Mixed reactions to this year’s Christmas market

The Christmas Market was quite busy today with many visitors strolling around the Parliament Street area.

Parliament Street

The stalls in St Sampson’s Square were popular as were the large numbers of buskers in the area.

St Sampson’s Square
Ugly security barriers may dent the Christmas atmosphere
It seems that the old Post Office on Lendal may be turned into a Restaurant

Some regulars have commented that the Christmas market needs to spread out more.

There will be no stalls at the Judges Lodgings this year as a planning application covering their siting has been withdrawn by the building owners.

We think there is scope to expand the stalls onto areas like Duncombe Place. The area near the Minster would be ideal for a Christmas themed event.

Tree may be a hazard if Ouse floods

A self seeded tree on the banks of the Ouse near Lendal Bridge is causing concern.

As well as potentially destabilising the paved bank, (the tree seeded through a crack in the surfacing several years ago) there are concerns that the branches could cause a build up of rubbish during periods of flooding.

We have asked the Council to remove it.

NB. There is a major opportunity for additional tree planting between the Ouse and the railway line nearer to Leeman Road

Year 11 York students offered apprenticeship taster

City of York Council’s Apprenticeship Hub is inviting Year 11 students to apply for a place on the second city-wide Apprenticeship Taster Day, following the successful launch earlier this year.

Taking place on Thursday 16 January 2020, 14 local employers are offering apprenticeship tasters to over 100 year 11 students from York secondary schools.

The taster day gives students the opportunity to experience what it would be like to be an apprentice in a variety of sectors, including finance, data science, hospitality, early years, rail engineering, marketing and construction.

The employers hosting students on the day will include; Network Rail, Aviva, City of York Council, Garbutt & Elliott, Portakabin, Toni & Guy and a variety of early years settings.

The application form is available from york.gov.uk/yorkapprenticeships and must be submitted by Friday 13 December.

For more information contact the York Apprenticeship Hub, email: york.apprenticeships@york.gov.uk or 01904 553732 or visit the York Apprenticeships webpage: www.york.gov.uk/yorkapprenticeships.

What’s on in York: Foxwood Local History Group exhibition at Acomb Explore Library

Exhibition by Foxwood Local History Group now on at Acomb Explore for two weeks.

They are asking local residents to help to fill in the gaps in the areas history.

Foxwood Local History Group on Facebook (click)

£43,277.40 owed to York Council by theatre company

It has emerged that, when the operators of Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre on Castle car park went into administration, they owed the York Council over £40,000 in rent payments. The information is contained in an response to a Freedom of Information request published today.

Reconstructed Rose Theatre

It seems unlikely that the Lunchbox group will have sufficient assets to repay this amount. In total the group had agreed to pay £113,076 to the Council to compensate for the loss of parking income. The Castle car park is the best used in the City.

The pop-up theatre attracted only 47,000 visitors in York this year, compared to 78,000 visitors last year

Lunchbox Theatrical Productions Limited was placed into administration by the directors “to protect its business and assets” on October 9, 2019

Thor’s Bars Limited and Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland, which are currently operating in the City, are “unaffected” by either the liquidation of Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre or the administration of Lunchbox Theatrical Productions.