Dangerous dog owners sentenced following dog attack on person

The owners of a dog found to be dangerously out of control have been handed a five year dog ownership ban by York Magistrates today [15 March 2019].

City of York Council, in a joint operation with North Yorkshire Police, seized the dog on the 27 July 2018, to prevent continued aggression towards people and other animals.

Scott Berkley (aged 42, of no fixed abode) and Katie Bradley (aged 41 also of no fixed abode), owned the Staffordshire bull terrier. The dog was not micro chipped and would frequently escape their former home at Dale Street and attack smaller dogs.

One attack left a resident visiting hospital due to injuries received when they tried to intervene as their pet was attacked. Their Jack RussellxCorgi required surgery to save its hearing.

Mr Berkley and Ms Bradley were charged with an aggravated offence of owning a dog which was dangerously out of control and injured a person.

They had previously pleaded guilty to failing to microchip a dog. This is the first time that City of York Council has brought a case of failing to microchip a dog.

Today [15 March 2019], Mr Berkley and Ms Bradley pleaded guilty to the outstanding charge and were each issued a five year ban on owning a dog by York Magistrates. They were also ordered to pay the victim a total of £468.

York Central moves another step closer with £37.32m funding decision

York Central has moved a step closer as £37.32m of external funding was promised to deliver the new generation of homes and higher paid jobs York needs and to improve the railway station.

The funding was confirmed yesterday (Wednesday 13 March) from the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund and Leeds City Region Growth Deal – a £1 billion package of Government investment through the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP), delivered by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.

The funding will contribute to a new western access road, bridge and spine road into York Central, a fully accessible western entry into the railway station and the station frontage scheme which will bring a transformation of transport interchange facilities, enhanced accessibility and new public realm at the front of York station.

The scheme will support the delivery of up to 2,500 new homes and over 6,000 new jobs.

£23.5m of this funding will contribute to the £155m infrastructure funding package for York Central with a further £11.7m towards the costs of transforming the front of the station.  Together the two schemes will open up the 72 hectare York Central site which is surrounded by railway lines, and create vibrant and distinctive residential neighbourhoods, cultural spaces, and a high-quality commercial quarter at the heart of York.

The plans for the front of the station will demolish Queen St Bridge, improve the public spaces and improve the transport interchange to create a greatly improved fitting gateway to the city.  This funding is conditional upon the award of Housing Infrastructure Funding later this month and on the award of Planning permission.

The West Yorkshire Transport Fund money follows the £35m budget agreed by City of York Council in December. This will then be repaid using retained business rates from the York Central Enterprise Zone. The council’s £77m bid for the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund is at an advanced stage, with a decision expected soon.

The outline planning application for the site will be considered by the council’s planning committee on Monday 25 March 2019.

Archaeological works complete on Stonebow

Archaeological works that have been taking place on Stonebow are expected to be complete this week.

Stonebow

The investigation has been undertaken in partnership with York Archaeology Trust (YAT) as part of a £1.1million investment by City of York Council to make major improvements to Stonebow, Fossgate and Pavement in York’s city centre.

The works will improve the street’s appearance and character, create a more pedestrian-friendly environment and improve access for pedestrians and cyclists, which will attract more visitors to the area.

Ben Reeves, YAT’s project manager on the Stonebow site said, “York is famous for its archaeological remains and it is the rich organic preservation to be found at sites like this in the city centre that is so important in enabling us to understand and promote the city’s heritage to the wider world.

“Our fieldwork team has been recovering evidence for buildings and property boundaries as well as artefacts and industrial materials. We have found horn and antler and have also recovered well-preserved leather and wooden objects due to the water-logged conditions.

“One of the yards appears to have been used for some kind of water-related processing, with a series of timber-lined pits and a well-preserved wooden drain made from planks. Over the coming days, weather permitting, we will finish removing the archaeological deposits down to the required depth.”

Tony Clarke, Head of Transport at City of York Council said, “We have been working closely with York Archaeological Trust throughout the Stonebow works. Concerns around what historical features may be under the road changed our plans into how we stripped the surface away, however their investigation has not caused any significant delays to the project.”

NB. YAT has investigated a series of properties and back yards off ‘LeStainbogh’ later known as Stonebow Lane. This lost lane was demolished in the 1950s to make way for The Stonebow.  Stonebow Lane, in the medieval period, was the site of a Masion Dieu hospital ‘which haythe bothe men and women in the same, and is of two paryshings’, and walls of the Carmelite Friary precinct found here by workmen in 1857. Unfortunately, this area was bulldozed in the 1950s without any investigation and much was lost without record.