A special Easter Fayre is being held in St Sampson’s Square and Parliament Street alongside the city’s York Chocolate Festival from Thursday 28 to Saturday 30 March, 9am – to 5.30pm.

The Easter Fayre brings together some of the regions best makers and their chocolate-based products, alongside the creations of some exceptional local crafts people.

Shoppers and browsers will also be able to enjoy the market for longer each day, because the City is trialling longer opening hours for the city centre’s foot streets which will remain pedestrianised until 5pm every day.

St Sampsons Square

St Sampson’s Square will be given over to a delicious display of gourmet treats from chocolate-based wines and liqueurs to a mouth-watering selection of cakes, truffles, brownies and cookies in white, milk or dark chocolate.

This specialist market will run alongside and complement the city’s Chocolate Festival which includes a programme of chocolate-themed events at the Mansion House.

At the same time on Parliament Street the Easter Crafts and Food Fayre will be in full swing where some 40 artists, potters and jewellers will be selling a wide range of hand-made, individual pieces of work – some Fair Trade – for that perfect Easter treat.

Parliament Street will also host the Deliciouslyorkshire market. There foodies can relish the locally-sourced goodies from tasty cheeses, pickles, baked goods, to fudges and preserves on tantalising offer: it’s local food at its best.

Every trip to York’s city centre should include a visit to Newgate Market, nestled between Parliament Street and the Shambles – voted Britain’s prettiest street. This daily market not only has an abundance of fresh produce including local meat and North Sea fish for the Easter table, but flowers and plants as well as a selection of crafts, clothes, jewellery and antiques.

The quality offer and extended opening hours give everyone a chance to linger longer in the city centre for a memorable Easter eggs-perience.

A multi-millon pound scheme to help protect residents’ homes and businesses from the risk of flooding is now underway in the Water End area of York.

The £3.2million scheme starts after an extensive public consultation by the Environment Agency over the past two years. The work will help to reduce the flood risk to over 300 homes and businesses in the area.

The defence work will consist of building a brick-clad flood wall that will be approximately 300 metres long, along the section of Water End between Landing Lane and the river bridge. Flood defences will also be installed around Landing Lane. The existing embankment behind Swinerton Avenue and the park land behind St Barnabas School will also be raised as part of the scheme.

To stop river water entering Yorkshire Water’s sewerage system, a series of underground valves called penstocks will be upgraded. Innovative remedial work will also help to decrease seepage through existing flood embankments.

Helen Tattersdale, Environment Agency project manager, said: “We’ve worked closely with the local community and our key partner, City of York Council, and have produced a scheme that will reduce the risk of flooding and help to give residents greater peace of mind. Construction has now begun and we aim to complete the works as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Temporary footpath and cycleway closures will be in place from Monday 8 April. Residents with queries about the scheme are welcome to drop in at the site compound at any time.

The works are expected to be completed by December 2013. More information on the scheme click here

The York Council’s new West Offices are now open for business.

Residents visiting the building will find an intimidating array of technology, although staff continue to be helpful and courteous.

Mid 19th century railway station

The offices are built on the site of the City’s old railway station* which closed in 1877. Fortunately the old railway announcer has been recruited and continues to issue instructions to those in the customer reception area.

The reassuring voice is reminiscent of that used in Logan’s Run just before the victim is turned into a pack of multi vitamins. The open atrium had those waiting in the reception area half expecting to be wafted upwards in a Carrousel to meet their fate.

After picking up a mandatory ticket, residents are subject to big brother announcements tolling out numbers and instructions to enter a maze of numbered desks.

Unfortunately the numbers of the desks aren’t visible from the waiting area which adds to the Alice in Wonderland feel.

This morning the announcements prompted a couple of shouts of “bingo” while one customer, apparently inspired by the station heritage, hurried off across the road to board the 10:47 to Kings Cross.

Modern it is.

Over the top for a Council reception?

Yes, probably.

The Council still has a lot of explaining to do about the costs of fitting out the new offices.

Amongst the unanswered questions are the costs of IT equipment (most of which is new) and how much the Council has received from the sale of old equipment and furniture.

The original idea was to let out spare space at West Offices and use the income to fund a branch office at Acomb. With Acomb residents now having to trek into the City centre for make even the simplest request, they will wonder how much the Council is receiving in rent and what it is being used for?

………..& finally the (frankly disgraceful) decision to abandon the Guildhall (most of which is now empty) prompts many to wonder just how much empty offices are costing to maintain?

*The old railway station was originally built by George Hudson.

