York Council report details air quality improvements for sixth consecutive year

The latest statistics on air quality from City of York Council, gathered by the UK’s most extensive provincial monitoring network, shows improvement across the city, although there are areas still above national targets.car-emissions

Areas with poor air quality include:

  • Gillygate,
  • Holgate,
  • Lawrence Street and
  • George Hudson Street/Rougier Street

The 2015/16 report will be presented to the Executive Member for the Environment at his Decision Session on 5 September.

York has one of the most extensive air quality monitoring networks in the UK outside London monitoring nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and other pollutants since 1999, and with NO2-specific monitoring at 340 locations*.Throughout 2015, NO2 concentrations have decreased at most of the monitoring stations in line with a steady downward trend.

In the Air Quality Management  Areas (AQMAs) in the city centre, along Salisbury Terrace and in Fulford, NO2 and particulate matter levels are now fractionally lower than nationally-permitted levels which could remove certain areas of concern.

These lower levels have been achieved through a stream of initiatives driven by the council’s low emission strategies. The most recent Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP3), adopted in December 2015, sets out how York intends to continue to deliver its ambitious and pioneering strategy and to work towards becoming an internationally recognised ultra-low emission city.

The measures undertaken in 2015 to improve air quality include:
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Golfers invited to tee off for charity

Golfers will putt their game to the test as they take part in a charity golf day at Fulford Golf Club on Monday 29 August.

The golf day is an annual event in support of the Club Captains’ charity, the Alzheimer’s Society.  This year Fulford Golf Club have kindly offered to share the day to also raise funds for the Lord Mayor’s charities, which for the 2016/17 Civic Year are; York LGBT Forum, York Racial Equality Network, St Nicks, and York Civic Trust.

The day, which is sponsored by Ray Chapman Motors, will see golfers from across the city and region join together whilst pitching in to raise funds for charity by playing a four ball ‘Stableford’ competition.
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Ex homeless young people make over Lincoln Court garden

Lincoln Court

Lincoln Court

Today,  Friday 26 August, a group of young people who have experienced homelessness will be sprucing up the gardens at Lincoln Court, a City of York Council sheltered accommodation scheme in Acomb.

The gardeners are part of Enable, a project that brings together young people from the Safe and Supported Housing (SASH) scheme and older people who need a helping hand. The younger people are challenged to complete tasks such as decorating and gardening identified by the council’s 60+ housing specialist service. They are helped with the work by council and SASH staff.

Through SASH, a supported lodging scheme in York, the young people learn skills they will need when they have a place of their own while the older people get to pass on their knowledge and make new friends. The scheme is supported by Homebase which generously and regularly donates materials to it.  (more…)

That was the year that was – 1980

Following on from yesterdays story about public satisfaction with Council services, it seems that little changes. 

According to one of our Focus newsletters published in 1980,  local residents were most satisfied with refuse collection and least happy about highway maintenance. 

That’s much the same story today although the relative ranking of some other public services has changed. 

The two local Councils (York District and North Yorkshire County) were both Conservative controlled in those days. York was to become a Labour run authority in 1983, something which pretty much continued unchanged until 2001 when the Liberal Democrats gained ground in local by-elections. 

Focus newsletters have improved from being hand written to using a computer design with full colour printing. So some things do change.

NB. The 1980 editor was Peggy Barker who lived in Stuart Road. She was a Liberal Councillor in the Westfield Ward for 5 years. 

1980 Focus survey result