A report to a Council meeting later this week details how an £80 million Council investment programme will be funded.
The Council will again borrow heavily to fund schemes which include:
Borrowing costs click to enlarge
- Expansion of Fulford school (£5.8m)
- Schools maintenance (£4m)
- Older persons accommodation (£0.5m)
- Museums plus art gallery gardens (0.85m)
- LED street lighting replacement (£1.3m)
- Provision of 20 new Council houses (£8.9m) and modernisation (£2.3m)
- Local Transport Plan (£4.6m)
- Community Stadium (£20.7m of which £6.4m will come from taxpayers)*
*It seems highly unlikely that this money will be spent in the current financial year as the contract is not now expected to be let until the spring.
The Council will invest in better play grounds and more solar powered litter bins.
The programme also includes a (mostly unallocated) £15m sum in the “economic investment fund”. This is understood still to include major contributions towards a bridge into the York Central site and funding for a Digital Media Centre.
A1237 northern by pass improvements delayed?
The 5 year rolling programme – which includes projects which are both directly and indirectly funded – does not identify any money for improvements to the northern by pass.
The West Yorkshire “Combined Authority” agreed last November to include a £37.6m allocation in their forward programme for the project.
Following the announcement by the government of an allocation of £1 billion for the “West Yorkshire Plus Transport fund”, the York Council was asked to commit £500,000 a year in its revenue budget to progress the ring road project.
The expectation was that the £37 million investment would be used to upgrade those roundabouts – such as the one on the Haxby Road – which currently cause bottlenecks on the A1237.
According to the Combined Authorities programme formal approval for improvements at the first junction was due to be given this month (August) with a start on site in March 2016.
No explanation for the delays has been provided in the report to York Councillors.
The government funding allocation must be used by 2021.