First’s Service 15, which runs between York City Centre, York Rail Station and South Bank, will be withdrawn from 12 May 2013.
Changes have been made to several bus services in York that run with financial support from City of York Council.
Buses will still run to/from South Bank, but provided by another operator.
Service change summaries can be found by clicking here.
The last day of operation for service 15 will be Saturday 11 May
York Liberal Democrats are calling on Labour to rethink plans for streetlights that would see the Council stop routinely checking for faults.
The plans were agreed by the Labour Cabinet Member at a ‘behind-closed-doors’ decision session last month. The proposals would see the lighting maintenance contract, currently outsourced to AMEY, brought back ‘in-house’.
As part of the process the Council will stop routinely checking (scouting) for faulty street lighting and instead rely on the public to report any faults.
The Liberal Democrat Group has decided to ‘call-in’ the decision for further review amid growing concerns about the plans. The decision will be reassessed at a meeting of the Council’s Scrutiny Management Committee on April 15th.
Cllr Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Environmental Services who is calling-in the decision, commented:
“We have a number of concerns about these proposals. When the Council stopped routinely checking for faulty lighting about 15 years ago, some communities quickly reported faults, but in other areas lights were often left not working for months. No apparent research or consultation was carried out before this latest decision was taken on how it would work this time.
“The decision, which was made in secret, failed to present any business case as to how a council operated service would function or what capacity exists within the council to do the work. They seem to be relying on staff being TUPE’d across from the contractor, but this is not certain and it is unclear what pension and other costs this could involve. There was also no proper analysis of the service currently provided by the contractor or the service standards that the Council hopes to achieve.
“All in all, it looks like a rushed decision. This is perhaps not surprising as the Council left consideration of a replacement until just 10 days before
the current contract with AMEY was due to expire on the 31st March. The Council should not be rushing decisions or taking any risks with such a vital frontline service. This is why we have called-in the decision. We want some proper analysis to take place. With no contract in place, we will also be asking questions as to what is currently happening with streetlight maintenance.”
Last year Labour removed around 500 streetlights without earmarking money to replace them, meaning some residents went nearly six months without replacements being put in place.
NB. The Corporate Scrutiny Management Committee (CSMC) ‘Calling In’ Meeting will take place on Monday 15 April 2013 at 5.30pm.
Liberal Democrat Call-In: Street Lighting Maintenance Procurement. Reasons:
• It is a serious concern that the Council will stop routine checking (scouting) for faulty street lighting.
• The report does not refer to the experience the City had 15 years ago when it stopped scouting and found that, while some neighbourhoods were very good at reporting faults, in other areas lights were often not reported and therefore not working for weeks or months.
• A lack of public consultation to determine whether the capacity exists for resident reporting to work this time.
• No proper analysis of the quality of the service provided by the existing contractor or the service levels expected to be achieved by the Council.
• No business case for bringing the service in-house or examination of the capacity and expertise the Council has.
• No apparent measures in place in the event skilled staff can not be TUPE’d across and the Council needs to recruit and train staff.
Details click here
Traders are hitting back at the Council’s blanket ban on board advertising.
They have added an E petition to the Council’s web site. Click here to access it
The petition reads
“Sense on A-boards
We the undersigned petition the council to not proceed with a blanket ban on the use of A-boards as recommended by the Council’s Community Safety Overview & Scrutiny Committee. A-boards are most commonly used by businesses to advertise their services. Whilst it is recognised that it is necessary to clamp down on those that are dangerous, the council should acknowledge that the overwhelming majority are safe and sensible, and vital for local businesses and to support York’s economy. We therefore call on the Council to have a sensible policy on A-boards, rather than issuing a blanket ban.
The petition is to ask for the council to implement a sensible policy on A-boards rather than a draconian zero tolerance policy”.
Meanwhile 3 recent E petitions have passed the 100 supporter threshold. They are:
1. “Protect Towthorpe Household Waste Depot” which has 231 supporters and runs until 31st May
2. “Stop the Green Bin Tax” 150 supporters (ends today)
3. “Protect our Library and Archives service” 128 supporters (now closed).
Shamefully the Council has failed to update the web site which contained the timetable for visits by the Toy Bus.
Although the timetable expired at the end of March, the YorOK web site still has the following message on it.
“The Toy Bus website is being updated following the budget decision on the 28th February 2013 to stop providing a toy lending service with the Toy Bus.
The timetable is still running through to the end of March 2013. Toys can be returned at these stops and staff are available for advice and signposting. Alternatively you can return them to your local Children’s Centre.
You can download the current timetable here
Further details will be provided as soon as we have more information”
So far, Cllr Looker – the Labour Councillor with responsibility for the future of the Toy Bus – has failed to respond to a question tabled at the last Council meeting on 28th March which asked about its future.
We think that it is disgraceful that the Council can’t be bothered to make a statement about the future of the Toy Bus.
