Two pubs and a former Post Office face decision day in York

Lord Nelson Pub

The immediate future of three local buildings will be decided on 16th September.

The Council has been asked to list three local properties as “assets of community value”. If so designated, local organisations would be able to offer to buy the properties as and when they come onto the market..

 The three buildings concerned are:

  1. The Lord Nelson Public House, 9 Main Street, Nether Poppleton York.
  2. Blacksmiths Arms Public House, Shipton Road, Skelton, York.
  3. Lendal Post Office, 22 Lendal, York

The Council is being recommended to list the two pubs.

Both have been nominated by their local Parish Council.

The owners of the Lord Nelson say that any listing might delay the reopening of the pub as they plan to make improvements and re-let the building.

Sam Smiths maintain that their Blacksmiths Arms outlet has a long-term future with the intervention being unnecessary.

Officials are recommending that the former Post Office building on Lendal is not listed as it does not meet the relevant legal criteria.

Need for clarity from Council Executive members

The Council’s scrutiny committees will begin to receive reports this month from the new Executive councillors.

The expectation will be that a line will be drawn in the sand and a new suite of measurable outcomes will be published.

Street sweeping poor

At the moment residents must rely on Open Data pages to try to check on progress.  They represent a confusing array of stats with some key service areas barely covered.

The public will want to know what the trends are in volumes? Are the demands on the Council’s resources increasing or are they stable?

 Whether it be numbers of schoolchildren or elderly people requiring support, these are key figures. 

Blocked gullies

The volume of waste being presented is an example of  important information, as are jobless and job vacancy numbers.  Complaint and issue numbers provide a clue to residents’ concerns.

“How many?” “how often?” “where?” are all legitimate questions

Going beyond these how is the Council responding?

  • What are the customer satisfaction numbers?
  • How quickly does the Council respond?
  • How effective is the response?
  • What are the root causes of repeat problems and how has the Council responded?
No weed control

Two reports to a scrutiny meeting next week offer little insight. They include no numbers.

The Executive member scorecards for the first quarter (April – June) haven’t even been published yet.

An outturn report to a full executive meeting on 29th August prompted no debate.

Paths obstructed

Taken with the obvious decline in street public service standards that have been evident during the summer months, this simply isn’t good enough.

It doesn’t matter which party is in control of the Council a “can do” attitude coupled with good, honest communications is essential.

Residents expect better.