York Council Labour members refuse to debate reopening Lendal Bridge

Labour Councillors have refused to debate reopening Lendal Bridge at tonight’s York Council meeting.

Instead they narrowly voted to refer any decision to the Labour Cabinet.

No discussion on the LibDem motion was allowed by the Lord Mayor, as filibustering tactics were used by Labour to prevent opposition Councillors from putting the case for the ANPR cameras to be switched off immediately.

It is now likely to be at least another 2 months before the issue is resolved, although suspicions are growing that Labour have already decided, privately, to make the access restrictions permanent.

World Autism Awareness Day to be marked in York

City of York Council is marking the seventh World Autism Awareness Day (Wednesday, 2 April) with an information drop-in event at the Customer Entrance to West Offices, Station Rise, from 11-1pm.

Several local organisations working with people with autism* and Asperger’s will be present to give out information about the services they run locally, including peer support group Aspire, United Response, and Living Autism. Artwork by people with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder will also be on display.

The council is currently working with partners in the NHS to deliver its new Autism Strategy for Adults: Fulfilling and rewarding lives for adults with Autistic Spectrum Conditions living in York.

The strategy has five key aims, to:

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Over 500 rose bushes planted in West Bank Park

The refurbished rose garden in West Bank Park is being planted with 552 roses ready for a blooming beautiful summer display.

Members of the West Bank Park Heritage Centre and Cafe Group have been helping to plant 37 new beds, featuring seven varieties of rose and 552 shrub roses. The locally-sourced roses include a rich range of colours and the varieties used are Angela, Dearest, Golden Wedding, Heaven Scent, Iceberg, Living Fire and Southampton and have been selected to provide scent and colour throughout the summer.

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York in decline as cycling City?

York remains one of the top cycling cities in the UK, supported by figures released by the Office of National Statistics this week, ranking York as one of the top five cycling cities nationally with the highest proportion of residents cycling to work.

The Census 2001 – 2011 figures reveal a six per cent increase in the number of residents aged 16 to 74 years of age cycling to work, from approximately 10,000 in 2001 to over 11,100 in 2011.

Although the proportion of adults cycling to work were down by 0.8 per cent, from 12 per cent in 2001 to 11.2 per cent in 2011 – these figures are only representative of the total number of residents cycling to work and do not include leisure, young people under the age of 16 or people over the age of 74 which make up 24.3 per cent of York’s residents (approximately 50,000 potential cyclists).

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Rubbish skips this weekend Saturday 29th March

Although the Council has cut back on the number of amenity skips it provides, several residents associations continue to run programmes aimed at making it easier for tenants to get rid of unwanted items.

The skips are only in place for a few minutes and residents must ensure that they put any rubbish into the skips and do not leave it on the path or highway.

2 Pottery Lane 10:30 11:30
5 Fossway 10:30 11:30
8 St Paulinus Church 10:30 11:30

Well fancy that

Andrew Waller at the derelict garage site earlier in the week

Just 24 hours before York’s Labour cabinet were due to answer some embarrassing questions about a garage that had been allowed to fall into dereliction, workmen arrived yesterday to repair it.

The media reported on Monday that the garage on Windsor Garth had been boarded up since 2012.

Andrew Waller pointed out that there was a lack of off road parking available in the area and that the Council was losing a lot of income through failing to repair the garage.

The derelict site was also an eyesore.

Cllr Lynn Jeffries tabled a question on the long running saga which was due to be answered at tonight’s Council meeting.

Newly refurbished garage door on Wednesday