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Rates relief applied to business rates

Image result for business gifs

An initial £17.5m relief has been applied to rates bills which arrive with York businesses this week.

Having joined local and regional partners in making the case to central government for further business rates relief, City of York council delayed issuing rates bills until after the budget announcement on Wednesday 3 March.

The Chancellor announced that eligible retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery business will receive a rates discount of:

  • 100% for the first three months, totalling £17.5m for eligible York businesses
  • Up to 66% for the remainder of the 2020/21 financial year

The total value of the rates relief will depend on how many businesses reach the discount cap set by the government:

For eligible retail, hospitality, leisure properties the £2m for businesses that were required to close as at 5 January 2021, and up to £105,000 for business permitted to open at that date.

For eligible nursery properties the relief will be capped at £105,000 per business, regardless of the open or closed status.

Following government guidance, eligible businesses will receive two bills. The first will show a 100% discount from April 2021. The council will then issue an adjusted bill from 1st July 2021 showing 66% discount for the period from 1st July 2021 to 31st March 2022.

Businesses which do not have access to their registered premises to collect their bill can contact the rates team by e-mail at business.rates@york.gov.uk.

Businesses that wish to opt out of the Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Rate discount scheme, or Nursery discount scheme may do so by contacting business.rates@york.gov.uk before 30th April 2022. Please note that any business opting out of this scheme cannot withdraw their refusal for either all or part of the financial year.

Have your say on improvement plans at Bootham Bar

Bootham bar photographed with the junction and traffic lights at red. Two people walk across the pedestrian junction.
Bootham Bar junction

City of York Council wants to hear what residents and businesses think of a new scheme improve pedestrian access at one of the busiest junctions in the city centre.

Works will take place later this year on the Gillygate, Bootham and St Leonard’s junction, which is all part of the Traffic Signal Asset Renewal (TSAR) Project. 

The TSAR project involves installing new signalling equipment and ducting, but also provides an opportunity to consider different options that could enhance the whole area for pedestrians and cyclists.

Two possible designs have been prepared, both would replace all the signals and increase the width of space for pedestrians waiting to cross Gillygate.

Option ‘A’ is the simplest design with little change to the existing layout while option ‘B’ would provide more pedestrian space and improve the historic setting of the area.

It would also allow for an ‘all green’ pedestrian phase across all arms of the junction, with no need to wait half way across when crossing from the Art Gallery to Bootham Bar and a less traffic dominated area.

However, the removal of the left turn lane from St Leonard’s Place to Bootham, and the changed signal phasing, would increase traffic delays and queues at peak times, with potential impact on air quality in Gillygate and Bootham.

Tell us what you think

Views are being sought on which design residents and businesses prefer and why, between Monday 1 March until Wednesday 31 March, and can be submitted, by:

  • Completing the short online survey 
  • Emailing views to: TSAR@york.gov.uk
  • Writing to: TSAR Programme, Transport Systems, Corporate Directorate of Economy and Place, West Offices, York, YO1 6GA.

In addition to the above, over 650 properties in the immediate vicinity of the junction will be sent details of the consultation and offered assistance if they cannot view the design options online.

Council deploys flood defences as city remains open for COVID-secure business

City of York Council and partners are putting in place flood defences to ensure York residents and businesses can get on with ‘business as usual’ despite river levels rising after Storm Bella.

With river levels predicted to peak at around 4 metres in the early hours of tomorrow (Monday 28 December 2020), the council has acted early to put in place defences to protect those areas most affected.

  • Sandbag barriers are being constructed at Clementhorpe, Tower Gardens and Tower Street, together with a pump to clear water, while flood boards have been installed at Peckitt Street.
  • St George’s Field Car Park will be closed today.
  • Rowntree Park will remain open today until 4pm, but will be closed tomorrow. 
  • Riverside paths in the city and access roads in Poppleton and Naburn will be affected.
  • Any residential properties likely to be affected are resilient to flooding at these levels, but residents are advised to follow their personal flood plans.

