Jewsons have been awarded a 3 year contract to supply building materials to the York Council.
Oliver House – “we want some more information”
The Council has confirmed that a proposal, submitted earlier in the year by the CVS, to lease and improve Oliver House, proved not to be financially viable.
New terms are now being renegotiated with the expectation that a report will be considered at a meeting in December.
The property has been empty for 18 months and sits on a prime site which could generate a major capital receipt for the local taxpayer.
Conversion of residential sites like these to offices is very short-sighted.
The Council would be wiser to sell the site for development as housing and use the receipt to provide offices in a cheaper – possibly sub-urban – location.
This would have the additional advantage of regenerating one of our run down local high streets.
At a recent Council meeting Westfield Cllr Lynn Jeffries posed the following question to the responsible Cabinet member;
Winter de-icing cuts go through by 1 vote.
Labour have forced through plans to cut salt bins and gritting routes in York despite opposition from residents, community groups and local councillors.
Ann Reid with local salt bin
Earlier this month, Labour run City of York Council decided to cut two-thirds of salt bins and remove nearly 30 miles of roads from priority gritting routes, including on bus routes. Liberal Democrat Councillors Ann Reid, Nigel Ayre and Keith Aspden ‘called-in’ the decision for further review. However, at a special meeting of York’s Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee last night, Labour used their majority to push through the controversial proposals by 5 votes to 4.
At the meeting, the Lib Dems tabled an alternative set of plans which would have safeguarded salt bins at schools, elderly people’s homes, sheltered housing and community hubs such as local shops and libraries. It also said all bus routes should be on the priority gritting routes; community groups should be consulted before any salt bin is cut; and it called on the Labour Cabinet to review its decision to carry out an online only consultation on the cuts. These alternative plans were defeated by Labour.
Speaking at the meeting Cllr Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Environmental Services, said Labour’s plans were “flawed” and “a substantial number of areas will be left without a regular gritting regime, leading to access problems for public transport and to schools in icy weather”.
She criticised the Labour Cabinet for prioritising schemes such as buying an Arts Barge over delivering frontline services, adding:
“It is a matter of priorities where budgets are spent. It is easy for the Labour administration to blame Government cuts; however, they are still able to find resources for pet projects while street level services like salt bins and gritting, which people pay their council tax for, are cut”.
The proposals have met with fierce opposition from local people with 1,000 residents signing a Lib Dem petition against the cuts. Meanwhile, Kingsway Area Residents’ Association recently said that the plans could see elderly and disabled people trapped in their homes this winter.
It expected that salt bins will start to be removed from the streets of York in the next couple of weeks.
Details of the meeting and decision can be found here: http://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=602&MId=7815
The Lib Dem proposal, tabled by Cllr Carol Runciman and defeated 5 votes to 4, was as follows:
Nick Clegg offers York businesses growth funding
A new round of the Government’s Regional Growth Fund has opened for businesses across the country, and City of York Council is encouraging firms in York to bid for a share of the £300 million cash pot.
Nick Clegg at launch of Regional Growth Fund
The fund, which has already supported almost 300 projects and programmes across the country, is open to bids of £1 million or more for high quality private sector projects and programmes that leverage private sector investment and create sustainable jobs.
Round five of the Regional Growth Fund will close to applications on Monday 9 December, with successful bidders announced in Spring 2014. Bids will need to demonstrate the potential for creating long-term, private-sector led economic growth and employment, and also evidence a significant private sector matched funding contribution.
For further information, or for help with the application process businesses can visit https://www.gov.uk/understanding-the-regional-growth-fund#round-5-now-open-for-bids or contact Andrew Sharp or Charles Storr in City of York Council’s Economic Development Unit on 01904 555834 or 01904 555901.
Holgate children’s centre finally gets new occupier.
A team that supports some of York’s most vulnerable children has moved to new dedicated premises in Nursey Drive in Holgate.
City of York Council’s “Looked After Children Support Team” was formed last year to help support the city’s Looked After Children, their families and carers. The team of 12 specialist support practitioners will move to the site of the old Holgate Family Centre on Nursery Drive at the end of the month.
This is a welcome move by the Council which should, in our view, undertake more devolution to help regenerate sub-urban areas.
The team liaises with partner agencies across the city to coordinate and facilitate contact between Looked After Children and their parents and other relatives, support parenting assessments and re-unification plans, as well as helping Looked After and Adopted Children understand and make sense of their own life histories.