A report to a meeting taking place this week reveals that in
quarter 1 (April – June 2019) “within the Shared Ownership Scheme, the Council
has acquired one property and sold equity shares in three properties”.
The target is to purchase 23 properties by the end of 2019/20 and sell the same amount.
“Capital receipts from the equity sales are to be reinvested
into the shared ownership programme, as such the budget is to be increased by
£289k at quarter 1 and the same amount is to be re-profiled to 2020/21 for
future purchases”.
The report comes a few days after it was revealed that the
Council has completed only 10 shared ownership deals in the 3 years leading up
to April 2019
This week’s report fails to identify any open market
purchase of properties which could be added to the Council Housing pool.
First has reversed its plan to charge £2 for the trip from Front Street to Chapelfields. The price hike from £1 was widely criticised. Although a short distance, the service is well used by those with heavy shopping to carry. The gradient can be a problem for some.
The new fare will be £1-20p
A similar situation exists in other parts of the CVity including Foxwood, although there, the short hop fare to Acomb has yet to be revised.
We have generally been supportive of the improvements that First
have made to their services over recent years.
However, changes to short journey fares seem to be have been
driven more by administrative convenience than passenger needs.
NB. Over 50% of bus journeys are made by pensioners using
their free passes.
Three weeks after local residents sprayed weed killer onto an overgrown traffic island on Northfield Lane die back has been limited. Further investigation revealed that around 4 inches of silt had accumulated around the island. Moss is a major problem on this and other similar islands
The area in question is important because it is immediately adjacent to the Councils Poppleton Park and Ride site. It is one of the first (and last) neighbourhoods that tourists are likely to see. Neglect is not a good selling point for a City with an economy dependent on visitor income
The nearby A59 is worse with weeds around 1 metre high.
While we don’t advocate residents taking matters into their own
hands unless it is safe to do so, there are some roads where relatively little
local effort could produce a startling improvement.
In every problem location we do ask residents and visitors
to report obstructions – including excessive weed growth, overhanging hedges
and trees – to the York Council.
We understand that a Councillor plans to raise the issue of failures in this years weed control contract at an executive meeting which is taking place on Thursday. Despite there being 300 pages of reports to the meeting, they fail to review the Councils performance on key street level public services. The Councillors responsible for street public services are likely to come under increasing pressure to issue a public statement, and initiate a recovery plan, aimed at restoring acceptable standards.