York Community Stadium local consultation dates announced.

Continuing concern over tight timetable

We understand that consultation meetings, involving local residents, about the design of the Community Stadium complex has been scheduled.

A series of public exhibitions will be held to give the community the opportunity to view the plans and provide feedback.

The events will be held on:

Friday 28 November at Orchard Park Community Centre, Badger Paddock, York, YO31 9EH between 2.30pm and 7pm and on
Saturday 29 November at City of York Council Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA between 10am and 4pm.

The exhibitions will be run as drop-in events and people are free to attend when convenient to them.

More details are available on this Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/yorkcommunitystadium

Clearly the project is still some way from the point where a detailed planning application can be submitted.

There are also continuing concerns about the source of the £12 million commercial investment needed to make the project financially viable

The planned opening date for the Stadium (July 2016) still looks to be optimistic.

The project is currently running 2 years behind the schedule agreed in 2010.

York air quality consultation starts

Residents and other key stakeholders are today being invited to comment on a new draft Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP3) for York.

In March 1915 York Corporation Tramways Department was one of the very first operators in the country to use electric buses and to this day, there are still two relics of this pioneering form of transport in the City – the shelters at Clifton Green and Malton Road Corner, which were built as charging points for the buses

The consultation runs from 21 November to 2 January 2015 and provides an opportunity to comment on proposals to further reduce emissions and improve air quality in York during the next five years (2015 -2020).

The draft AQAP can be viewed online at www.york.gov.uk/consultations .

Paper copies will also be available in all York Explore libraries and at West Offices reception.

Support from the government’s Green Bus Fund enabled York to become the first city in the north to introduce a fleet of electric buses to its Park&Ride service and more recently a Cleaner Vehicle Technology Fund (CVTF) grant allowed Transdev to convert one of its tour buses to a fully electric drive train.
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York Councillors unite to save Yearsley Pool

Liberal Democrat and other opposition councillors have joined together to call for action to safeguard the future of Yearsley Pool.

from left to right Cllr Ian Cuthbertson, Derek Wann, Martin Lewis Crosby, Cllr Carol Runciman, Chris Cullwick, Cllr Keith Orrell, Cllr Brain Watson (Independent Councillor) and Cllr Keith Aspden – at a recent event in Parliament Street collecting signatures for the petition to save Yearsley Pool.

In September Labour run City of York Council said it would cut the £250,000 annual subsidy given to Yearsley from 2016.

Lib Dem calls for the future of the pool to be safeguarded over the course of the next council term were defeated at October’s Full Council meeting.

Since then a petition against closure, set-up by the Yearsley Pool Action Group, has been signed by over 4,000.

Now, opposition councillors are joining together to call for action. The councillors have called for a scrutiny review to be set-up to explore ways to reduce the subsidy given to Yearsley but secure its long-term future beyond 2016.

Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Keith Aspden, who has submitted the scrutiny review request today, commented:
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Labour Leadership contest

The new Leader of the Labour group on the York Council is also likely to become the new Leader of the City, albeit only for about 4 months.

The York electorate will have had no say in the making of this appointment. Hopefully Labour Councillors will belatedly offer some transparency in the process.

It would, therefore, be good to see potential candidates tell York residents what they think that they could bring to the job of Council Leader?

The Leadership of the City is important and under new regulations it is the Leader who makes all the Cabinet appointments.

The Council needs a Leader with experience. To hit the ground running you probably need to have been a member of the Council for 10 years, with another 10 years having been spent in business, education or administration. This should provide the minimum necessary range of knowledge and skills.

The Press have given their view on the runners and riders.

Several of the Councillors listed have less than 4 years service on the Council – meaning they have only ever won one election. Even the late incumbent, whose inexperience led to his eventual downfall, had served for over 4 years when he took up the post.

So you should rule out Levene, Cunningham Cross and Barnes as serious contenders.

Williams likewise but he may claim five years on the Plymouth Council gives him an edge, or at least some geographical flexibility. He is less tainted than many by the Alexander years having currently a low profile portfolio role on finance and internal management. Poor transparency, inadequate management information and sometimes chaotic customer service interfaces suggest that he has made little positive impact at West Offices. He does however have some work experience and indeed tries to juggle working in PR while drawing a Cabinet members salary. Has recently announced that he is leaving the Westfield Ward in search of a safer seat on the east of fhe City.

Some others have failed even more spectacularly with their portfolios.

TSL presided over indecision on Social Care resulting in projects like the Lowfields care village running 3 years behind schedule and with an auditors report published which criticised a huge budget deficit in care services. The number of affordable housing units built actually fell during her tenure. Her only recent “proper” job was running a coffee stall on the market albeit she now has a lot of experience on the Council. Likely to be more popular with the party activists than the City generally.
Dave Merrett, although more able than some would give credit for, failed as the Council Leader in 2002/3, suffering a heavy election defeat in May 2003 and is now tainted by the Lendal bridge scandal and the dogmatic, unnecessary and costly introduction of 20 mph zones. Many other transport projects ran behind schedule during the days of his regime. Has held an engineering job in the rail industry for many years and is the most experienced of the likely contenders.
Sonia Crisp is credited with putting the word vanity in “vanity projects”. Self publicity is no substitute for competence and she has still to explain the “Grand Departy” debacle. No relevant work experience.
Which leaves Julie Gunnell, last years Lord Mayor? Some might say that she jumped ship from the Alexander Cabinet in 2012 because she could see the way things were going. She remained publicly loyal to the old regime even when her father (Ken King) resigned from the Labour Group and became Leader of a rival “Independent Labour Group”. Julie Gunnell does have some administrative experience, has better interpersonal skills than most Councillors but is not the world’s most convincing public speaker. Still she improved during her year as Lord Mayor and may be someone who could calm a warring Council chamber for a few months. No doubt being named as dark horse on this web site will scupper her chances. Shame as one family holding the leaderships of two Groups on the Council would be another first for the City.