York Council set to reject bid to build on Green Belt land in Acomb

1.1 The site occupies part of an agricultural field on the south side of Boroughbridge Road (A59), positioned at the edge of the suburban area on the west side of the city.

There is housing to the east; Trenchard Road being closest, and Muddy Boots nursery to the west of the site.

Beyond the site, there is further agricultural land to the west and then a petrol station and commercial unit positioned at the junction where the A59 meets the outer ring road.

To the south is agricultural land between the suburban edge and the outer ring road.

Opposite the site on the north side of the A59 is the former Civil Service site, which has planning permission for housing development (266 dwellings approved under application 14/02979/FULM).

The site is within the general extent of the Green Belt.

The development plan for the area is the Upper and Nether Poppleton Neighbourhood Plan. Within the plan the site is designated as being within the Green Belt.

The site is also within land identified as Green Belt in un-adopted local plans – the 2005 Draft Local Plan and the 2018 Publication Draft Local Plan (DLP).

The application proposes 60 dwellings, with a single access point for vehicles from the A59 and associated public open space in the centre of the site and opposite the A59. The vehicle access would be opposite the approved access for the housing site at former civil service site.

The application (click) is recommended for refusal at a meeting which is taking place on 3rd December.

NB. The same meeting will have a second go at determining a planning application for the Castle Mills Car park site. This is a proposal from the Council itself and was deferred to allow further input from the professional advisers. It would see 106 apartments built and is recommended for approval.

Coronavirus York update; 26th November 2020

Deaths and test results

There has been a big jump in the number of COVID deaths announced today. EIGHT new fatalities have been announced by the York Hospital Trust. Two occurred yesterday, four on Tuesday and two on Monday.

The cumulative total second wave death toll at the York and Scarborough hospitals has now reached 74

TWENTY NINE (29) additional positive test results announced today. Brings cumulative total to 5576

It appears that the threshold used by the government, to determine whether an area could be given a Tier 1 classification, was that the location must have fewer than 100 cases per 100,000 head of population. Very few areas met this criteria (Cornwall, Isle of Wight).

On the last validated numbers (21st Nov) York had 132.47 cases per 100k population.

On the present downward trajectory, York would pass below 100 cases threshold before the next review date. This is expected to be 10th December with any changes in classification effective from 16th December.

During the week ending 19th November, 3530 P2 tests were carried out in York. Of these, 8.6% proved to be positive.

This was a lower positivity rate than was seen during the previous week

Neighbourhood data has now been published. There is little change from yesterday.

We have reordered the table to reflect the cases per 100k of population rate.

This is one of the the figures that the government used to determine which Tier an area was allocated into.

Essentially the City needs to have a rate below 100 to be considered for Tier1 by 10th December.

Two neighbourhoods. Heslington and Clifton Without, are well above this rate at present.

The colour coding now reflects the central government’s presentation key

Tier 2 for York

York has been placed back into Tier 2 restrictions by the government. The new arrangements start on Tuesday.

The main impact is on pubs which will have to serve meals if they are to open while households will not be able to mix indoors.

All shops, hairdressers etc will still reopen from Tuesday.

The situation will be reviewed after a fortnight and may be changed again before Christmas

Outdoor events will be limited to 2000 spectators.

This will affect York City FC who were hoping to move into the new Community Stadium at Monks Cross.

However work at the stadium is still underway today with no sign of completion in sight. The Club may look to reopen Bootham Crescent. Social distancing at an all seater stadium would be easier to manage.

An update from the York Council on the stadium situation is long overdue.

It looks like high case rates in Scarborough may have contributed to York being placed in Tier 2 restrictions. There may be concerns about capacity at the York Hospital Trust which is also responsible for care in Scarborough. More details are available by clicking here

West and South Yorkshire have been placed into the highest TIER 3 category. This includes additional restrictions on travel to, and from, the areas.

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R growth rates government information
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Map of tier boudaries

COVID Winter Grant Scheme for the needy

The York Council will consider next week how it is to allocate the, government funded, Winter Grant scheme.

On Sunday 8 November 2020, the government announced a package of extra targeted financial support for those in need over the winter period. The COVID Winter Grant Scheme will see new funding issued to councils to support those most in need with the cost of food, energy and water bills and other associated costs.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will provide funding to the council, who will administer the scheme and provide direct assistance to vulnerable households and families with children particularly affected by the pandemic.

This will include some families who normally have access to Free School Meals (FSM) during term time.

The funding allocation for York is £416,729.

Around £200,000 of the fund is set to be used to provide meals for needy children during the Christmas and Easter school holidays (i.e. those who would normally quality for Free School Meals)

Click to access

There are already many local schemes operating which provide support to local people hit by te pandemic. These include surplus food giveaways