Over 70 people attended the Dringhouses ward committee meeting yesterday. Labour refused to hold a similar meeting in either the Westfield or Acomb Wards.

Although there were some in favour of the 20mph limit there was a majority against.

There was a lot of objection to the fact that there will not be a leaflet drop to every house, a lot of people felt that this was being imposed, that they hadn’t been asked and there was no mandate. Just because it was apparently in their manifesto didn’t mean everyone who voted Labour supported 20mph limits!

Basically residents were saying that the money would be better spent on enforcement and targeted road safety improvement work.

Councillors have promised to have the next meeting to coincide with the results of the informal consultation and the formal proposals.

(Interestingly the 20mph website only allows you to express your support for 20mph limits and currently there is no online form or dedicated email address you can use to comment. The web site is pretty juvenile anyway http://www.york20mph.org/)

Liberal Democrats will continue to oppose the plans to introduce a wide area 20 mph speed limit

The Cabinet member with responsibility for Social Care and Housing (Cllr Laing) in the City is likely to face some difficult questions when she holds her first “decision” meeting for 3 months on 12th December.

Not only has the housing waiting list almost doubled since she took over her responsibilities, but now it looks like the flagship programme for building new elderly care homes has also run into trouble.

Reports are emerging that the plan to build a replacement for the Fordland’s elderly care home in Fulford are being abandoned.

Planned Lowfields Care Village

Worse, it seems likely the Lowfields Care Village (conceived by the last LibDem run Council) is now even further behind schedule, with the Council’s complex management plan blamed for tendering delays.

A behind closed doors decision was taken in the summer to advertise the contract for the management of the new Lowfields Care Village but, apparently, with the Unions being given advice on how to organise an in house bid for the contract. The Council had been promising http://tinyurl.com/York-15th-May-2012 completion of the care village by April 2014 but this now seems highly unlikely.

All this on top of a big increase in home care costs during the last 18 months.

The cost per client has almost doubled in the last year. Spend on home care contracts has increased from £54k a week in July 2011 to £80k a week in July 2012.

….and this despite 184 elderly residents, who were receiving home care, having been abandoned. They were assessed, under new rules introduced by Labour, as having only “moderate” needs and not worthy of Council support.

Such a catalogue of failure would normally lead to a Cabinet reshuffle but, with talent thin on the ground now that former Leader David Scott has been suspended from the Labour Group, it seems that York residents face another 2 years of poor leadership and financial mismanagement.

This is the summary of the report that has been published by Ofsted into the Kaleidoscope Nursery on Askham Lane. The full report can be read here http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/CARE/EY221643

The Nursery was inspected on 25th October 2012

The nursery was given a score of 4 (Previous inspection 2) but was viewed by the Inspector to be “inadequate”

• How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend 4

• The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 4

• The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 4

The quality and standards of the early years provision

This provision is inadequate

• Planning does not effectively meet the learning needs of all children, in particular being guided by children’s individual interests or through activities delivered by a good balance of adult-led and child-initiated play and learning experiences.

• Robust systems to keep children safe, well protected and effectively safeguarded are not firmly in place.

• Practitioners do not use what they know about children’s individual interests or future learning goals to guide the planning or ensure resources are readily available.

It has the following strengths

• Practitioners build warm and caring relationships with children and the well-established key person system helps babies and children feel secure and form firm attachments.

• Partnership working with parents and other professionals is recognised as valuable to help each child succeed to his/her potential and aid the transition process.
Inspection activities

The inspector observed samples of activities taking place in all children’s rooms and outdoors.
The inspector looked at children’s assessment records, planning documentation, evidence of practitioners suitability and a range of other documentation.
The inspector held meetings with the manager and operations manager.
The inspector carried out a joint observation and discussion with the manager and operations manager regarding the provision’s system for planning, observation and assessment for children’s learning”.

A series of exciting performances by students attending City of York Council’s York Arts Academy and local schools will strike up on 1 December 2012.

Three concerts will take place on 1 December at Central Hall, University of York. The first will start at 11am and will include performances from York Arts Academy’s various performance groups.

These include string and folk groups and Yearsley Grove Primary School Choir. The second concert begins at 2pm, and includes music to suit all tastes played by York Arts Academy bands, African drummers, a guitar ensemble and choirs from Huntington, Fishergate and St. Aelred’s primary schools. The third concert starts at 7pm, with performances by senior ensembles from York Arts Academy, including orchestral music from York Arts Academy Symphony Orchestra, performances by the Senior Concert Band and Big Band, a string quartet and early music from the Minster Minstrels, a group of young musicians specia lizing in early music and run by the York Arts Academy in partnership with the National Centre for Early Music.

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The Labour controlled Council has published details of the boundaries for the new 20 mph speed limit that it intends to apply to most of west York.

Many of the roads in the Westfield area already have 20 mph limits which are enforced by (generally unpopular) speed humps. Other roads are too short for vehicle speed to be an issue.

Major roads like Askham Lane, Foxwood Lane, Wetherby Road, Ridgeway, Thanet Road and part of Gale Lane are to be excluded from the proposed 20 mph limit.

20 mph speed limits west York Click to enlarge

However some bus routes (Cornlands Road, Tudor Road, Acomb Wood Drive and Front Street) ARE included.

Most complaints about motorists exceeding the existing 30 mph speed limit arise on roads like Wetherby Road and Green Lane. The police use their mobile speed cameras on both roads from time to time.

With Green Lane set to be included in the 20 mph limit, it is easy to see where a lot of the estimated £500,000 a year income from speeding fines, generated by the cameras, will come from.

When the vehicle activated signs were last checked around 20% of drivers were exceeding the present 30 mph limit on Green Lane.

Similar problems will arise on Acomb Wood Drive where the council has recently declined to take action to stop the significant proportion of drivers who exceed the 30 mph limit.

There is a contradiction in approach here which is likely to antagonise many motorists.

No detailed costings for this phase of Labours 20 mph policy have been published. We know, though, that every entry point into a 20 mph area will have to be signed and that frequent repeater signs are legally necessary.

Our view remains – and is supported by all surveys on the topic undertaken in the area – that residents DO want the existing 30 mph limits to be enforced but DO NOT want the Council to spend £600,000 on introducing a 20 mph limit which will have little practical effect.

Labour have refused to consult residents through public meetings in either the Acomb or Westfield Wards. They declined to even publish, on their web site, a map showing what their plans were.

There is, however, a public meeting on the subject taking place in Dringhouses tonight when the main advocate of the new limits – Cllr Semlyn – will be explaining herself. The meeting is taking place at Woodthorpe Primary School on Summerfield Road. There is a “surgery” at 6:00pm with the meeting proper starting at 7:00pm

Ouse level graph

Ouse web cam

The level of the river Ouse in York is now falling.

It peaked at below the level seen in September.

Knavesmire Road has reopened. It is hoped that Fulford Road will reopen later today (Reopened at 2;00pm).

A64 and Tadcaster Road very busy. http://www.yorklive.info/

Business, retail and tourist activities continuing with minimal disruption.

St Nicholas Fayre starts in City today

Ouse web cam 0800 28th Nov 12

River levels are high but stable.

Several roads remain closed including the A19 near Fulford.

Water levels are expected to fall gradually over the next 48 hours.

The peak is predicted to be less than the level seen in September.

The Council has revealed the increases in charges that it will levy from 1st January 2013.

Biggest losers are bowlers who face a 100% increase in the charge that applied when Labour took control of the Council in 2011. Pensioners will pay £3 per hour (up from £1-50 an hour in December 2011) while other adults will have to find £4 an hour (a 60% increase).

Anyone following up the Olympic success in tennis will have to have a deep pockets.

Charges per court are going up from £6 to £7 an hour in just over 12 months. That is a 16.7% increase. Concession holders fare even worse and will face a 33% price hike.

Anyone with an overdue library book faces an increased penalty of 16p per day – up by 6.7%. Room hire charges at the Libraries are up by 6% from January making it an 11% hike in just 12 months.

The Councils war against recycling and the responsible disposal of waste continues.

Having closed one of the City’s 3 recycling centres, anyone wanting the bulky waste collection must now pay £35 (a 12.9% increase in a year).

Disposal of “white goods” such as fridges will cost £20 (up 21.2 % since Labour took control of the Council).

Bonded asbestos collection costs are up by 47% in the same period with collections now costing £84.

Anyone thinking of departing the mortal coil could save themselves over £35 if they enter the next life before 1st January.

Bereavement services face the biggest hike in the new year as the York Council tries desperately to balance its books. Increases of 5% from 1st January (10.4% over the 12 month period) are common.

The extra income is needed to help meet the repayment costs of the additional borrowing that the Council has taken on over the past few months

An announcement on the levels of other charges, including those for car parking and social services, is expected in February

http://tinyurl.com/2013-York-Council-charges

City of York Council’s St Nicholas’ Fayre is making a welcome return to York this week for four days of seasonal market trading across the city.

The popular Christmas Fayre is back for its 21st year to offer a range of markets specialising in the very best of gifts, crafts and local food producers from the ‘deliciouslyorkshire’ group.

Parliament Street, St Sampson’s Square and Coppergate will be lined with the eye-catching wooden huts that house a range of traders, each offering up different festive delights.

The Guildhall is the venue of a regional ‘Made in Yorkshire’ art and craft market, whilst Barley Hall will present a special medieval market with craft demonstrations, mulled wine and costumed traders. St William’s College is also hosting an arts and crafts market for handmade items exclusive to the market.

The Fayre also adds another element to York’s evening offer over the Christmas period for those visiting the city to soak up the festive atmosphere.

The St Nicholas’ Fayre started in 1992 with only 20 stalls trading for three days. Today there is over 200 stalls on offer and it is one of York’s biggest visitor attractions of the year.

St Nicholas’ Fayre will run alongside the permanent Newgate Market from 29 November-2 December, between 9am-6:30pm each day.

For more information visit www.yorkfestivals.com

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following routes between Wednesday 28 November and Tuesday 4 December 2012.

•A64 east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A64 west-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•Millfield Lane, Poppleton, York
•Beckfield Lane, Acomb, York
•Green Lane, Acomb, York
•A64 east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A64 west-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•Temple Lane, Copmanthorpe, York
•A1036 Tadcaster Road, Acomb, York
•A64 east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•Strensall Road, Huntington, York
•A1237 Monks Cross, York

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