High accident levels at the St Leonard’s Place junction have prompted the Council, to propose a makeover to signs in the area. The junction is threatened with a more major change in the future as the Councils struggles to reconcile the need for easy access to the City centre with a plan to reduce traffic levels.

click to enlarge

Most of the accidents occur on the St Leonard’s approach to the junction and poor lane discipline is cited as one of the causes. One of the accidents involved a vehicle “shunting” into a cyclist in the advanced stop area.

Counter intuitively officials believe that reducing the number of pedestrian guard rails should also be considered (some have already gone).

Proposals have been developed to ensure that the traffic lanes on St Leonards Place are signed clearly, increase the amount of space available to cyclists prior to the stop line on Bootham, and reduce the amount of guardrail.

On St Leonard’s Place these improvements comprise adding another set of destination road markings and installing a lane destination sign in a more prominent position to replace an advance direction sign which in its current position is prone to being obscured by tree branches. In addition, it is proposed to extend the cyclist’s advance stop line box on Bootham by 2m.

Full report here: http://tinyurl.com/St-Leonards-Junc

The media are reporting that a former employee has been arrested following investigations into fraud at the North Yorkshire Credit Union. The Union collapsed last week.

Separately, a decision by the Labour Cabinet has been “called in” for scrutiny. They were proposing to grant £50,000 (plus help in kind) to another Credit Union that wishes to open a branch in York.

The proposal has been called in to permit full consideration of the reasons behind the North Yorkshire Credit Union collapse. http://tinyurl.com/CU-call-in

The York Council stands to lose up to £100,000 of the loan it made to the York Credit Union in January 2009.

The minutes of meetings around that time reveal that Labour had proposed that £150,000 should be loaned on a “unsecured” sub ordinate basis.

This proposal was rejected by the then LibDem controlled Executive and the York Council unanimously agreed on 22nd Jan 2009 to loan £52,000 (the maximum permitted) as a “preferential loan” with the remainder classified as a “sub-ordinate” loan (which has less protection in the event of a financial failure).

The Council also agreed that “That Council maintain a check on the financial position of the York Credit Union by such means as are acceptable to the Director of Resources”

It is the way that the latter condition has been exercised over the last 18 months – during which time the Credit union slipped into financial difficulties – that should form part of the scrutiny review.

Details of the historic decisions made can be found on the Councils web site

Executive meeting 23rd Dec 2008 http://tinyurl.com/Exec-23rd-Dec-08

Labour alternative proposals 23rd Dec 2008 http://tinyurl.com/Lab-23rd-Dec-08

Council minutes 22nd Jan 2009 http://tinyurl.com/Council-22nd-Jan-09

Kingsthorpe bin has damaged lid

Labour Councillors in Westfield caused a public outcry earlier in the year when they agreed to grant £800 for the the purchase of pantomime constumes. Residents in a postal ballot had given the scheme the thumbs down preferring that the money be spent on basic services such as security patrols.

Now the organisation intending to put on the pantomime has withdrawn the request for the grant.

Damaged salt bin Cornlands Road

This means that the money could be transferred to fund the filling of the salt bins which the Council has abandoned in the ward.

However many of the bins – which have only the remains of last years salt in them – are in a poor condition. Promised repairs have not materialised and many are choked with rubbish and congealed salt.

We are entering the period when ice can become a menace. The Council should act promptly.

A biker caught speeding at 144mph has today, Thursday 8 November, been banned from driving for six months .

He was also fined £500 plus court costs of £45 and a victim surcharge of £50.

Gary Dobson, 40, of Old Lee Bank, Halifax was caught on the A63 near South Milford on 7 October 2012 riding a BMW RR 1000 in a 70mph limit.

Dobson pleaded guilty by post at Selby Magistrates’ Court on 1 November 2012 and was sentenced today.

144mph is the highest speed detected so far by North Yorkshire Police’s mobile safety camera which was introduced in July 2011.

In first 12 months of the safety camera’s operation (July 11 to June 12 inc) the following offences have been detected:

Total Violations 16,055

Not Proceeded With 625

Mobile camera footage here: http://youtu.be/jjjtphLQr58

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Few raised an eyebrow a fortnight ago when the Local Ombudsman criticised the York Council for putting a family into what was too small a property to meet their needs. The local Labour MP had joined in the condemnation earlier in the year but the Council refused to rethink their action. Eventually the Council was forced to admit its error. No one was really surprised when, rather than the Cabinet member for Housing accepting any responsibility, a junior officer was rolled out to face the media backlash.

