The arrogance of the York Council Leadership clearly knows no boundaries. The number of decisions taken over the last couple of weeks in meetings from which the media and public were excluded is beginning to creep out.

The decisions appear for a few hours on this web site http://tinyurl.com/York-Council-new-decisions before being consigned to archive levels.

Opposition Councillors have only a very short time (hours) to “call in” the decisions to ensure a public debate.

However, in a new twist to the sorry saga, the reports produced by Council officers to inform the proposed decisions are – at least in the case of Transport budgets (see below) – being withheld from public view?

This makes for the casual observer understanding what decision has actually been taken virtually impossible.

Incredibly no attempt has been made to justify the withholding of these reports as is required by the Local Government Act.

Several of the decisions concern the use of £10,000’s of taxpayer’s money.

There is no evidence of any prior consultation with Councillors or members of the public on any of these decisions.

The secret meetings included:

1. Transport/Planning 7th August 2012: “Purpose of the report: Inclusion of carry over budgets from 2011/12 into 2012/13 capital programme, and amendments to scheme allocations where required to reflect latest cost estimates and scheme progress. The Cabinet Member is asked to: Note the outturn figures for the 2011/12 capital programme, approve the carry over schemes and funding, and increase the current budget for the 2012/13”

2. Leisure 8th August 2012: “Purpose of report: To approve the Service Level Agreement funding for Accessible Arts. The Cabinet Member is asked to approve the Service Level Agreement between the Council and Accessible Arts for 2012-15″. The decision involved approval of annual payments of around £10,000 a year.

3. Leisure 8th August 2012: “Purpose of report: To approve the Service Level Agreement funding for the National Centre for Early Music. The Cabinet Member is asked to approve the Service Level Agreement between the Council and the National Centre for Early Music 2012-15”.

In the past York residents have been able to depend on the local media to highlight what they saw as any potential abuse of power at the Guildhall. Whether they have the resources, or will, to address this emerging issue remains to be seen.

What is certain is that claims that the Council would try to be more “transparent” in future have been exposed as a rather poor joke.

Details of a proposed review of the number of Councillors and the boundaries of individual wards can be found on the Boundary Commissions web site. See http://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/yorkshire-and-humberside/north-yorkshire/city-of-york-fer

Initially they are asking for comments on the preferred number of members that the Council should have. They emphasize that the ratio of Councillors to electors must be equal across all wards. At present there are major disparities (Smallest: Fulford, Largest: Heslington)

You can view a copy of the current ward boundaries here: http://www.york.gov.uk/content/images/main/Ward_map

A case can be made for retaining 47 Councillors at the review date (2016) because of the growth in population that will take place in the interim.

This would produce a ratio of 1 Councillor per 3500 electors (about 2000 homes).

Although some residents may feel that this produces too large a Council, experience suggests that an assiduous Councillor would be able to regularly consult with and keep 2000 households informed. It would be wrong to conclude that because there are some lazy representatives who do very little consultation between elections, the solution to the problem is to have fewer Councillors. The democratic answer is to kick out the deadwood and elect hard working representatives.

An initial representation on the total size of the Council must be made to the Boundary Commission before 3rd September.

Of more significance may be issues that will follow on.

1. The number of wards: If there are 47 Councillors then why not have single member wards? That way every elector would know who his or her representative was. Each would represent an area about the size of Foxwood. Accountability would be improved. The wards would have to be broadly of similar size. The shape would be influenced by the existence of natural boundaries such as rivers and railway lines as well as historic parish council areas.

2. The frequency of elections: There is a strong argument for a return to annual elections with 25% of the Council retiring each year. This would promote consistency in decision making. The Council would be more sensitive to the wishes of residents. The ruling party would know that, if they made mistakes, then electors would be able to give their verdict every May.

These are choices that need to be made over the next few weeks.

The democratic system in York needs a good shake up.

The boundary review provides a rare opportunity to modernise local electoral systems.

Conservators working on the restoration of the Great East Window at York Minster have completed the conservation of half of the panels in the stunning medieval window depicting the story of the Apocalypse.

York Minster’s Great East Window contains the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in Britain, and was designed by one of the stained glass master John Thornton of Coventry. Started in 1405 and completed in 1408, the main part of the window depicts the Apocalypse, and is recognised around the world as being some of the finest medieval stained glass still in existence. The restoration of half of the Apocalypse panels is now complete thanks to the tireless work of the York Glaziers Trust.

“This is a significant landmark in the restoration project, as each of the 108 panels require painstaking research, documentation, examination, conservation and repair of the many thousands of components that make up this incredible glass masterpiece,” says Sarah Brown, Director of York Glaziers Trust. “Each panel is a work of art in its own right, each piece painted with the skills of a Van Eyck or a Vermeer, with an amazing delicacy that can now be fully appreciated as we look at the panels up close.” (more…)

Next Thursday’s York Council planning committee is being recommended to approve plans to convert the Council offices in St Leonards Place into a hotel. See our previous story for more details http://tinyurl.com/St-Leonards-York

Only a handful of representations have been made on the plans.

