Parliament Street petition launched

A resident has started an electronic petition on the Council’s web site opposing plans by  “Make it York”  to demolish the fountain on Parliament Street.

Parliament Street fountain

Any change in the Parliament Street area is likely to be controversial and there is now a broad acknowledgement that the QUANGO, at least, jumped the gun and that it should have consulted more widely before publicly backing the change.

How many people are actually bothered about the future of the fountain – which is 25 years old and has been switched off for the last 3 years – remains to be seen.

The underlying question remains just how much power has the Council delegated to Make it York?

Most Councillors believe that the Council did NOT transfer to that organisation any right to change the infrastructure in, or layout of, the City centre (or anywhere else for that matter)

The petition reads

Parliament Street Fountain
We the undersigned petition the council to keep and restore the fountain so that it works not demolish a much loved York site.
Restoring the fountain would make the area look even more impressive. There are paved areas at each side of the fountain that can accommodate additional seating and tables for city users as they do on the continent in many cities, the fountain should be maintained and become a centrepiece for locals and tourist alike to enjoy rather than sitting at the few tables available looking at a proposed empty slabbed area which is what would happen with demolition. Removing this small fountain does not create a huge area, but does remove a lovely, obvious meeting point and a nice place to sit and have a coffee or just people watch.

The petition can be supported by clicking here 

Front Street, Acomb robbery: witnesses, images and video sought

Detectives investigating after a robbery outside the Halifax bank in Acomb, York, are appealing to witnesses to come forward.

Incident

Officers are particularly keen to hear from people who took any photographs or recorded any video footage in the Front Street area of Acomb between 12pm and 2pm on Monday 6 July 2015. Any images could help the investigation, even if they are not of the robbery itself.

After leaving the scene of the incident the suspect left the area on a motorcycle with another man. The bike was found abandoned on Newlands Lane, Hessay, just off the A59, at around 2.30pm. officers are appealing to anyone who saw the bike being dumped to get in touch.

They would also like to hear from any motorists who were driving along the A59 and saw two men on a motorbike turning off the road.

Anyone with any information that can help the police is urged to get in touch. Even if you think the information you have is insignificant, it could be vital to the investigation.

If you can help officers with their enquiries, please contact North Yorkshire Police on 101 – select option 2 – and pass information to York Serious Crime Team.

If you prefer not to give your name, Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Please quote reference number NYP-06072015-0286 when passing information about this incident.

York Council says, “Please help to shape a new plan for young people”

safeguarding2

A new Children and Young People’s Plan is currently being developed by City of York Council for 2016-2019 to set the direction for everyone working to improve the lives of children and young people.

As with previous Plans – the most recent was launched in 2013 – the views of children, young people, families and people working with and for children are a crucial element in deciding the new Plan’s priorities.

The council is asking all those affected by the new Plan to share their thoughts. This can be done via a 10-minute, anonymous online survey atwww.yor-ok.org.uk/haveyoursay.  At the end of the survey, participants can choose to enter into a prize draw for one of two £50 high street vouchers as thanks for taking part.

Young people are also invited to get involved by applying to join a group of young researchers. These young people aged16 years old and over are being recruited for six to eight weeks from the beginning of July. The young researchers will be trained, rewarded for their attendance and learn valuable skills. Please contact Tess Ellis on 01904 551249 or email: tess.ellis@york.gov.uk for more details.

Cllr Jenny Brooks, Executive Member for Education, Children and Young People, said: ““The success of previous Plans has lain in part in having been shaped by the people it will affect. I’d urge all children and young people and those who care for or work with them to have their say now about what matters to them and how we can make York the best place in which to live and grow up.”

The consultation will be open until 31 August and the new Children and Young People’s Plan it will help draw up will be launched in the new year.

York parents to get child sexual abuse and exploitation information

Parents and carers of children in York will get information and advice about how to spot signs of child sexual exploitation and abuse this month as part of a citywide awareness raising campaign.

Parents of pupils in year 6 (10-11 years old) will receive a letter and wallet-sized information card about the It’s not ok campaign, which was launched in May.

The campaign, which is run by City of York Safeguarding Children Board (a group of organisations in York which help support children and young people, including City of York Council, North Yorkshire Police and health partners) and the NSPCC, aims to raise awareness of child sexual abuse and exploitation amongst young people, parents and carers, childcare and safeguarding professionals, and the general public.