With no more rain predicted today, the river level is exected to slowly decline after peaking in the early hours of tomorrow. The council will not be issuing sandbags to properties unless the forecast levels rise.

For more information on floods in York, including advice on how to prepare, visit www.york.gov.uk/floods . Information on flood warnings is available at https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/warnings

For travel advice listen to your local radio and news services, or follow @york_travel and @cityofYork on twitter.

Have your say on City of York Council’s budget

Council Leader on “meet the people” Tour. Budget consultation starts

City of York Council is asking residents and businesses to share their views on the council’s next budget, following the launch of the budget consultation this month.

Early in the New Year, councillors will have to set a budget for the next financial year (2021/22). The impact of the pandemic has been unprecedented and despite the Government’s promise to give councils everything they need, York faces a significant budget gap of over £15 million, an issue that has been compounded by successive years of Government funding cuts.

Whilst the council has continued to provide support for those who need it since the start of the pandemic, the full economic effects of coronavirus on our communities have not yet been fully felt.  Therefore, the council’s initial focus for the 2021/22 budget is to stabilise the authority’s financial position, allowing the council to continue to deliver the services which have been so relied upon during this difficult year.

The council will also continue its £600m capital investment programme to accelerate economic recovery, whilst continuing to support local residents, businesses and communities.

This year, there are a number of different ways to get involved and have your say on the council’s next budget:

  • Complete the paper survey in Your Local Link, which is being distributed to all York households from 15 December. Please send this back to the FREEPOST address provided by Sunday 31 January.
  • Complete the online survey which closes on Sunday 31 January on our website
  • Join us for a live Facebook Q&A on 6 January at 5pm on Facebook
  • Attend our virtual decision making sessions: 12 January 2021 – 10am, 2pm and 5.30pm 13 January 2021 – 10am and 2pm

Share your views on the York Outer Ring Road

City of York Council is asking residents, businesses and visitors for their views on the proposed upgrade of the York Outer Ring Road from A19 Shipton Road to the A1036 Little Hopgrove.

A1237 congestion

This follows the announcement last year that the Department for Transport has approved York’s £25m scheme to dual the Outer Ring Road from the A19 Shipton Road to the A1036 Little Hopgrove progressing to final business case stage.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority have also approved £38m to upgrade seven roundabouts along the ring road. Wetherby Road roundabout was the first to be upgraded and was completed in 2019.

Alongside the road and active travel upgrades there will also be an extensive landscape programme with the aim of retaining existing trees and hedgerows where we can. Where this is not possible a diverse range of trees and hedgerows will be planted to complement the local environment and integrate the new road into the existing landscape.

The council have written to over 17,000 residents and businesses close to the York Outer Ring Road. People can also share the views online at www.york.gov.uk/yorr. The consultation closes on Monday 16 November 2020.

Looking after your pets during the Coronavirus pandemic

City of York Council has teamed up with the RSPCA in York to offer advice and reassurance about how residents can help look after their pets during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The council has a responsibility to ensure animal welfare is protected in York, including helping with dog related issues, animal licences (such as for exotic animals), providing wildlife advice and much more.

Together with the RSCPA, the council has provided a range of advice for residents below, including dog walking services, what to do if your pet is unwell and how to keep your pets entertained.

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150 York pubs set to get business rates discount

The York Council is planning to reduce the Business Rates burden on 1650 retail outlets and pubs in the City.

It means for smaller businesses, occupying premises with a rateable value of less than £51,000, tax bills could be halved. As well as the basic discount, pubs will get an extra £1000 off their bills if their premises have a Rateable Value of less than £100,000.

The Council says that properties that will benefit from the relief will be occupied hereditaments with a rateable value of less than £51,000 that are wholly or mainly being used as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues.

A report to a meeting taking place on 9th March lists dozens of examples of the type of business which could benefit

The proposal is likely to be good news for those businesses that publicly criticised the Council for what they claimed was a lack of response to their problems during the recent floods.

