Age-friendly York surveys older people’s leisure time

Age-friendly York has launched a new consultation on how older people spend their leisure time in the city and how they’d actually like to spend it.

Your Leisure Time consultation is at www.york.gov.uk/AgeFriendlyYork and asks for views on activities and how to find them, volunteering and loneliness. Past surveys have highlighted social isolation is an issue which we’re addressing by providing opportunities to socialise like chatty bench and a chatty café. The survey asks about these initiatives and a shared restaurant table scheme. The questionnaire takes about 10 minutes to complete.

Earlier Age-Friendly surveys held last year were on Your Journey in August and Your Destination in October. Over 200 people took part and provided high-quality information and comments. Among the outcomes, includes a survey of benches in the city, their location, condition and plotting them on a map.

Following an earlier survey in 2017 when 23% of respondents said they experienced loneliness, we and partners developed www.LiveWellYork.co.uk which now lists some 640 activities, events or volunteering opportunities.

Councillor Carol Runciman, Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Health said: “Being an age-friendly city is a welcome step towards making the city an even better place for older residents.

“Better understanding their preferences or concerns means we can work with partners to address them. We can then build on initiatives like the falls prevention service, or our older people’s accommodation programme to support people to live as independently and as well as possible in later life.

“We know social isolation can be an issue, and this survey will help us understand the barriers people face to socialising, so we can create the right solutions. In the same way, we know accessing community transport at peak times can be difficult, so Age Friendly York is working with the Community Transport Group to find solutions.”

The surveys are open to any older York residents, anyone who works with or cares for older people or those who are planning ahead for older age. Printed copies and large print versions of the consultation are available on request to AgeFriendlyYork@york.gov.uk. Please email this address is you’re interested in getting involved in Age Friendly York.

Other consultations planned by Age Friendly York are on Your Access to Information; Your Home and Your Services.

York residents invited to share their experiences at flood drop-in sessions

Residents and businesses in York are invited to drop-in sessions in their local neighbourhoods to discuss recent flooding events.

As the city continues the clean-up operation following the rise in river levels caused by Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis, local residents and businesses are encouraged to share their feedback and experiences of recent events to help the council build upon the city’s resilience and improve local preparedness for the future.

Representatives from Emergency Planning, the Flood Risk Management Team, Community Involvement Officers and Councillors will be among those representing the council at the events across the city.

The upcoming drop-in sessions will be held in the following venues:

Fishergate: 11 March | Christian Science Church, YO10 4DE | 6-8pm

Tower Gardens and King’s Staith: 16 March | Quaker Meeting House, YO1 9RL | 5-7pm

Naburn: 17 March | Naburn Village Hall, YO19 4RS | 5-7pm

Fulford: 18 March | Fulford School (Main Hall), YO10 4FY | 5-7 pm (Presentation by the Environment Agency about Fordlands Road area at 6pm)

Skeldergate and Clementhorpe: 23 March | Southlands Methodist Church, YO23 1NX| 5-7pm

Acaster Malbis: 24 March | Acaster Malbis Village Hall, YO23 2TR | 5 -7pm

Cllr Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council said;

“I look forward to meeting residents and business owners across the city so we can listen and learn from the recent flood events.
“This is a great opportunity to share with us what you thought worked, how we can improve protecting the city, or the best way we can keep you up to date with the latest information.
“We recognise different areas have very different experiences and concerns, so we are holding drop-ins at key locations across the city so local residents can share their local and specific concerns.
“Thank you to all the residents and businesses who have already shared their positive encouragement and useful feedback with us.”

Across the three week period of high river levels the council had:

crews focusing on community areas to start the clean-up operation – crews have washed down areas using sanitising disinfectant where appropriate
dealt with over 60 dangerous or storm damaged trees since Storm Ciara
deployed over 6,000 sandbags and 200 one-tonne sandbags across the city to help protect the most vulnerable properties.
installed around 25 pumps to clear water across the city
recycled any plastic sandbags. Contaminated sandbags will be disposed of through our contaminated waste removal. Sand will be reused at the council depot
cleared over 300 gullies, swept roads and cleared drains.
tankers were on standby for any surface water flooding incidents that occurred
regularly updated the www.york.gov.uk/flood page to share the latest updates and advice

Shocking list of empty Council owned properties in York

Thursday can’t come soon enough for York taxpayers. On that day the City’s planning committee will decide whether to allow the Ashbank former social services building on Shipton Road to be converted into residential accommodation.

Ashbank has now been empty for a shocking 7 years.

Together with the Guildhall, it is the Councils most underused asset.

The above list was produced in response to a Freedom of Information request. The rates column indicates what the Council might have received if the properties had been let. To this must be added either the proceeds of a sale or lease income.

Several other valuable properties including Oakhaven in Acomb and the prime Willow House site next to the bar walls have also now been unused for over 3 years.

There are ongoing maintenance and security costs at each site.

The list does not include several brownfield sites which are suitable for development. These include the land to the rear of Acomb Library which was purchased 12 years ago but remains unused (currently it is a building compound).

Many years ago the Council used to have a Policy and Resources committee. One of its tasks was to challenge and optimise the use of the Councils portfolio. Sadly it was replaced by a “scrutiny” committee which rarely expresses any interest in the efficiency of the Councils processes.

Six monthly capital programme reports to the Councils Executive often fail to provide an update on long term unused assets. When they do get a mention it is restricted to a couple of anodyne sentences.

It is not just commercial properties that are a cause for concern.

The Councils housing department still often has a 10% vacancy rate on its garage blocks. There are waiting lists for garages in most parts of the City. Some of the garages are located in the City Centre where demand is high.

The housing department has been told to advertise all vacancies in order to maximise income. They have failed to do so.

They don’t even make full use of free social media channels.

The result is that the Council loses thousands of pounds of income each month while on street parking spaces becomes unnecessarily congested.