The year-long campaign, the first of its type for the NSPCC in England, has four distinct phases, with each targeting a different audience. Information, resources and campaign materials will all be available in one place – the new sexual abuse and sexual exploitation website for York: www.itsnotokay-york.org.uk

Simon Westwood, Chair of the CYSCB/Dot Evansfrom the City of York Safeguarding Children Board, said: “Unfortunately sexual abuse and exploitation can happen anywhere and to anyone. By writing directly to parents and carers we hope that we can raise awareness about the issue, helping to protect their child or children. The website has a wide range of resources to help parents spot the signs of potential abuse, as well as providing support to anyone who has been abused.”

Helen Westerman, NSPCC campaigns manager, said: “It’s great to be working with City of York Safeguarding Children Board on this campaign. We know how difficult it can be to speak out about sexual abuse and exploitation and we hope that this campaign provides a voice to children and young people living in abusive situations.”

Political posturing or considered debate? York Councillors opt for extra meetings

Three decisions taken by the new Council have been called in for further consideration.

The topics chosen are an eclectic mix of the important (new house building), the improbable (listing an derelict  “malt house”) and the bizarre (objections to letting a new security contract)

Council house building and Newbury Avenue

Newbury Avenue garages

Predictably the Labour group hope to divert attention away from their failure, over four years, to provide significant numbers of additional affordable homes in the City. They are “calling in” an Executive decision which sets out how more Council houses will be provided in the future. Despite the minority Labour (and Green) Groups now having a voice on the new style Executive, they are still opting to delay work starting on the new building programmes by calling for further reviews.

The “call in” specifically refers to the decision taken to review the demolition of a garage block in Newbury Avenue and replace it with 9 flats. This was the highly unpopular decision forced through by Labour when it had a Council majority. They failed to address concerns about lack of alternative car parking in the estate or the cumulative impact that additional building was having on the limited highways capacity in the area.

An alternative, much better located, site for new homes on Front Street – left derelict for 4 years by the last Council – had been suggested.

In calling in the item, Labour are also delaying a start on other – less controversial – Council housing developments in areas like Ordnance Lane.

There must be a suspicion that what Labour are really trying to do, is deflect attention away from an inquiry into their stewardship of the housing estate. 

It has emerged recently that their flagship “Get York Building” programme collapsed 6 months ago when meetings were abandoned. They are likely to face some testing questions about the cost of “Get York Building” and its complete failure to achieve what its slogan title implied.

While the scale and location of new housing is clearly a matter of City wide significance, the same cannot be said of the other two issues.

Council security services

CCTV-control_room

Three Green Councillors have called in the decisions made by the Executive on 25 June 2015 to “commence a procurement exercise for a comprehensive set of council wide security services, to include on site security services in all council properties, fire alarm response and investigations and the provision of the Council’s CCTV control room operation and ongoing maintenance”.

The Executive decision was simply to commence the procurement process.

It appears that the Greens are opposed to the outsourcing of CCTV monitoring although this is common place elsewhere. 

They raise a series of question about the scope of the contract most of which could have been raised and answered before the Executive decision was taken.

Community Right to Bid under the Localism Act 2011 – Clementhorpe Malt House

Malt house Clementhorpe

The Council Leader – rightly – decided that this building, which has been empty since its use for storage ceased several years ago,  could not reasonably be regarded as a “community asset”.

The building had been unused – and arguably an eyesore – for many years before a deal was brokered to convert it for residential use. The conversion seeks to tastefully incorporate some of the historic features of the building. The demand for malt houses is somewhat limited these days.

The fact of the matter is that, those who now feel that they want the building to be retained and in particular the local ward Councillors, have missed the boat.

They had many years to pursue an alternative use for the building but failed to do so.

The property has been sold and planning permission has been granted.

The Council should encourage the developers to get on with the building work and provide more homes on what is a brownfield site.

Hopefully the new more inclusive decision making process – due to be introduced in the autumn – will allow issues like these to be fully explored before decisions are taken.

Spurious “calling in” tactics simply waste time and tie up the Councils limited administrative resources.