“Save the toy bus” petition

Residents have organised a petition aimed at saving the “Toy Bus” which Labour Councillors plan to scrap in 2014.

The petition, which can be found on the Councils web site, reads;

We the undersigned petition the council to Not cease the toy bus. It would seem a great shame to loose such an excellent service. The staff on the toy bus have great knowledge in terms of the educational and enjoyment value of the toys. It is hugely beneficial to the development of babies and toddlers in their early years. If the toy bus ceases to run then this great knowledge and expertise can not be shared with parents and childcare providers.

we believe that the Toy Bus offers an incredibly valuable service to York families and childcare providers. It allows us to provide our children with specialist, varying and unique toys which aid their all-round development whilst also providing learning opportunities which the vast majority of parents would never have otherwise considered. To lose this wonderful resource would be to the detriment of young learners’ creative development in the York area.

You can sign the petition by clicking here.

York free compost dates

click to enlarge

Smarter York app little used but it works (sometimes)

In 9 months the York Council have received only 374 reports using the Iphone smart “app” service . The much publicised facility was launched in June last year.

The majority of the reports made concerned litter and graffiti. The Council does not say how many of the reports were acted on and no customer satisfaction figures have been published.

Before

After

However we can say that we have reported using the system residual leaf mulch left over from the autumn in places like Acomb Green and Barkston Avenue. The Council reported back today that it had been cleared from Barkston Avenue.

You can access the system by clicking here.

Labours “chain gang” solution to maintaining neighbourhoods

A new report reveals that Labour Councillors are planning to increase the use of offenders in maintaining public areas in the City.

Over 10,000 hours were put in by “Community Payback” workers last year.

Although the so called restorative justice policy has broad support, the idea of local streets being maintained by the modern equivalent of a “chain gang” seems deeply flawed.

Apart from anything else, standards would depend on the number of offences committed (hitherto the Councils objective has been to reduce crime!) and the number of community payback sentences handed out to those who are physically capable of work.

There is a case for using offenders to give an area a one off clean up. Community Payback have been praised for their approach to projects such as bulb planting in the Foxwood area.

But they are no substitute for well equipped professional Council workers.

The Council are also apparently expecting residents to take over some maintenance tasks.

They are asking people to “become a Street Buddy and adopt a bit of your street, repaint a utility box that keeps getting graffitied, or do some litter picking or weeding” !!!

The Council are hoping that this will allow them to cut around £325,000 from their maintenance budgets over the next 12 months. Grass cutting frequencies are likely to be the next service to suffer a reduction in quality.

It follows last years decision to remove litter bins and stop filling many salt bins.

Labour cut waste collection, road maintenance, community centres, libraries, elderly persons homes, ice clearance, job training and Social Services.

Cuts to street level services click to enlarge

Labour’s hopelessly misjudged Council budget proposals are set to be approved tonight. Cuts to all front line public services are planned yet

Labour also intend to retain a £1 million a year “slush fund” which is used to pay for a range of inessential “vanity” projects.

The £1 million this year has been used to pay for lighting and firework displays, free WiFi access in the City centre, a plan to open the Bonding warehouse as a “digital media hub”, building design competitions, an “innovation catalyst” programme; not to mention the occasional foreign travel trip.

More waste is evident in the Councils capital programme where commitments to introducing an unnecessary Citywide 20 mph speed limit and the purchase of a barge for use as an arts centre have seen interest payments, on borrowed money, double since Labour took control of the Council.

Abandoning these “vanity” projects and making good use of the reduced running costs (down by £375,000) of its new HQ would allow the Council to restore many of the most damaging cuts.

Labour’s key proposals would see:

• A 1.9% hike in Council tax levels (despite central government offering to underwrite the costs of a freeze)

• Privatisation or outsourcing of leisure/swimming pool management the Warden Call service and the “Sheltered housing with extra care” service. Even the Mansion House will be commercialised

• Grants to Museums Trust cut by £100,000, the Theatre Royal by £101,000 with similar % cuts other voluntary sector bodies

• At a time when people are rightly worried following revelations about meat quality, trading standards faces a £42,000 cut, while there will be less air quality monitoring.

• There will be less for job training as Future Prospects loses £150,000

• The closure of elderly persons homes will be brought forward meaning that some residents face double moves before new accommodation is completed. In 2014 pensioners will face a 90p charge when using their passes on Park and Ride services

• Disabled facilities at Greenworks and Brunswick Nursery cut by £50,000 Supported employment budget cut by £200,000 forcing disabled people into “mainstream employment”

• Social Service clients with personal budgets will lose out from a £500,000 budget cut

• Looked after children – basically those with foster parents – face a £700,000 cut with another £400,000 to come off in 2014.

• Respite services get a £50,000 reduction.

• Children’s centres face a £128,000 cut in 2014

• The toy library bus will scrapped in 2014

Some reductions in expenditure were inevitable.

Labour have simply chosen to economise on the wrong services.

Meanwhile there are some concerns about the likely quality of tonights Council debate

Essential resurfacing works on Micklegate and George Hudson Street throughout March

City of York Council will be carrying out essential carriageway reconstruction and resurfacing works on Micklegate and George Hudson Street throughout March.

The work will start on Saturday 2 March and is programmed to last for approximately three weekends – Saturdays and Sundays between the hours of
8am to 6pm.

In order to carry out these works safely a temporary road closure of both Micklegate and George Hudson Street will be necessary whilst works are taking place.
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