What’s on in York: York Easter Family Festival from tomorrow (Thursday)

Mar _29EasterCitywide : Thu 29 Mar – Mon 2 Apr :

10.00am – 5.00pm  :

Free

Don’t miss the brand new Easter Panto ‘The Hunt for the Magical Chocolatey Chick’ organised by Little Vikings. York’s Chocolate Festival returns as part of the celebrations with a chocolate market, demonstration marquee plus the Food Factory where you can become a food producer yourself. There’s also a carousel, petting farm and further sweet treats available at the Shambles Food Court. Fun and entertainment guaranteed!

Explore York’s historic streets to discover the hidden Easter Bunnies. Find the letters at each bunny location on the map, complete the form for a chance to win a family trip for four to Disneyland Paris!  If you find all 26 bunny posters you can collect a chocolate prize from the Visit York information centre – a map of the bunny search can be collected there too.

For more information click here.

York’s mental health strategy launched

York’s Health and Wellbeing Board has launched its new mental health strategy with a focus on every single resident enjoying the best possible emotional and mental health and wellbeing throughout the course of their life.

A newly formed mental health partnership will lead and co-ordinate the delivery of the strategy. The new partnership will be chaired by Tim Madgwick, who retired as Deputy Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police last year.

The strategy highlights that people with mental health conditions have a lower life expectancy and poorer physical health outcomes than those that do not.

The main focus of the strategy is to get better at spotting the early signs of mental ill health and to intervene earlier. It also looks at increasing individual and community resilience to reduce social isolation.

The other priorities are to:

  • focus on recovery and rehabilitation
  • improve services for mothers, children and young people
  • ensure that York becomes a suicide safer city
  • ensure that York is both a mental health and dementia friendly environment
  • improve services for those with learning disabilities.

The strategy expands on the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2018-2023, of which mental health is a key priority.
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Overnight road closures in central York from 8th April for two weeks

Lendal Arch Gyratory set to be resurfaced

Following on from the extensive Lendal Arch Gyratory traffic signal works City of York Council is set to resurface the area next month to complete the upgrade scheme.

The resurfacing works includes sections of Rougier Street, Station Road, Station Rise(Leeman Road) and Station Avenue.

To minimise disruption, work will take place overnight (8:30pm until 5:30am) every night except Fridays and Saturdays. The work is expected to last up to two weeks, starting on Sunday 8 April.

Road closures will be in place during the works with diversion routes via Nunnery Lane and Water End/Clifton Bridge to avoid Lendal Bridge, Rougier Street and Leeman Road. Throughout the works, all vehicles will still be able to access the station from the Blossom Street direction.

There will be some single lane closures around bus stops on Station Road and Station Avenue as the new surfaces take 24 hours to cure, but these are planned to happen for only one day in the first week.

The Lendal Arch Gyratory work included a full renewal of the traffic signal equipment. Changes to the pedestrian crossing facilities, including widening and realigning the crossing to make the area safer and better for the thousands of pedestrians who regularly use the crossing.

The junction is set to be resurfaced in two phases. Phase one is set to be completed during the first week and includes Rougier Street, from the Tanner Row junction to the new signals, and sections of Station Road and Station Avenue. Phase two will be completed in the second week and includes the remaining sections of Station Road and Station Rise.

As with any resurfacing work residents are likely to experience some disruption. Residents can be assured that the council is doing everything possible to minimise disruption as much as possible. We have also contacted local residents and businesses to inform them of the work.

For information about bus diversions during the works, visit: www.itravelyork.info/

Former owner of noisy bar in York gets six month’s conditional discharge for second breach

A city centre bar has been sentenced to six month’s conditional discharge and ordered to pay a total £1,179.43 for breaching a noise abatement notice a second time.

Today’s prosecution (27 March 2018), follows one last year on15 February 2017 when the former owner of Macumba Bar of Coffee Yard, York was ordered to pay a total £1,434 York Magistrates Court following a breach of the noise abatement order.

Following the case last year, the council received further complaints about loud music from the bar in April 2017. A warning letter made the bar’s management aware of the complaints and reminded them that the noise abatement notice originally served on 30 June 2016 was still in force. That notice had been served on Hayati Kucukkoylu (aged 50 of Boltby Road, York), then the licence holder, designated premises supervisor and director of the company. The notice immediately prohibited the playing of music at a level deemed to be a statutory nuisance.

Then on 9 and 10 September 2017, four more complaints about loud music at Macumba were received by the council. Officers on the council’s noise patrol service visited the complainants between 1-1.30am on 10 September. They heard music being played at a level loud enough to keep nearby residents awake and which was in clear breach of the noise abatement notice.

The mitigation put forward by Mr Kucukkoylu was that he is no longer involved in the business.
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