Just 16 months after the Gale Lane verge began to resemble something approaching “The Somme” the council have started surfacing the verge.

Really shouldn’t have taken this long.

It leaves the long awaited (2 years) provision of a parking area on St Stephen’s Square as the most delayed improvement in the Westfield area.

Salt bins

Meanwhile according to The Press a Labour Councillor has said that many salt bins were not used last year.

Maybe so, given that we had a mild winter, but memories are short.

The City virtually came to a halt as recently as January 2010 when many salt bins were emptied as soon as they could be filled.

Some even became inaccessible for several days because of the depth of the snow and ice.

Meanwhile the furore over abandoned salt bins has forced a Labour Councillor to promise “a decision will be taken quickly to ensure residents’ safety is given top priority, with action taken on the ground by the time sustained and heavy snowfall arrives”.

Ridiculous, of course, given that many of the bins are now damaged and freezing rain is often the main cause of icy paths.

The Council are consulting on the future of York’s Libraries. It seems that they may be taken out of direct council control possibly using a similar model to those employed when the Museums and Theatre Royal became independent in the past.

There is bound to be anxiety about the future of a service which has gone from strength to strength over recent years. User numbers have increased in the wake of the “Explore” library modernisation programme.

It would be wrong to put that progress at risk.

York Libraries are one of the few Council services to actually publish performance statistics on their web site. As such they already set a benchmark for others to seek to emulate.

There is a feeling in some quarters that the Council just want to reduce expenditure on this service. For example, short term library closures – because of “staffing issues” – have been introduced this week.

Residents can respond to the Councils consultation at the following web site http://www.york.gov.uk/leisure/Libraries/whatson/consultation/

NB. There is a Craft Fayre at the York Explore Library on Saturday 17th November. Contact them if you want a stall.