Lendal Bridge – cameras still working?
Claims have been made that the use of the ANPR cameras, to enforce traffic restrictions on Lendal Bridge and Coppergate, has been suspended.
The Council would have had little choice but to do this as, if having received independent advice that their use was unlawful, the Council could have faced maladministration claims from any drivers who received PCNs.
The Council have refused to say whether PCNs have been issued over the last 2 days using ANPR evidence.
The Council have, however, said that the traffic order has not been revoked and the signage is still visible. That means that a uniformed police officer could, in theory, try to enforce the restrictions.
The traffic adjudicator yesterday also highlighted other flaws in the Councils management of the restrictions, so any PCN would be likely to be rescinded on appeal.
The Council Leader has now belatedly decided to blame Council officials for the fiasco.
He has asked the Chief Executive to undertake an internal review the matter, describing the Councils actions as “not to a standard that I would expect”.
Given that the Chief Executive and Council Leader work hand in hand on a daily basis this particular piece of political camouflage is unlikely to fool anyone.
It is reminiscent of the comments made in Labour party Emails earlier in the year when they sought to distance themselves from the unpopular plans
An all party scrutiny committee should – meeting in public – undertake a proper review of what went wrong on a project that has seen the City being ridiculed across the whole country.
In the meantime the Lendal bridge trial should be suspended. The cameras in Coppergate should be switched off at least until they can be proven to be lawful. Enforcement of restrictions there should once again rest with the police.
Meanwhile the Lib Dem Leader says that the Council has “lost control of events”
Elderly in York get active
Residents in City of York Council’s Older People’s Homes have been trying their hand at Boccia, chair-based exercises and parachute games as part of a trial to increase activity levels and wellbeing.
Evidence shows that sedentary behaviours take up 80 per cent of an average 70 year old’s day in a care home, yet regular activity can help reduce the age-related decline in strength, endurance, bone density and flexibility.
The taster sessions, run by the council’s Sport and Active Leisure Team, have proven so successful that fortnightly activity sessions will now be held at each of the council’s Elderly Person’s Homes.
York Council claims increase in recycling rate
Over 600 properties in the Clifton area of the city were given a helping hand to re-use and recycle even more of their waste and as a result participation in the recycling collections in this targeted area increased by around six per cent.
The campaign ran over a period of 12-weeks and provided incentives to encourage even more people to recycle and re-use.
Prior to the start of the campaign the council carried out an assessment on how many residents already recycled in the targeted area. This included a doorstep survey which enabled officers to talk to residents direct about any problems that they were experiencing and how they could help to resolve these.
York Businesses Against Crime unite in new partnership
A new anti-crime partnership of local businesses has been established to give firms extra teeth in the fight against crime.
York Businesses Against Crime (YBAC) will take over from Retailers Against Crime in York (RACY) as the business crime partnership for the city on Monday 7 April and rather than just one, will have two main membership groups: retailers and businesses involved in the night time economy.
The new organisation is being supported by the Association of Business Crime Partnerships (ABCP) to establish best working practices, and it will be overseen by a Board of Management comprising representatives from the retail sector and business generally.
Spring cleaning York
Over 100 bags of litter have now been collected during the first two weeks of the Smarter York Spring Clean campaign to spruce up areas of York.
The campaign, now half way through, has been carried out by volunteer residents together with York and North Yorkshire Probation Trust’s Community Payback team. They have been busy litter picking, planting, weeding, edging and painting and new volunteers are now being sought to continue the great work achieved so far.