time at present. He would not accept that a predicted 7% increase in traffic on the Fulford section of Heslington Lane near the schools would create any additional problems. He did however admit that York's roads are close to saturation levels already at peak times.

Other evidence we presented focussed on the increased housing pressure that will result from the development and the issue of whether the expansion could be provided on the York Central or existing site rather than Green Belt. I made some specific points about the danger of using University Rd on a bike and the need for car club vehicles. A major point was also that the council doesnt have the staff to properly enforce parking and planning conditions so additional council staff should be paid for by the university if it gets the go ahead to make sure they stick to the conditions!