48/50 Beaconsfield Street

The Council has received an application to covert 48/50 Beaconsfield Street into residential accommodation. The property has been used as a betting office for many years.

The proposal is to convert number 48 into one 2 bedroomed terrace house and to convert number 50 into 2 two bedroomed and two one bedroomed apartments.

While the return to residential use is likely to be broadly welcomed, the proposal does raise significant issues about parking provision. The 5 individual accommodation units could generate another 5 cars (or more) on what is already a congested street.

The application would see the back yard converted into a garden but no cycle storage facilities are currently shown.

Details of the application can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/Beaconsfield-Street

Residents have until the 5th October to make representations on this application.

The application is part of a developing trend in the Front Street area which is seeing some commercial property converted into living accommodation.

Police in York are making an urgent appeal to locate a woman who has gone missing from home.

Stacey Ruth Phillips, 23, of Fossway, has not been seen since leaving her house at 11am on Saturday 15 September 2012.

Officers are concerned for Stacey’s wellbeing and fear that she may present a danger to herself after a recent bout of depression. (more…)

Since this edition of the Foxwood Focus went to print, First have announced the details of their proposed changes to the number 4 (and 5) bus service.

See details at http://stevegalloway.mycouncillor.org.uk/2012/09/13/first-announce-new-bus-routes/

The changes will be implemented on 7th October.

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First have also now announced that the new 4/5 route will be operated by single deck vehicles.

In itself that is not a problem and might marginally reduce the time spent at bus stops (the driver would not have to wait until passengers climb the stairs as sometimes happens in a double decker).

But the single deck vehicles on the number 5 service (necessary because of low bridges on the route) are getting on in years, while the 6 year old double deckers on the 4 route were described at their launch in January as “a modern fleet of easily accessible double-decker buses, with lower carbon emissions than the ftr’s that they replaced”.

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The Press newspaper, which had fuelled the anti ftr campaign, described them in an editorial as “a modern fleet of low-carbon, accessible double-deckers” and said “sounds just the thing to us”.

Experience demonstrated that the B9 Volvo double deckers, with a passenger capacity of 90 compared to the ftrs 100, had their own problems with long delays at bus stops, a lack of space for wheelchair users and those with buggies, complaints about poor air conditioning and lack of journey information.

They are now being moved onto the number 1 Chapelfields service.

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Passengers had hoped that the new 4/5 service would use a fleet of modern low emission buses, with improved capacity, easier access and adequate space for all users.

Sadly, with relations between bus companies and the York Council at record low ebb, it appears that some of the replacement single deckers could be as much as 10 years old, with outdated passenger facilities (and inevitable reliability issues).

Not good enough for what is one of the busiest bus services in the region.

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First and the York Council need to make a clear commitment to get together and restart the bus modernisation programme in the City. A major Council report on the bus service is promised for discussion on Thursday 27th September.

Hopefully it will pave the way for a more open and co-operative approach putting passenger needs back at the heart of public transport policy in the City.

The numbers of 4 bedroomed town houses in the Hungate development are to be reduced.

The £450,000 homes have been difficult to sell and 6 of them are to be replaced by 12 two bedroomed duplex apartments. The latter will sell for less than £300,000 each.

The Planning committee is being recommended to approve the change and a copy of the report from Council officers can be found here http://tinyurl.com/Hungate-change-Sept-2012

The planning committee is also being asked to renew the permission for the site which was first granted in 2006.

Under the proposal – which is also recommended for approval – the developer would have up to 10 years to complete the building work.

The Council have confirmed that they have not received any Dangerous Wild Animal applications in the last 5 years and there are no such licensed premises at present time.

Separate reports that a group of Meerkats have escaped from Askham Bryan and have set up a settlement on Hob Moor have been discounted as a hoax.

Community Stadium

The Council have responded to our story of a couple of weeks ago http://tinyurl.com/Com-Stad-Sept-2012) by advertising for a developer/operator.

The contractor will manage not just the Community Stadium, but also several other leisure facilities in the City.

These include the highly successful “Energise” sports complex on Cornlands Road as well as the Yearsley Pool.

There has been no consultation with users about the implications of the Councils decision which was, of course, taken behind closed doors.

This means that taxpayers could lose their influence over how these facilities are managed.

The Council statement reads,
“York’s new Community Stadium has moved into its next major phase.
An Official Journal of the European Community (OJEU) Procurement notice has been placed by city of York council to start the procurement process to appoint a contractor to design, build and operate York’s new Community Stadium.
The procurement process for the new Community Stadium is expected to take 15 months with the contract being awarded in November 2013. This will include the appointment of a new operator to take ownership of the daily operation of Energise, Yearsley Pool, and Huntington stadium leisure complex early in 2014”.

The Community Stadium project has been dogged by delays since Labour took control of the Council 18 months ago.

It could now be 2016 before the stadium is actually up and running.

City of York Council is now offering residents another way to receive their council tax bills.

E-billing will provide council tax customers who live in the City of York Council area with the opportunity to receive their council tax bill, along with all the relevant supporting information, electronically, giving them 24-hour access to their bills.

This service will be similar to the way in which many customers already receive their utility bills. As soon as the bill is available, the customer will be sent an e-mail notifying them, and they will be able to securely view their account online. (more…)

City of York Council’s Trading Standards Officers have received a number of complaints from York residents about a gang carrying out roofing repairs.

The complainants – most of whom are in their 80’s – claim that they have been pressurised into agreeing to unnecessary repairs after being led to believe that their roofs are in poor condition. (more…)

The York Council’s Leaders claims, that Nick Clegg favoured a citywide 20 mph speed limit in York, have proved to be untrue.

In a letter to The Press, the LibDem’s Chief Executive confirms that the party’s policy is that decisions on appropriate speed limits should be taken locally, and reflect the different conditions that exist on roads in different parts of the country.

In York, Liberal Democrats are resisting the Labour plan to introduce a 20 mph speed limit across the whole of the City believing that available resources should be concentrated on reducing the number of Killed and Seriously Injured on roads in the City.

Individual roads ahould have the most appropriate speed limit bearing in mind their individual characteristics and accident potential.

The letter reads,

“It is disappointing to see Labour’s Coun James Alexander twisting the words of Nick Clegg in a private letter (“Nick Clegg backs York 20mph speed limit plan”, The Press, September 4).

Residential speed limits are set locally and York Liberal Democrats are entirely right to campaign for what they believe is right for the city.

Tim Gordon, chief executive of the Liberal Democrats, Westminster, London”.