Lib Dems call for review of city centre bollard operation

York’s Lib Dem councillors are calling on the council’s Labour administration to undertake an urgent review of the operation of the city centre Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) bollards following the horrific attack in Magdeburg in which a car was driven through crowds at a Christmas Market and in New Orleans where another car was driven through a crowd. They have also asked for sight of any updated advice from Police counter-terrorism officers. In particular there needs to be urgent confirmation of the measures that will be put in place to keep people safe over the busy weekends coming up - the Residents Festival on 25 & 26 January and the Ice Trail on 1 & 2 February. 

The city centre sliding bollards were approved by the previous Lib Dem-led administration following clear advice that it would be necessary to create a ‘sterile zone’ free from vehicles at times when the area is crowded. The final set of bollards, on Parliament Street, were completed in time for Christmas.

After taking control of the council in 2023, the Labour administration chose to disregard the clear advice from Police counter-terrorism experts and allow blue badge vehicle access to areas of the city centre foot streets during busy periods. They also partially ignored advice when they decided to allow blue badge vehicles to enter the foot streets in the early evening during the busy Christmas Market, having initially agreed to keep the streets closed to traffic until 7pm. 

The most recent counter-terror advice was published in October 2023 and it pointed out that allowing exemptions would increase vulnerability and reduce the effectiveness of HVM measures. 

Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Nigel Ayre has called on the council administration to undertake a review of HVM arrangements following the recent attacks: 

“My heart goes out to all those affected by the horrific attacks in Germany and the USA. It makes the need for a review of the risks of allowing more vehicles into York city centre during busy periods even more urgent. If Police advice has been updated since these attacks, then this needs to be shared in as much detail as possible so that decisions about the future operation of York’s HVM bollards can be informed by this expert advice. 

“The previous advice and the nature of the threat is quite clear and it was entirely wrong for Labour to claim previously that the security risk was “imagined.” This was never a policy choice and it shouldn’t have been made into a political football - it was and remains a gravely serious issue.

“Liberal Democrats have always been clear that when it comes to the risk to life posed by the terrorist threat, we must follow the advice of the counter terrorism experts to keep everyone in York safe. We’d rather that these HVM bollards weren’t needed at all, but they are, and we continue to have concerns that the safety of the public is being put at risk due to the way in which they are being operated.”