Dog walkers arriving at the Foxwood park will get a reminder from the Residents Association that they must clean up using a poo bag.
In an innovative move, spare poo bags are being provided at the entrance to the park with a request that dog owners replace any they use when they next visit.
Park and Ride network
It seems that the council has finally received a bid to run its park and ride service. When the contract was first advertised no bids were forthcoming.
In the main the service will continue at it is today.
Key changes include
New Alexander Dennis Enviro 400MMC buses proposed
However users face a fare hike from £2-90 to £3-10 with a 10 minute frequency.
A number of enhancements including a late night service are on offer but are unlikely to be accepted for cost reasons.
The new contract will reduce the council’s income to an estimated £80,000 a year.
The Council have refused to disclose the name of the proposed operator.
The new contract will start next year.
Fortunately they are readily available on the Police UK web site
The latest monthly figures available cover the month of March.
Distribution of crimes
There were 448 crimes reported in March. The majority of these were for anti social behavior,violence and shop lifting.
It was a similar picture during the previous 12 month period
| Crime type | Total | Percentage |
| Anti-social behaviour | 2373 | 43.68% |
| Violence and sexual offences | 790 | 14.54% |
| Shoplifting | 649 | 11.95% |
| Other theft | 419 | 7.71% |
| Bicycle theft | 340 | 6.26% |
| Criminal damage and arson | 220 | 4.05% |
| Theft from the person | 173 | 3.18% |
| Public order | 153 | 2.82% |
| Burglary | 120 | 2.21% |
| Drugs | 83 | 1.53% |
| Vehicle crime | 41 | 0.75% |
| Other crime | 35 | 0.64% |
| Possession of weapons | 19 | 0.35% |
| Robbery | 18 | 0.33% |
Crime levels usually increase in the summer when larger numbers of people visit the City. Officials will be looking anxiously at the figures for April and May, when any adverse trends may become clearer
What happens to these arrested?
Some go to court, but most do not!
So who is responsible?
Many of the crimes are fuelled by alcohol.
Here the City Council must take some of the responsibility.
They have cheerfully nodded through more and more licensing applications and have even given planning permission for new premises such as the arts barge whihc will have a bar. They have been recommended to allow up to 5 new licensed premises at the shipping container village which is to be located near the Walmgate trouble blackspot.
Not all licensed premises contribute to the problems but it would be reasonable to ask all four candidates in the forthcoming general election what they want to see done to reassure residents that parts of the City centre are not becoming a “no go zone” during parts of the day.
We’ve told the York Council on many occasions over the last seven years that it should use some of the profit on its housing account to buy empty properties on the open market.
Today it seems that action is imminent.
In a media release the Council says,
The funding is being requested from the council’s Housing Revenue Account capital to match grant funding of £2.76m from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
The bid to the HCA was made in September 2016 to support the delivery of the homes between 2017 and 2020. With an average grant rate of £42,500 per home, the programme aims to help address the affordable housing needs of the city.
Pending the executive’s decision, the 65 homes – depending on market values – will be bought from the open market and/or from new-build residential developments.
The shared ownership scheme aims to help people in housing need but who cannot afford to buy a home on the open market. Under a shared ownership lease the leaseholder buys a share of the property and pays rent on the remainder owned by the landlord, City of York Council.
Martin Farran, City of York Council’s director of adult social care and housing, said: “Through this scheme, we aim to offer more affordable housing options to people in York who can’t afford to buy, without help, from the open market. It will also increase our interest in housing stock across the city to benefit future generations of shared owners”.
The news comes on the same day as the Council confirmed that there are still 1000 people on the waiting list homes in the York area. Most are seeking a different sized property to rent.
It is unclear how many of them will be able to participate in a shared ownership arrangement.
This is how much it will cost you to take advantage of this scheme
