York Council Housing department labeled “lethargic”

Worn forecourt surface

After no fewer than 4 requests for improvements to the Marston Avenue garage area in Chapelfields, the York Councils housing department has still failed to acknowledge the issues.

Residents had complained that the forecourt had still not been resurfaced, that boundary fences are damaged, the area is choked with weeds and dumping has not been cleared while hedges also need cutting back.

Weeds

Sadly it seems that the election of a new Council has not produced the hoped for improvement on Council estate management. It is perhaps time for Ward Councillors to use their “Councillor call for action” (CCfA) system to get an improvement not only on Marston Avenue but in other similar areas across west York.

Overgrown hedges

NB. If Ward Councillors do try to follow the CCfA procedure they will, sadly, find that links to the process are also broken on the Council’s web site!

Meanwhile elsewhere

Westfield Ward Councillors have taken action to deal with dumping problems in various parts of the area

Dumped bikes Foxwood reported by Sheena Jackson

Dumped sofa in Chapelfields reported by Andrew Waller

Missing bollards in Bramham Avenue reported by Andrew Waller

Overflowing "poop scoop" bin in Cornlands reported y Andrew Waller

Overflowing “poop scoop” bin in Cornlands reported by Andrew Waller

ping

York High head criticises GCSE exam system

Call for inquiry into English Language marks

In a comment to local media York High School in Acomb head teacher David Ellis said had mixed emotions when he looked at the 2015 GCSE results this morning.

He was delighted for pupils Edward Bagnall and Owen Gibson who achieved five and four A* grades respectively but was very disappointed with some other aspects of the results.

Mr Ellis said: “As always our young people supported by the staff at York High have worked incredibly hard, and young people, often with significant barriers to overcome have made huge progress and we are very proud of them.”

He added: “Whilst we are delighted with the outcomes for some of our students it is clear that many of our young people around the crucial grade C border have been punished by the changes to the exam system that are currently taking place.”

Mr Ellis was particularly concerned about English. He said: “It is clear that something has gone seriously wrong with the system when the grades in English Language have fallen significantly whilst at the same time English Literature results have improved dramatically. The same pupils with the same teachers have radically different outcomes in these two similar subjects. This will have significant implications for the young people concerned and for our school”

Mr Ellis explained that York High will be seeking to have the English Language papers remarked as the grades allocated to students were well below those expected even though in other subjects students had achieved in line with expectations. “It is clear to us that something has gone wrong with the examination system either as a result of poor marking and or major changes in the grade boundaries.

“The next few days will be very anxious ones for pupils, their parents and for staff at our school. This cannot be right and it is an issue that is being identified by schools across the country and we will be working with them to ensure we get a fair deal for our students”

York High school also suffered a decline in exam success last year

Community Stadium – still unanswered questions

As we predicted several months ago, the new Community Stadium will not open until 2017 at the earliest.

An update report (click) has been published by the Council. It will be considered next Thursday.

The Council has confirmed that there have been no changes to the specification, costings and funding sources agreed by the, then Labour dominated, Council in September 2014 (see above).

The demolition of the existing stadium and Waterworld building is to be fast tracked – as is an extension to the Park and Ride site – at a cost of £2 million. The Council intends to undertake some advanced design work on steel work and piling.

The Council have announced – for the fifth time – that the Yearsley pool has been “saved” although they remain coy about the source of any ongoing subsidy that will be required.

Perhaps surprisingly they continue to claim that the £12 million replacement for Waterworld will go ahead despite growing evidence that demand for public swimming provision is the City has now been fully satisfied.

A contract for the stadium scheme is now expected to be awarded in January 2016. In the meantime the Council will attempt to negotiate away covenants on the use of the land – thought to have been inserted by a previous owner (work which should have been done three years ago)

Worryingly it appears that some of the proposed tenants for premises in the stadium complex have not yet signed up.

The Council are still forecasting a 12 to 14 month construction time table for the Stadium (Feb 2016 – April 2017). We doubt very much that a stadium of this size and complexity can be built, fitted out and – critically – get an appropriate safety certificate in that timescale.

It would be a major achievement to have it ready for the beginning of the 2017/18 football season (August 2017).

So a scheme that was in 2010 to be fully funded from S106 contributions from the adjacent Vanguard development, now looks set to cost taxpayers £8 million.

The hard work in finding funding for the stadium had been done by the time that Labour took control of the Council in May 2011. They dithered over the specification for the stadium for over a year before finally securing outline planning permission for the retail enabler.

A bizarre design/build/operate contract was then drawn up which fell foul of European procurement rules, adding two years to the process

Planning permission for the new stadium and commercial complex was finally granted only in April this year and it was June before the Secretary of State indicated that he would not ”call in” the scheme.

There is a lot of evidence that some Labour Councillors simply didn’t understand the risks that were being taken. Indeed yesterday one of their politicians took to the media to announce – completely erroneously – that the scheme would now cost £41 million (not £37m).

Unfortunately – for taxpayers – there is no way back to the 2010 scheme which would have seen a stadium, athletics facility and some community space built within a £15 million cost envelope. It would have been completed in 2014 at the latest.

Now we will have to wait another 5 months before the final costs are known and confirmation provided that all the proposed tenants have all signed on the dotted line

Public transport users in York will not benefit from fuel price reductions

The media is reporting that First buses do not intend to reduce fares to reflect the 20% reduction seen in diesel costs.

Pump prices have fallen from a high of 150 pence per litre to just 112 ppl in York this week. The downward trend in diesel prices has been significant and sustained since First last increased their prices.

In some cases such as season tickets prices will actually increase.

The decision mirrors that of the taxi trade which declined to pass on the benefits of lower fuel prices to customers earlier in the year.

Yesterday the government announced that regulated rail fares would increase by 1% in January. A study has suggested that regulated fare prices jumped 25% between 2010 and 2015, while average pay rose 9% over the same period.

Unfortunately there is currently no independent organisation in York lobbying on behalf of public transport users. The Council’s scrutiny committee pointedly ignores the subject of public transport costs and punctuality.