Similarly today we learn that the housing waiting list has increased by 50% since Labour took control of the local Council. Apparently it’s the fault of landlords. No blame can be attached to Labours decision not to seek funding for the construction of more Council houses then.

More difficult to wriggle on was the responsibility for the Gunpowder “Plod” debacle.

In August the Cabinet member for Leisure glowed in the local media as she launched the event. “We pledged last year that York would commemorate November 5, 2012, in style”. “We’ve been working hard with partners to ensure this happens” she trilled as she posed for photos with the Rat Race team.

So enthusiastic was she to be associated with the event that her photo appeared for 3 months on the Plod web site.

With friends like James Alexander around you are guaranteed a bit of mutual backslapping on social media sites like “Twitter”.

James Alexander click to enlarge

So on 3rd November he proudly announced that Cllr Crisp was responsible for bringing both “Plod” and an event called “Kaboom” which was held in Rawcliffe Country Park, to the City.

Early on 5th November, Cllr Crisp responded with enthusiasm. “fun, fireworks, frolics and festivities” she tweeted as she settled down to enjoy the Knavesmire “spectacle”.

Sonja Crisp click to enlarge

By 10:05 she was labelling Kaboom and Plod as both “fantastic”

At 11;22pm she tweeted to anyone still awake that “she hadn’t heard the booing”

On 6th November the story had changed. Bitter disappointment was surfacing in the media with hundreds complaining. Cllr Crisp responded by tweeting “It was not a Council organised event”.

Perhaps she should have been more discrete. She’d had some practice.

The previous week the Mayor of Blackpool (really) had launched the Blunderland light show in York’s Museum Gardens.

Cllr Crisp worked out that this might seem strange to many residents and tried to do a runner.

Unfortunately the photographer (see above) got there before she could exit stage right!

We reported earlier in the summer that the Council had decided to undertake conservation works on the Bachelor Hill amenity area.

The Council was overseeing the movement of turf containing “rare grassland” from parts of York Business Park at Poppleton, which are being built on, to Bachelor Hill.

This was being done at the expense of developers.

The council’s habitat officer said he hoped that this will lead to “even more varied flowers and wildlife in the area”.

The Council was criticised for lack of consultation with local residents.

Several months into the project concerns are growing with the scale of the earthworks being undertaken exceeding expectations.

Even a “pond” has now appeared.

We think that the Council should tell residents when they can expect this work to be completed.

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North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following routes between Wednesday 7 November and Tuesday 13 November 2012.

•A64 east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•Strensall Road, Huntington, York
•A1237 Monks Cross, York
•The Village, Stockton-on-the-Forest, York
•A1036 Malton Road, York
•A1237 Monks Cross, York
•York Road, Haxby, York
•A64 west-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•Broadway, Fulford, York
•Murton Way, Murton, York
•Fordlands Road, Fulford York
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York police are appealing for witnesses after a cyclist narrowly avoided injury when she was clipped by a car.

The cyclist an, 18-year-old local woman, was riding across the roundabout at the junction with Beckfield Lane and Ridgeway at around 5.10pm on Tuesday 6 November 2012, when a red sports car sped across the roundabout and onto Wetherby Road.

The car, which had a registration plate of YJ01, clipped the cyclist on the way past, nearly knocking her from her bike.

Officers are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident to come forward.

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North Yorkshire Police are urging owners of Land Rover Defenders to be on their guard against thieves.

The warning comes after the theft of one vehicle and the attempted theft of another in the York area.

A “N” registered Land Rover Defender was stolen from a property in Haxby near York and then used in a suspicious incident at a property in Rawcliffe where officers believe the suspects were targeting another Land Rover. The stolen vehicle was later found abandoned in Foss Way.

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Come and treat yourself or pick up some special seasonal gifts at Christmas craft fairs held at two Explore Library Learning Centres this month.

Explore York Library Learning Centre at Library Square will be hosting a craft fair on Saturday 17 November from 9am until 4:30pm.

While Acomb Explore Library Learning Centre will be holding another on Saturday 24 November from 9am until 2:00pm.

At both events, there will be a wide range of stallholders selling all kinds of handmade items, such as knitted, felt and wooden crafts, paintings, jewellery and greetings cards.

After a spot of shopping the cafes at both centres will be offering with a ten per cent discount on a wide selection of freshly-cooked food.