Extraordinary U Turn by York Council

A Council official has nullified the controversial decision taken by Green Councillor who agreed to spend over £1 million bringing 8 Council houses up to ENerPhit standard and around 30 homes up to EPC ‘C’. click for report.

Cllr Craghill turned down an alternative which would have seen 66 properties benefit from a similar investment. Overall this scheme would have produced greater CO2 savings, and lower energy bills, for many more tenants. It was better value for money and had a bigger impact on the environment.

Not surprisingly the seemingly perverse decision was due to be “called in” for further explanation. Tory, Independent and Labour Councillors backed the call in. Privately some LibDem Councillors are understood to have expressed similar concerns.

Now a Council official has decided to bin the decision.

The Councils – increasingly controversial – “monitoring officer”, Janie Berry, says that

” I have concerns in relation to the legal, finance and equalities implications cited within the original report, in that I do not believe they provided Cllr Craghill with the sufficient details she required to assist her in making a proper fully informed decision”.

“In my capacity as the Monitoring Officer I have revoked the original decision made by Cllr Craghill and have instructed the Housing Department to re-draft a  report in respect of this issue and re-present a revised report to a future meeting of the  Executive Member Decision Session.  Members will still be able to call-in any future report in respect of the Energy Accelerator”.

Now whatever you may think of the decision – and it was a strange one – officers overruling Councillors, without democratic endorsement, sets a dangerous precedent. It is as close to a local coup as you are likely to witness.

Reports normally go through a series of checks before being made public. These checks certainly are aimed at ensuring proposals are affordable, legal and fair.

Something has gone seriously wrong in this case. Taxpayers will want to know how this could happen.

The delegation scheme – where individuals can spend very large sums of money – has always been controversial. The blunder will add weight to those advocating a return to all party committee decision making.

In the meantime, the controlling coalition needs to find some internal mechanism where extreme or perverse proposals can be moderated before they become public.

If such a process were in place then some recent transport decisions might also have never seen the light of day.

Latest waste service update from York Council

Thursday 9 July

We collected all household waste as scheduled.

We were unable to collect recycling from parts of Rufforth and Huntington due to vehicle breakdowns.

We were unable to collect recycling from parts of New EarswickHaxby and Huntington due to vehicle breakdowns.

We’ll return for waste on the evening of Thursday 9 July. Please leave your containers out for collection.

We collected all outstanding recycling waste from Wednesday 8 July.

Coronavirus York updates; 9th July 2020

Lock-down eased further

Outdoor theatres and swimming pools will be able to open, along with recreational sports.

Dance studios and sports like badminton and volleyball together with indoor pools, gyms, nail bars and sports facilities will reopen 25th July

There will be restrictions on numbers in gyms and pools and people will be encouraged to shower and change at home where possible, though changing rooms will be open.

Club cricket can also resume from this Saturday, 11 July, with “a limited number of spectators” allowed and clubhouse bars will be able to open, subject to social distancing rules.

There is no word yet on when other spectator sports will be able to admit spectators and under what conditions.

Deaths and test results

There has been another positive coronavirus test result in York. This brings the total to 903.

There have been no further deaths in the York Hospital Trust area.

Most often knocked over traffic bollard? Fastest growing thistles?

Is this the most frequently damaged mini roundabout keep left sign. Located at the junction of Askham Lane and Ridgeway, no sooner is it repaired and another large vehicle – or careless driver- knocks it over again. York Council needs to come up with a better solution.
Thistles are now partly blocking the cycle path at Knapton. Not sure whether this is on the York Council weed killing programme? It should be. It would be a shame to lose this, increasingly well used, cycle link to Rufforth for lack of maintenance.
It would be a shame if the York Council was to be allowed to continue to neglect the Front Street area. More must be invested in improving maintenance standards. However, there are now new opportunities for regeneration. The Councils decision to (effectively) evict disabled drivers (blue badge holders) from the City centre could prompt the reopening of Front Street, for this category of motorists, on at least a couple of days each week. They would then be free to park nearer the shops (disabled parking spaces are currently limited). Cyclists would also benefit. “Social distancing” is made easier because of the shop forecourts. Add in some music/entertainment, street stalls and a high profile marketing campaign and the area could soon be buzzing again. .

New zebra crossing to improve safety near children’s playground

City of York Council is installing a new zebra crossing on Haxby Road next week to make it safer for children and families to access the play facilities in Clarence Gardens.

The council says that it has listened to requests from residents, who called for a new crossing to be placed on Haxby Road, between the Stanley Street and Neville Street junctions. This will improve access to and from the playground, Clarence Gardens, nearby bus stops, Park Grove Primary School, the Groves, York Hospital and local businesses in the area.

Works will take place from 13 to 24 July, between 8am and 5pm, Monday to Friday only.  In order to carry out the work safely, temporary traffic lights will be installed.

Drivers are advised to plan ahead and if possible avoid the area when the works are taking place, to avoid congestion.

For more details about roadworks in York, visit www.york.gov.uk/roadworks

Appeal following theft at Lidl Thanet Road store

Police have issued CCTV of a man they would like to speak to following a theft in Acomb, York.

The incident happened at Lidl, Thanet Road on 25 May 2020.

Officers are asking members of the public to get in touch if they recognise the person in the images as it is believed they could  have information which will help the investigation.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for PC209 Lewis or email Kira.Lewis@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Please quote reference number 12200087032 when passing on information.

Contact details:Kira Lewis – #0209 Kira.Lewis@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk | 101 Incident reference:12200087032