New flytipping task force formed in York and North Yorkshire

A brand new fly tipping task force named Operation Eyeball has been formed to tackle fly tipping in rural parts of North Yorkshire and the City of York.

Bringing together North Yorkshire Police with landowners and district and unitary councils will allow the sharing of intelligence and information to tackle the crime. A key element will be planned and targeted enforcement action days.

North Yorkshire County Council, Network Rail, the NFU and the Environment Agency, as landowners, are also involved. Along with City of York Council, all seven North Yorkshire local authorities who have enforcement powers for this crime are also involved in the operation: Selby District Council, Ryedale District Council, Hambleton District Council, Harrogate District Council, Craven District Council, Scarborough Borough Council and Richmondshire District Council.

North Yorkshire Police will be gathering and sharing intelligence around fly tipping hot spots, suspect vehicles and waste carriers.

Supt Paula Booth, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “Fly-tipping is a selfish crime that blights local environments and spoils people’s enjoyment of our towns and countryside. It is a source of pollution, a potential danger to public health and a hazard to wildlife. It also undermines legitimate waste businesses who operate within the law.

“By working together, we can tackle this issue. We also need help from the public – if you find or witness fly-tipping, wherever it is, record as many details about the incident and the waste as you can, and report it to your local authority or via the gov.uk website. This will help the authorities take action against those responsible and stop them fly-tipping in the future.”

Anyone who witnesses fly tipping should report it to their local authority.

Thoresby Road recycling not collected today

The York Council says,

“We are still working hard to catch up on garden waste collections and have managed to collect today from another 593 properties in the Tadcaster Road area.

Unfortunately, we were unable to collect garden waste in the Tang Hall area. If you live in Tang Hall and are affected by this please leave your green bin out for collection and we will collect it as soon as we can.

Despite the crew working beyond their shift, 200 properties on Thoresby Road Acomb did not receive a recycling collection today due to the volume of waste presented. The team will return to collect this tomorrow. Please present your recycling for collection by 7am Wednesday”.

York Council debts mounting as housing borrowing plan pushes finances to the brink

By the end of the year the York Council will have debts of over £318.2 million, up £52 million compared to 12 months earlier.

Nearly 14% of taxes paid to the authority now go on interest and principal repayments on loans.

The authority owes £139 million in historic debt on Council housing programmes.

The overall exposure is partly offset by investment balances which stand at £75.7 million (down from £91.6 million in 2017)

Debts have increased because of several projects. One of the most expensive is York’s share of the Allerton Park waste processing plant. Money has also been borrowed to fund aspects of the York Central development.

The financial assessment is due to be discussed at a meeting later this week.

The same meeting will consider the Council’s policy on funding new housing.

Included in the plan is a proposal which would see the Council borrowing £10 million to fund the development of the Lowfields site. This means the Council will have housing debts of £145 million, close to the legal debt cap of £146 million.

The Lowfields proposal involves building on a sports field which will be controversial and may lead to legal challenges. A promised “start on site” early in 2019 looks optimistic.

There is also the problem of development expertise in the Council. It has a woeful recent project management record with cost escalations on several major projects including the Community Stadium and the refurbishment of the Guildhall.

Lowfields – Plan to build on sports pitches

There are some good features in the new housing plan, but the Council will be sailing very close to the financial wind if it accepts the officer recommendations without amendment.

The report fails to address the problem of unlocking disused Council land like the site behind the Acomb Library or private sector “land banks” like the prime location next to the Barbican.

It would be more than ironic if the planning committee was bullied into accepting the Lowfields plans which, green space provision aside, feature straight geometric lines of 3 bed semis – a discredited  layout abandoned by other Councils over 50 years ago