It is thought that the move could also encourage new businesses to occupy empty properties in the City.

The report says, “As with the previous schemes businesses often fail to apply so the council will automatically award the discount to all the properties that can be identified as meeting the criteria. It will be the responsibility of the business to complete and return state aid forms or risk the award being rescinded”.

There is no cost to the council in providing either discount which will be fully reimbursed by Central Government through the “rates retention system”. The scheme will apply for 2020/21 only unless the government renews the funding support next year

Good time to secure your recycling

The Council said yesterday (Tuesday) that it had failed to collect recycling from Tedder Road and Slessor Road. They blamed a vehicle breakdown.

Notice on Council web site Tuesday 29th October 2019

The Council says that they will call back to collect the recycling on SATURDAY.

We suspect that message may have not got back to residents. Most have left their recycling on the street. Normally this might not matter – if it was secured from wind and animal attacks – but with the arrival of “Mischief Night” we think residents would be wise to put the recycling in a secure place.

Recycling awaiting collection

Often the Council says that it will catch up with collections on the next working day; but not in this case. This is confusing for residents.

It does raise several questions about how effective the Councils communications channels are. Failings in the waste collection service this summer have been so frequent it almost requires a daily update from them using all social media channels.

The Council might also issue regular updates indicating when more reliable vehicles, with adequate capacity, will be delivered.

Missed bin updates are posted on this link (click) at around 5:00pm each day

We’ve reported the overgrowing thorn bush which is obstructing the entrance to the Chesney Field cycle track

Roadworks set to cause delays over next few weeks in York

Residents and commuters are being warned that delays are to be expected when Stonebow completely closes to traffic from Monday 18 February.

There will also be full overnight closures of Pavement between 25 March and 5 April, Fossgate between 25 March and 12 April and Stonebow between 1 and 5 April (Monday to Friday 8.30pm to 5am only)

In addition, the City of York Council will be carrying out other highway improvement works across the city throughout February and March.

The roadworks will be taking place in the following locations:

    • Holly Bank Road from the junction of Hamilton Drive East, and including, the junction of Holly Bank Grove.
    • Clifton from the junction of Water Lane to the junction of St Olaves Road
    • North Moor Road in Huntington
    • Wetherby Road, Rufforth

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York Flood Inquiry verdict not expected until next year

Floods cost City £3.3 million

Floods cost City £3.3 million

It seems that over 12 months will have elapsed between the Boxing Day 2015 flooding crisis in York and the earliest date that changes to flood response practices in the City could be implemented.

The Council now says that its Executive will not consider the report of an independent floods inquiry until 26th January 2017.

The Inquiry was set up last Spring by the Council with a budget of £50,000. It was expected to deliver an early verdict on the performance of the authorities in dealing with the floods which devastated many parts of the City which lay near the Foss.

The performance of the Council itself on the 26th and 27th December was subject to criticism, with communications and relief work largely in the hands of the emergency services and volunteers on those days. There was no useful advice on the Councils web site at that time although information was updated later.

Nearly 12 months after the floods some businesses are only now reopening.

In the interim the Environment Agency have fitted powerful new pumps at the Foss Barrier while work to protect Leeman Road has been finished. Some local watercourses like the Tang Hall Beck have been cleared of debris by volunteers.

But large areas of the City remain vulnerable if a combination of melting snow and falling rain causes the Ouse to break its banks.

The York Disaster Fund – established to deal with emergencies of this nature – was also ineffective in the first week of the crisis and even now has only distributed around half of the £1.3 million raised by donations.

The Independent Inquiry has been taking evidence from the public over the last couple of months.

It’s membership – a Barrister and two water industry professionals – has been criticised for lacking local authority/emergency planning expertise.

So, what they will conclude is anyone’s guess.

However clearly when flooding does occur – as it will – the City needs to be quicker and more professional in its response

We can only hope that there are no major floods in the city before February at the earliest!

Concerned residents can find more information by clicking these links: