“Free” parking review meeting today

parking-charges-car-park-ticket-machine-149887544

The decision to allow free car parking at some City centre car parks has been called in for reconsideration. The meeting takes place later today (Monday) commencing at 5:00pm at West Offices.

The main area of concern relates to the proposal to have free parking between 8:00am and 9:00am – times when the highways network can be congested, and most City Centre shops are closed.

Those studying the reports, by officers of the Council, have been surprised that no modelling work appears to have been undertaken to assess the impact that the additional traffic would have on journey times.

Similarly the papers fail to provide any detailed assessment of the assumptions made regarding the reduction in income that the changes may have on the Council’s budget overall, although much of this will be offset, for a short time, by use of Section 106 contributions from the developers of Monks Cross.

All in all, there are a lot of questions still to be answered on a policy change which is supposed to be implemented on 26th May.

Jobs fair in York tomorrow (Tuesday)

US-unemployment-jobs-fair-007

City of York Council is encouraging jobseekers and residents wanting to improve their skills and qualifications to visit a jobs fair at York Railway Institute on Tuesday 20 May from 10am to 3pm.

The event, which has been organised through partnerships between the council, York Learning, Job Centre Plus and Learning City York aims to bring together local employers to offer advice and the chance to speak face to face to businesses about employment opportunities in the city.

There will be a range of employers present along with learning providers and other agencies offering free help and advice for people to improve their skills and help them in their search for employment.

The council and its partners have lined up 50 businesses who are currently recruiting in York, including, Hiscox, Royal York Hotel, McDonalds, Clipper Logistics and G4S Security.

The fair will also have a designated quiet area to enable residents to fill in application forms with the help of some excellent local skills and training providers.

York Local Plan – new housing figures raise more questions

New figures provided by the York Council cast further doubts on the soundness of the Labour Local Plan for the City.

The Council recently revealed a new raft of sites which it is considering for housing development.  Following an intervention from LibDem Councillors the Labour Leadership was forced to agree to publish the numbers of homes that it hopes to fit on each site.

Green Belt campaign logo

That may come as little comfort to residents.

Estimates of the capacity of some sites included in the original Plan – published 12 months ago – proved to be very wide of the mark with sites like Our Lady’s in Windsor Garth slated to accommodate 60% more homes than allocated in the original plan.

Now the Council has been asked to respond to criticisms that it failed to identify nearly 1000 sites for homes which were subsequently granted planning permission between 1st October 2012 (the original plan base date) and 1st April 2014.

1793 additional homes were given the “go ahead” by the Planning Committee during that 19 month period.

As previously reported, 959 of these were on (mainly brownfield) sites of over 0.2 htr which should have been separately identified in the draft Plan …….but weren’t.

Permission for 144 homes was given through the conversion of existing commercial buildings like Hilary House.

Stonebow House missing

There is no mention in the Councils plans for buildings like Stonebow House or the Ryedale House building in Piccadilly.

Objectors fundament criticism  remains that Labour’s plans for 22,000 additional  homes is not only unnecessary (there are only 2000 people on the housing waiting list in the City) but they are also unsustainable.

 Expanding the City in size by 25% in just 15 years would have disastrous consequences for local infrastructure.

Transport systems would simply be unable to cope

NB. The high levels of planning permissions granted in recent months is the equivalent of a supply of over 1100 homes per annum.

That is markedly higher than the 575 agreed by the then LibDem led Council as necessary in its March  2011 Local Plan.

York crime and policing update

York police issue urgent appeal to find missing man

York police have issued an urgent appeal to help trace a York man who has gone missing from his home in the Heworth area.

Mandeep Ahluwalia

41-year-old Mandeep Ahluwalia was last seen by his mother in the city on the afternoon of Friday 16 May 2014 and has not been seen or heard from since.

He also left leaving his car, bank cards and mobile phone behind.

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#AskTheChief webchat: your chance to quiz the Chief Constable

North Yorkshire Police’s Chief Constable Dave Jones is hosting a live webchat to give residents the opportunity to ask any questions about crime and anti-social behaviour in their communities.