Co-incidentally there is a talk about the “Railway King” taking place on Friday 19th April. The details are:

‘George Hudson Lives Again – the Railway King return to York’.
Join the civic party in the Mansion House, as historic actor and storyteller Chris Cade tells the story of Hudson with great entertainment.
Friday 19 April, 7pm for 7.30pm, at the Mansion House.
Tickets are £9.50 and are available from the Visitor Information Centre on Museum Street/Blake Street. Cost £9.50 which includes a drink.

Urban Fantasy Author Jerry Ibbotson will be giving a talk about writing, self-publishing and the world of e-books.

• Location: Dringhouses Library

• Time: 17:30 – 18:30

• Cost: Tickets £2, includes glass of wine/squash and nibbles

Background click here

Jerry is the author of two novels, Chosen and The Veil. His writing combines the ordinary world with extraordinary characters and incredible events.

‘Chosen’ and ‘The Veil’ were self-published and Jerry is well placed to answer questions from anyone interested in this expanding part of the publishing world.

He’ll also be talking about the creative process and how to get your ideas into print – on paper or ebook.

Tickets £2, includes glass of wine/squash and nibbles.

To reserve a place contact Dringhouses Library on (01904 552674) or dringhouses.library@york.gov.uk

The Mansion House is hosting an programme of chocolate-themed events this Easter as part of the York Chocolate Festival.

York Cocoa House will be on hand to teach a variety of classes suitable for both adults and children, including how to make an Easter chocolate nest; make and decorate your own chocolate Easter egg and a chocolate truffle torte that you can take home and enjoy.

Children can also take part in the Lord Mayor’s Easter Egg Hunt, where they will be given six clues that will lead to places around the city centre, with a chocolate surprise awaiting them at each one.

For adults, the Whisky Shop is holding a chocolate and whisky tasting, where guests can compare flavours and textures to find the ideal combination of the two.

Ever wondered what was in St Helen’s square before the Mansion House? Or what shops used to be in the square? The Mansion House will host ‘The quest for a Mansion, with views fit for a Lord’. The event will see local historian Ivan Martin exploring the background to the establishment of the Mansion House, Guildhall & council chamber and the history of the development of St. Helen’s Square.

There is also the chance to visit the Georgian Mansion House and see the staterooms, before heading to the kitchen to witness the Victorian Cook in full swing creating tasty chocolate treats. The cook will be portrayed by Dr Annie Gray, a food historian, who will explain the Victorian way of cooking and food preparation.

The Lord Mayor of York, Cllr Keith Hyman, said: “York is well known for being a chocolate city, and the Chocolate Festival is one of the highlights of the year. Over at the Mansion House we have a great programme of events with something for everyone to get involved in.”

For more information on tickets, prices and how to book click here

The current council administration inherited a City economy that had been transformed over the previous decade.

Diversification had made the City more resilient to changes in the national economy, unemployment levels were below national and regional levels, the property market was relatively buoyant while dozens of local development sites had been granted planning permission.

2 years later many of the sites with outstanding planning permission have stalled.

Derwenthorpe – One of York’s few recent development success stores

Only developments that had already started in 2011, have been pushed through to a conclusion. These include institutional development linked to an expanding higher education sector as well as some social housing at sites like Derwenthorpe.

In response, the Council appears to have adopted a headless chicken response, despatching ill defined missions to Korea, Paris, Cannes and China in an attempt to be seen to be doing something.

The £25,000 Cannes trip has been reported as producing “leads” to 30 potential investors – but no firm commitments.

You know politicians are getting desperate when they feel that they have to sloganise an initiative. So after “Get York Moving” (the City is still moving at much the same speed it has managed for the last 15 years) we now have “Get York Building”.

The initiative has been greeted with derision by many small builders who were cynically excluded from the talks which led up to its launch, while opposition Councillors have been excluded from the “Board” which has been formed to oversee it.

So where are we with key development sites in the City?

This is a summary.

• Monks Cross South (retail and new Stadium) – Delayed by 6 months (Great Crested Newts) . Unlikely to open before 2015 (retail) and 2016 (stadium)

• Hungate – Developers unable to proceed with stage 2 because of onerous planning conditions

• Germany Beck – In delay due to court action. Unlikely to start until 2014 at earliest.

• Derwenthorpe – Phase 1 completed. No confirmation of when remaining phases will be started.

• York Central – stalled

• Castle – Piccadilly – stalled

• University of York – Heslington East – on schedule

• Terry’s – stalled. Site on market for sale again

• Nestlé South – stalled

• British Sugar – Slow progress. No planning application expected before autumn