City of York Council’s leisure centre Energise and its fitness equipment supplier, American company Cybex, are raising money for a cancer charity during October.

For every mile gym users log on a new pink Cybex treadmill at Energise gym on Cornlands Road, the American company will donate 10 cents to local charity, York against Cancer.

Monthly members and registered casual users at Energise are being invited to keep this pink treadmill busy at all times and raise as much money as possible. The gym instructors will also be reminding people to ensure that the treadmill is in constant use throughout the whole period. The machine will be located in the main fitness suite making it easy to use and very visible to all those working out. (more…)

Following our story yesterday we have been asked where residents can find their MPs register of interests. This contains details of any gifts & hospitality received. It can be accessed here http://tinyurl.com/MP-hospitality. Compared to the local councils register it seems to be commendably up to date although this may be a legacy of the MPs expenses scandal which enveloped Parliament a few years ago.

Local Tory MP Julian Sturdy’s entry is unexceptional. He declares only income received from the family farm.

It turns out that Hugh Bayley York’s Labour MP came only in Bronze medal position in the Olympics hospitality stakes. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2200483/Chris-Heaton-Harris-Tory-MP-tops-freebie-table-11-750-Olympic-tickets.html
His £4500 package was eclipsed by Tory MPs Chris Harris and John Stevenson.

Meanwhile confusion grows on the York Council as the Leader and his chief hospitality scout continue to remember events that they attended but failed to record on the interests register.

There are obvious discrepancies between the York Council’s “gifts” register and the”interests” register which need to be reconciled quickly.

The only way that public confidence is likely to be restored would if an independent enquiry into the anomalies is undertaken.

Councillor James Alexander, Labour Leader for City of York Council, has recently visited the city’s licensing inspection team.

Cllr Alexander went out with the team on a licensing inspection to witness first hand the work taken on everyday. He also had the opportunity to meet with a landlord and staff and listen to concerns.

Whilst out on the visit the landlord brought to light an issue affecting several pubs across York: that due to the conditions of their license, some pubs are not allowed to accept international ID.
Cllr Alexander said: “We have a large amount of both international students and visitors, and this issue needs to be looked at in order to ensure their time in York is as welcoming as possible – as well as helping local businesses.” (more…)

We reported around 20 issues in the Foxwood area over the weekend.

They included problems with:
* overhanging trees,
* overgrown hedges,
* weeds growing in gutters and on paved areas,
* detritous in snickets,
* damaged footpath service covers,
* full “poop scoop” bins and
* litter (in many locations).

The Council tells us that most of the litter issues were dealt with on Monday.

It is possible to report issues like these “24/7” on the internet via this link http://tinyurl.com/York-Report-it-on-line

Chesneys Field was disgraceful see http://tinyurl.com/Chesney-litter The nearby litter bin was not full.

NB. The Foxwood Residents Association have published a newsletter. It can be read here http://tinyurl.com/FoxRes-Sept-2012.

However, we understand that the date of the “estate walkabout” has changed to 27th September (10:00am).