Chat with the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire live online at one of our scheduled webchats.

Mr Jones will be online between 5pm and 6pm on Monday 19 May 2014.

To join the latest webchat visit www.northyorkshire.police.uk/webchat.

You can also set yourself an email reminder in advance so you don’t miss it.

Residents who are unable to take part in the live webchat are encouraged to send their questions to the Chief Constable in advance via the North Yorkshire Police Twitter account @NYorksPolice, using the hashtag #AskTheChief, or the Facebook page www.facebook.com/NorthYorkshirePolice.

He would like to discuss people’s experiences with North Yorkshire Police and to hear suggestions about how the policing service in the county can be further improved.

Mr Jones said: “As Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police, I believe it is important for me to engage with our communities and find out their concerns.

“This will my fourth webchat of 2014. I have found that they are a valuable way of receiving feedback from residents, helping me to understand the issues which are important to them so that we can improve the service we offer.

“I look forward to answering as many of your questions as possible between 5pm and 6pm on Monday, so please try and join me online.”

 

Lib Dem MEP on the doorstep in Westfield

Edward McMillan Scott with team in Westfield

Edward McMillan Scott with team in Westfield

Edward McMillan-Scott, Lib Dem Euro MP for York, has been on the doorstep talking to residents in Westfield ahead of elections on Thursday.

Edward reported that residents voiced a variety of opinions on local and national politics, including concerns about Labour run York Council. Overwhelmingly the biggest issue for the vast majority was the local economy and jobs.

The region’s MEP since 1984 and Britain’s only vice president of the European Parliament, Edward has been making the case that being in the EU secures jobs and brings investment into York. Nearly 125,000 jobs in the York area are dependent on EU membership and 78% of CBI members saying that they want to stay in the EU.

Speaking about his campaign, Edward McMillan-Scott MEP commented:

“This week’s news that jobless figures in York have returned to pre-recession levels shows that the recovery is gaining pace. However, we cannot put this recovery at risk by exiting our biggest market, Europe.

“At least one in ten jobs in the region depends on our membership of the EU’s Single Market. It is crucial to the recovery and our economic prosperity.

“The residents of York that I’ve spoken to are concerned about what will happen to these jobs and the investment we get from the EU if we let UKIP and the Conservatives put ideology ahead of the national interest.”

Walk to School Week in York

walking bus
York is gearing up for Walk to School Week, taking place from 19 – 23 May.

Twenty seven schools across the city are taking part in this year’s campaign to encourage even more children to walk, cycle or scoot to school.

Children aged five to 16 need to do at least 60 minutes of physical activity that gets their heart beating faster than usual and they need to do it everyday to burn off calories and prevent them storing up excess fat in the body.

Regular activity is also important for adults and it is recommended that adults make sure they’re active for just 30 minutes each day, or 150 minutes a week.

The scheme is also targeted at families who normally take the car, and encourages them to consider walking or cycling to school instead.

Residents can find out more about changing the way they travel in York at: http://www.itravelyork.info/

York Council under fire over Taxicard cut

Taxi rank Liberal Democrat councillors and the York Blind and Partially Sighted Society have criticised the removal of a taxi service for vulnerable residents in the city.

Labour run City of York Council removed the Taxicard scheme at the beginning of April as part of its 2014/15 Budget despite opposition from the Lib Dem Group. The card enabled residents with serious mobility impairments, who often cannot use buses, to travel in licensed taxis for free or reduced rates using a smart card system. In total, 1,536 people were in possession of a Taxicard.

York Council has offered bus passes to those affected. However, residents have contacted Lib Dem councillors saying that the bus passes are no good to them as they can not use buses.

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York Council compensation claims hit record high

Employees at the Council in York were awarded a record high £140,495 in compensation last year.

A Freedom of Information request has revealed that the amount was shared between 5 employees.

The council says that a further 5 claims were rejected.

The main causes for claims were “ slips/trips/falls and manual handling”

The previous high came in 2010/11 when 7 employees were awarded £104,596 in compensation.