Residents and Visitors are invited to a special open day at the Mansion House, giving them the chance to meet the Civic Party.

The doors of the Mansion House will open from 11am-3pm on Tuesday 30 October for the first ‘At Home’ of the civic year, with everyone invited to join the Lord Mayor in his historic Georgian home.

Local charity Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Association (PSP) will also be at the event, raising awareness of the condition and providing refreshments for a small charge. PSP is a rare and progressive condition in which increasing numbers of brain cells become damaged over time.

The Lord Mayor said: “I’m looking forward to welcoming people to the Mansion House, and even better if we can raise some money for a good cause at the same time.”

Also at the event the Sheriff’s Lady will perform the traditional passing over of the ‘staff of office’ to the Lady Mayoress. The ‘staff of office’, a silver tipped ebony cane, is originally given to the Sheriff’s Lady on Lord Mayor’s Day which she is at liberty to use on the Sheriff to keep him in order, before being passed on to the Lady Mayoress on the first ‘At Home’ for the remainder of the civic year.

The Annual General Meeting of York Central Liberal Democrats is taking place on Thursday 8th November 2012, commencing at 7:00pm.

If any member has not yet received their agenda, they should contact the Constituency Secretary immediately.

Kaleidoscopic projections, 800 candles and some of the world’s finest medieval glass will help create a series of unique evenings at York Minster as part of this year’s Illuminating York festival.

The evening openings take place from 31 October to 3 November, with a promise that visitors will see York Minster in a whole new light, from the candle-lit Chapter House to a constantly-changing kaleidoscopic image being projected onto the South wall of the Nave, enabling visitors to become part of the evolving artwork. The Orb, York Minster’s brand new domed gallery displaying some of its stained glass masterpieces, will also be open, with colourful images projected onto its metallic exterior.

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The Council are advertising a budget consultation event which is taking place next week. We think that they are right to try to engage residents in making what are always difficult decisions.

The Council in February decided a “2 year” budget; meaning that they have already committed to the general shape and priorities of the 2013/14 budget. This reduces the flexibility available.

…………..and for events like these to be successful, residents do need access to a lot of background information.

Not least amongst these would be information about government grant levels. For the second year in a row the Coalition government is offering to increase grants to help offset the costs of inflation – meaning that the Council does not have to increase Council Tax rates.

However, the Council leadership have already said that they don’t intend to take up the offer of extra funding.

So residents can’t influence what will be one of the most important decisions to be made in February.

The details of the consultation events are:

City of York Council budget consultation

Come along to either the morning or evening session

10am to 12noon or 6pm to 8pm

Monday 29 October

at the Priory Street Centre, 15 Priory Street, York YO1 6ET