York Fire station – more information published

The empty fire station on Clifford Street is still costing taxpayers around £45,000 a year to maintain.

Former York Fire Station on Clifford Street

The costs cover buildings security and rates.

They do not include utility charges.such as electricity and water.

The North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service say that they hope to complete the sale of the building before April 2016 but this is dependent on the new owner getting planning permission for the new development announced this morning.

The sale price for the site has not yet been revealed.

The Fire Service moved into a new station near the Barbican in April 2014.

The figures were obtained using Freedom of Information legislation

Digital code club scheme to launch with special event

As part of efforts to increase awareness and access to coding in York, City of York Council is hosting its first code club event on Wednesday 28 October.

City of York Council’s Digital York Team in association with Code Club UK are running York’s first Code Club event to help young people learn to code. Young people are invited to attend the event which takes place on Wednesday between 10am and 4pm at Explore York Library Learning Centre.

Places are available coding sessions running throughout the day to build robots, remote control cars using Raspberry Pis, try some 3D printing and a chance to meet a successful York app developer. Young people will also have the chance to win tickets to the X Factor Live Finals, tablets and many other prizes as part of a competition.

The aim of coding is not only to teach children how to programme a computer but also build skills in problem solving and logic as well as develop skills that can be used in other activities, hobbies and careers.

Councillor Ian Gillies, Executive Member for Transport and Planning with responsibility for digital infrastructure, said: “This promises to be a great event offering the chance for young people to learn all about code. Coding is important for young people growing up in a digital age and the event looks to teach code in an interesting and engaging way. Hopefully the Code Club event will see the start of increased provision across the city and would urge anyone interested in getting involved to contact the Digital York team for more information.”

It is hoped the event, in conjunction with Code Club UK, will kick-start increased access to coding sessions for young people across the city. The event will also see the start of a campaign for volunteers to support the scheme by offering to run code sessions. For more information please email digitalcity@york.gov.uk

For more details on the code club event and to book a place at the event please visit http://bit.ly/CodeYork or call 01904 552999.

Disability sports on show as part of Celebrating Ability Week

A fun packed week of exciting sports, physical activities and courses are lined up to encourage more York residents into disability sport as part of York’s fifth Celebrating Activity Week, Monday 26 October to Sunday 1 November.

The new programme, co-ordinated by the council’s Sport and Active Leisure team, offers a wide range of taster sessions for disabled children and adults. It includes a full day of sports coaching and fun at Energise, with different afternoons dedicated to both Deaf and Hard of Hearing sport and Visually Impaired sport.

This year, for the first time, sessions are also taking place at 10 different local sports clubs and organisations who are inviting disabled residents through their doors to try what’s on offer. These sessions include Inclusive Cycling at York Sports Village, Tennis at the University of York, Wigginton Tennis Club and David Lloyd Sports Centre, Wheelchair Basketball at Joseph Rowntree School, Deaf Badminton at York Railway Institute and Bowlsability at New Earswick Bowls Club. There will also be a new practical session for young people to help develop wheelchair manoeuvring skills.

A Snooker taster session is planned at York Railway Institute, Queen Street, between 9.30am and 11.30am on Saturday 31 October, led by qualified World Snooker coach, Kevin Gall. It is hoped that enough interest will be shown to enable the launch of a new Inclusive Snooker Club at the venue.

Councillor Nigel Ayre, Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism said: “Celebrating Activity Week offers a fantastic opportunity to find out about the many disability sports in York taking place throughout the year and to make new friends. All adults should be aiming to do 150 minutes of physical activity a week and this event will help many to find ways they enjoy of doing just that.”

This year the programme will include a number of short courses for support workers, parents, carers, health professionals, volunteers, coaches and PE teachers which aim to raise awareness and confidence in delivering sports based activities to disabled people.

For more information about Celebrating Activity week visit www.york.gov.uk/celebratingability or call 01904 553377.

“Witch hunt” claim as York’s Lord Mayor keeps on digging

York’s Lord Mayor has taken to the airwaves to claim that she is the victim of a “witch hunt”

Not perhaps the best of analogies only a few days before Halloween

The latest row seems to have arisen from more Emails from the Lord Mayor to various Council officials have been released under Freedom of information legislation

One set (click) goes into more detail about supposed problems with accommodation and the Mayoral chains. It turns out that the same accommodation was made available for the current post-holder, in the Guildhall, as had been used by a previous Lord Mayor during renovation works some 15 years ago.

Much of the content of the Email exchanges is anodyne and what one would expect from any civic head.

click to enlarge

However it is now clear that

The Lord Mayor was officially warned not to accept hospitality and accommodation from a City Centre hotel (as they had a pending planning application lodged with the Council)
That the (replica) civic chain was re-gilded in early September. However a media briefing had previously given the reason for the Lord Mayor not wearing the chain at summer events as being because “it was too heavy to wear without a collared jacket”
The Lord Mayor walked out of the launch of the Art Gallery opening in July “as a protest” connected with the admission charge controversy. Ironically, no one seems to have noticed the snub.
The Lord Mayor is travelling extensively on official duties. A trip to North America is in the pipeline while those to Denmark and Blackpool have already taken place. The trip to the Blackpool Illuminations involved the use of the civic car (DN1) for part of the journey. The Lord Mayor has connections with Blackpool.

All in all, the tone of some of the exchanges is sometimes less than respectful. Hopefully the next Lord Mayor – expected to be Green party nominee Cllr Dave Taylor – will be able to repair some of the damage done to the reputation of the office.

Fire station redevelopment plans announced 18 months after site put on market.

Proposed floorplan

Fire station redevelopment artists impression

Proposed development

The Council has received a planning application to redevelop the Fire Station site on Clifford Street (click here) . The site had been on the market for 18 months with a sale “by informal tender” being sought.

The proposed redevelopment would see 9 houses, 5 flats and a restaurant built on the site.

The announcement brings into focus the future of the adjacent former police station buildings on Lower Friargate.

These were empty for many months when the Safer York Partnership moved out but have now been taken over by the Magistrates Court.

However the site is obviously under-occupied and has become an eyesore in what is a sensitive conservation area

Old police station in lower Friargate

What’s on: Bloodaxe book challenge at Acomb Explore library tomorrow

What’s on – Gateway to your Archive: workshop at York Explore library

Sat 24 Oct: 10.00am – 4.00pm

As part of the heritage lottery funded Gateway to History project, Explore York Libraries and Archives are running a series of workshops aimed at local community groups, societies, charities and businesses who are interested in setting up and managing their own archives.

The purpose of this project is to work with local organisations to ensure that the lives of all York’s citizens are recorded in the archives for all time.
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