The “Save the Toy Bus” petition has so far attracted 49 supporters and will be available for more to add their signatures until Friday.
York is set to become the first city in the UK to install a network of pay-as-you-go charging points for electric vehicles, and an event will be held this month to encourage the use of electric vehicles across the city
The scheme was announced last July by Liberal Democrat Transport Minister Norman Baker.
In addition to the 12 charging points already located across York, a network of fast charging points will be installed in city centre car parks and Park & Ride sites to allow residents and visitors to re-charge their cars on a pay-as-you-go basis.
The network will be installed by City of York Council and will be publicly accessible and have a simple payment system so that users can pay by phone/text in a similar way drivers currently pay for parking in council owned car parks.
Once installed, in the coming months, users can track all their energy usage remotely and see live availability of charge points from their mobile phones.
By registering their debit/credit card details, payments can instantly be made to pay for the charge time which will be at a very low cost compared to the price of petrol/diesel.
The charging point cables are secured behind a locking flap which guards against cable theft when charging and are operated by an internal GSM transmitter.
The charging facilities, being rolled out at the York Designer Outlet, supermarkets and hotels can add a 30-mile range to a vehicle’s battery within half an hour of use.
Renault Zoe
A ‘Switched On’ event will take place at the south entrance of York Designer Outlet on Wednesday 10 April from 10.30 – 4pm and will feature electric supercar the Tesla Roadster.
Electric cars from Nissan, Toyota, Mia and the new Renault ZOE will also make its UK public debut, and there will be a range of fun activities for families, including test drives.
The Yorkshire Ambulance Service, the first in the country to trial electric ambulances, will be displaying one of its vehicles at the Switched On event.
For more information about Switched On, click here.
Concerns still remain about the limited range of electric powered vehicles. Further technological progress is needed before large numbers are likely to be seen on our roads.
The Council’s ruling Labour “Cabinet” have tonight agreed to impose a £35 a year annual charge on residents who have a second green – garden waste – bin.
They have also decided to cut the hours of operation of the Towthorpe recycling site
A large petition was collected opposing the charging plan.
It is unclear how long it will be before the bills start to arrive through the letterboxes of the 3500 customers who together have around 5000 “additional” green bins.
Many could choose to give up the extra bins and use their grey bins instead.
As we saw with the closure of the Beckfield Lane site, everyone loses if the Council is faced with higher landfill charges.
To this should be added the 2370 tones of green waste generated in the winter months which will also not now be collected.
The Council’s “Cabinet” agreed to the plan to cut back on resident participation in decision making, as we predicted earlier today
Funding will continue to be available for major adaptations that help more people stay independent and safe in their own homes for longer.
£615,000 will be available over the next year to offer discretionary assistance for disabled customers who need financial help to adapt their home.
Grants are generally means tested – exceptions are made for families with disabled children– meaning that support and advice is offered to the most vulnerable residents.
The funding will benefit disabled people who live in homes they own or rent privately, by improving facilities to support their independence.
This includes installing home adaptations such as level access showers and home access ramps of which the City funds over 170 a year across the city.
The continuation of funding shows a commitment to supporting vulnerable residents across the city and the effect of these adaptations.
Recent feedback showed that 100% of people who had them installed said that the aids met their needs and improved their quality of life.
The funding complement s other schemes which enable the provision of minor adaptations such as grabrails and handrails – of which between 1,800 and 2,000 are installed every year – and which are quick and easy to fit and help disabled people feel safer.
Another private meeting has been added to the Councils web site.
And the purpose of the meeting?
To discuss ways of improving engagement with the Community!!
Below is the latest list of planning applications received by the York Council for the Westfield area. Full details can be found by quoting the application reference on the “planning portal” web site. Click here.
Representations can also be made in favour of, or in objection to, any application via the planning portal.
NB. The Council now no longer routinely consults neighbours by letter when an application is received.
Ref No: 13/00661/FUL Location: 11 Thornwood Covert York YO24 3LF Proposal: Two storey side extension with dormers to front and rear (resubmission) Applicant: Mr Mark Kelly Contact M T S Architectural Services Consultation Expiry Date 23 April 2013 Case Officer: Heather Fairy (Mon – Wed) Expected Decision DEL
Meanwhile the planning decisions taken by officers and Councillors in York are being increasingly criticised when appeals are considered.
Click to enlarge
The table (left) shows that between 1st January and 31st March 2013, a total of 16 appeals relating to CYC decisions were determined by the Inspectorate.
Of those, 6 were allowed. At 37.5%, the rate of appeals is higher than the 33% national annual average.
By comparison, for the same period last year, 4 out of 17 appeals were allowed, i.e. 23.53%
For the full year between 1st April 2012 and 31st March 2013, CYC performance was 43.55% allowed, higher than the previously reported 12 month period of 39.60%
A list of appeal decisions can be found by clicking here
A list of outstanding appeals can be found by clicking here.
