York Community Stadium – another twist

There will be a Judicial Review into the Council’s decision to grant planning permission for significant changes to the Community Stadium complex at Huntington.

The application for the Review was made by a cinema group who claimed that the planning process had not been fully implemented when revised plans were approved in June

The decision to hold a Review will add at least 6 months to the development timetable. If the Courts find that the Council did not follow proper processes in the lead up to the June meeting, then the planning application will have to be considered again. While there is no reason to suppose that the final decision would be any different, the complexities of the project mean that further legal challenges could not be ruled out.

Indeed the project may become mired in the Courts for years as appeals are considered.

The present stadium design links it to the other commercial and leisure uses so it is not possible to simply get on with the stadium build in isolation.

By now the Council should have got the message that it has overextended itself and a much simpler stadium needs to be substituted. There is still S106 funding available to provide a modest but adequate football/rugby ground.

Any “Plan B” might mean that some features of the overall project – such as the new swimming pool – would have to be jettisoned.

But at least tangible progress would be possible. In the meantime both the Rugby and Football clubs are suffering as a result of the off field indecision

New book about York due to be published in mid November

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Could you give a child a home? York supports National Adoption Week

The week runs until 23 October with aim of raising awareness of adoption and encouraging potential parents to come forward and the theme is embodied by the hashtag #SupportAdoption.

Across the country, there is a shortage of people coming forward to adopt older children or sibling groups or those who have additional needs. That means that these children often wait the longest to be adopted when many are in urgent need of permanent, caring homes.
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Invitation to find out more about new York A-Board policy

The council sent all businesses and retailers located within York’s inner ring road / Business Improvement District boundary, which are affected by the new policy, including FAQs and a copy of the full policy in September.

This information can also be found at: www.york.gov.uk/aboards
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Trading Standards offer a day of expert training to the York Garage Industry

The York Approved Garage Scheme is holding its first training seminar on 7 November 2016. Guest speakers include the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), DVLA and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).

The training, which has been organised by the Approved Garage Scheme, has been devised to support those in the industry tackle some popular issues and will provide important updates on the changes in legislation from April 2017.

The CAB will deliver a talk about the advice they give callers with complaints about vehicle sales and servicing. This will provide businesses an opportunity to be proactive in their service and an understanding of common customer complaints.

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Crime levels increase by 11% in York in one year.

The figures have been released today by ONS reveal that in the York safer partnership area 11,997 offences were recorded.

This compared to a total of 10.794 in the previous 12 months.

The latest results cover the period to June 2016.

Overall crime in North Yorkshire increased by 6%. white-collar-crime-1

The largest increases were in

Bicycle theft up 35%
Vehicle offences up 28%
Violence up 26% and
Non domestic burglary up 25%

There were reductions in

Possession of weapons (down 32%)
Theft from person (down 19%) and
Shoplifting (down 6%)

There was also a small reduction in domestic burglary

The were 408 public order offences recorded in the City.

The figures are bound to increase pressure on the North Yorkshire Crime and Police Commissioner who was criticised for delaying the recruitment of additional police officers because of budget concerns. Those concerns didn’t materialise, leaving the force under manned. Recruitment has only recently started again.

With a third of all crime in the North Yorkshire area taking place in York, Councillors should be asking for more officers to be allocated to the City and for the tried and tested Community Constable policing model to be brought back.

Community Constables were allocated to specific wards and got to know local residents and neighbourhood crime black spots. The system was abandoned in favour of centralised units around 3 years ago.

In response to a recent survey in the Westfield Ward, only 15% of residents were able to name a neighbourhood Police or Community Support Officer.