Concerns about air quality for hotel staff have been raised given the congested nature of the nearby public highway.

A separate application for listed building consent is also being recommended for approval.

Background papers can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/St-Leonards-report

(more…)

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 15 August and Tuesday 21 August 2012.

•A64 Seamer by-pass Scarborough
•A64 Seamer Road, Scarborough
•A64 Between Barton-le-Willows and Jinnah
•A64 Between Barton Hill and Whitwell Hill
•A64 west-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A64 east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•Brayton Lane, Brayton, Selby
•Barff Lane, Brayton, Selby
(more…)

Parking restrictions on Poppleton Road

Additional parking restrictions are to be introduced on Poppleton Road. The decision to advertise the proposals was taken at another behind closed doors decision making session at the end of July.

Residents will have only a few weeks to register their objections.

It seems unlikely that many will even know about the proposals given that the Council has also abandoned its regular communication newsletters with residents.

We are reproducing the plans here (see right).

In essence the introduction of bus priority measures – linked to the opening of a new Park and Ride facility at Poppleton – is prompting changes to the layout of the Poppleton Road carriageway between Holgate Park Drive and the Fox.

This plan does affect on street parking.

Details of the reports presented to the meeting can be found here. http://tinyurl.com/Poppleton-Road-bus-lane

Poppleton School

Poppleton Road Primary School has recently started using a different pupil entrance on Seldon Road. The school “keep clear” road markings with a mandatory “no stopping” order associated with the former entrance is still in place, whilst parking is currently permitted near the new entrance where there is now a natural desire line for pedestrians to cross.

The main proposal is to remove the existing school keep clear marking and install another one centred on the new pupil entrance as shown in the diagram (right) As now, a mandatory no stopping order (Monday to Friday 8.30am to 9.30am and 3pm to 4pm) would accompany the road marking.

Due to the position of existing double yellow lines, the relocation of the school keep clear marking would reduce the space available for on-street parking in an area of high demand. Therefore, the proposals also include the removal of a short length of no waiting at any time to retain the same number of parking spaces. However parking would still be prohibited opposite Carrington Avenue to enable larger vehicles to turn in and out.

Only one of the areas 3 Labour Councillors responded to a consultation letter on the plans. As far as we can find out, they did not take the time to consult local residents who could be affected by the plans.

Details of the reports presented to the meeting can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/cbvwe23

City of York Council will be carrying out essential work as part of phased repairs to the riverbank between Clifton and Scarborough Bridges, next week (20 August), lasting for approximately ten-weeks.

The work will involve repairing 420m of existing riverbank between the bridges, which has been damaged by river erosion and the growth of self-set trees, which are destroying the existing structure. Total failure of the embankment structure could damage the National Cycle Route 65 (running along the bank top) and a nearby public sewer serving the whole of Clifton.
(more…)

Liberal Democrats have failed in an attempt to overturn a controversial decision to cut social care in York.

The cuts mean that City of York Council’s community care service will be available only to those with substantial or critical needs, rather than those with “moderate” needs. 184 people with “moderate” needs will now lose their support, which can include help with shopping, bathing, showering or preparing meals.
(more…)

Labour have decided to overrule resident’s objections and implement a 20 mph speed limit in an area stretching initially from the Ouse to The Mount.

The area includes Bishopthorpe Road.

It is expected that it will be the precursor to an attempt to extend the limit to virtually every other street in the City.

The proposals for South Bank are less controversial than in other areas as existing speeds in the narrow terraced streets are usually less than 20 mph anyway. The situation elsewhere in the City is very different.

Residents will be concerned that decisions to promote schemes like these attract little publicity these days. A Labour Councillor meets with two officials and nods through proposals. There is no debate and members of the public, the Media and opposition Councillors are barred from the meetings.

As a result the vast majority of residents will have no idea what decisions are being taken and only keen “surfers” of the Council web site will even know that change is in the air.

It makes consultation arrangements farcical.

The details of the meeting have now been published (2 weeks after it took place) and can be found here. http://tinyurl.com/20-mph-limit-in-South-Bank

The minutes of the meeting make it clear that those taking the decision were aware of recent figures on road traffic accidents which revealed a big increase in accidents in areas subject to 20 mph limits.

Despite this Labour still plan to go ahead with the project which will cost taxpayers around £600,000 to implement across the City.

City of York Council, York Pullman and East Coast Mainline are working in partnership to open a new bus and information point in York Railway Station.

The new information desk is located in the station’s Travel Centre and will be officially opened on Tuesday 14 August.

Commuters and visitors will get access to up to date and accurate answers to their queries about local bus services as well as general visitor information.

The customer-facing counter will be operated by York Pullman and has been developed with thanks to £30,000 funding from the Better Bus Area Fund – a grant provided by the Government. (more…)