The Energise leisure and sports centre which is located on Cornlands Road has issued a statement saying;

“Bigger gym, More equipment, More classes and now it has been confirmed that the monthly Beactive membership will remain the same price until at least 1st April 2014!!!!”

This weekend, residents have their first opportunity to step inside City of York Council’s new offices and customer centre, created from York’s first railway station. When it opens to the public in March this year, the sympathetically and creatively restored Grade II* listed building will provide a modern and welcoming new customer centre and offices for the council and partner organisations.

On Saturday 26 January, residents can call in from 10am – 4pm and on Sunday 27 January, it’s open for viewing from 11am – 3pm.

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York and West Yorkshire has been delegated money to invest in improving local transport systems.

The DfT published indicative funding levels for the Local Transport Bodies taking these decisions and confirmed the geographical areas that these bodies will cover, of which West Yorkshire and York will receive £60 million in the period up to 2018/19. In addition, as part of the City Deal, the West Yorkshire and York area will receive a further £123m over the next 10 years up to 2024/25.

From 2015, each Local Transport Body will be allocated funding according to the number of people living within its boundaries. This is a change from previous arrangements, where local areas bid for a share of a central funding pot, putting forward specific schemes for consideration

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After very long delays some of the faulty street lights in the Foxwood area have now been repaired.

Residents have thanked the LibDems for “highlighting” problems in streets like Burgess Walk and Corlett Court.

The Council have issued the following statement, “Regretfully we have had to cancel the Behind the Scenes tours of the City Archives planned for Saturday 26 January because of staff illness.

We are looking to re-schedule these tours to take place in the February half-term holiday next month, and will publicise the new date on this website.

We are very sorry to have let down everybody who has already booked on these tours and we hope that they will be able to come along when we re-arrange them in February”.

Click here to view the performance tables for York schools as published by the Department for Education.

As always, caution needs to be exercised in interpreting data of this sort.

York schools are continuing to excel at Key Stage 4.

The Key Stage 4 School Performance Tables show that many York schools achieved excellent results and are well above national averages. And within this overall picture, there has been real individual pupil success.

The tables show that in the academic year 2011/12, 88% of young people in York achieved five or more A* to C grades, an improvement of 4 percentage points from last year. The percentage of pupils gaining five or more A*–C grades, including English and Maths GCSE, is 63%, which is also an improvement of 1 percentage point from 2011. Both these results place York in the top 20 per cent of Local Authorities in England.

Whilst the overall results have improved, results for those pupils eligible for free school meals have increased significantly for the 3rd successive year in a row, demonstrating the positive impact of government initiatives such as the “pupil premium” to narrow the gap.

A York resident has called for an independent inquiry into the costs incurred by Councillors and officers who attended the launch of the Tour De France in Paris. It has been claimed that they shunned an offer of free travel by sponsoring organisation “Welcome to Yorkshire”.

The recent media coverage of the attempts by some Councillors to “hide” the travel expenses that they are incurring has led to calls for greater transparency at the Council.

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 23 and Tuesday 29 January 2013.

•A64 east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A64 west-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•Millfield Lane, Poppleton, York
•Beckfield Lane, Acomb, York
•Green Lane, Acomb, York
•Temple Lane, Copmanthorpe, York
•A1036 Tadcaster Road, Acomb, York •A171 Jugger Howe opposite Springhill Farm
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York will take on 3 other City’s in the final of the Britain in Bloom contest in 2013.

It will be up against Norwich, Stockton on Tees and the London Borough of Richmond in the City category.

Click here for a full list of categories and finalists

Results come out in October 2013, when winners will be announced at a celebratory awards ceremony. Finalists will vie to win the Champion of Champions category; Broughshane, County Antrim was last year’s champion.

Andrea Van Sittart, Head of Regional Development, said; ‘Thanks to the legacy of London 2012, the power of volunteering has never been more widely-recognised or appreciated. Britain in Bloom saw a 30% uplift in sign-ups over the past year and this year we have a record number of finalists.’

Foxwood Residents Association have entered the Yorkshire Rose Neighbourhood Awards – organised by Yorkshire in Bloom. Judging takes place in July and residents are planning activities including a garden competition in the lead up to the judging.