York Council tenants newsletter costs criticised

A quarterly Council newsletter for tenants – costing around £7000 an edition to design, print and deliver – has been criticised.

The Streets Ahead magazine has been produced for several years and was recently subject to a re-tendering exercise.

The contract – which was awarded to a local company – covers design, editorial, printing and publication of the magazine. In total the current contract is worth £86,716.00 over 4 years

Additional costs are involved in delivering the magazine to 8000 Council tenants.

The news sheet can also be read “on line”

The Council has an inconsistent approach to providing tenants and residents with information. Housing staff rarely provide up to date information for the many public noticeboards that exist around the City.

Council web site garage leaflet. Not updated for over 6 months

Even the Council web site is sometimes hopelessly out of date.

For example, last year there was a major row when it was discovered that dozens of Council garages were lying empty despite there being a long waiting list of people wanting to rent them. The Council promised that information would be updated regularly.

6 months later and the leaflet displayed on the Councils web site has not been updated.

Potentially thousands of pounds a year in rental income is being lost while complaints about inadequate street parking continue to grow.

…and even “Streets Ahead” isn’t being used to advertise the garage vacancies.

York Council progress on fire risk fears

The York Council has published a report updating residents on the progress made in addressing issues revealed by the Grenfell Tower disaster earlier in the year. The Grenfell fire resulted in the deaths of 71 occupants of the high rise housing block.

It is the third in a series of reports. The Council had previously confirmed that there are no comparable high rise housing blocks in the City

In the autumn the Council had been told that 307 fire risk assessments (FRA) were needed in the City. The latest report says that an inspection contract is “currently being finalised with a suitably qualified contractor with a target date (subject to contract) for completion by March 2018”.

A schedule for the outstanding FRA reviews has been produced which prioritises those property types most at risk; i.e. converted houses/flats; sheltered and older persons housing and hostels; and blocks where fire incidents have previously occurred.

A more detailed check of fire spread prevention measures, e.g. between floors or rooms of a building, will be carried out as vacancies occur.

A national review of the effectiveness of building regulations has resulted in an interim report. The report concentrates on buildings of more than 4 stories in height (of which there are few in York). “Most professional bodies seem to accept that the current regulatory arrangements are not working”.

The national report concludes,

“The work of the review to date has found that the current regulatory system for ensuring fire safety in high-rise and complex buildings is not fit for purpose. This applies throughout the life cycle of a building, both during construction and occupation, and is a problem connected both to the culture of the construction industry and the effectiveness of the regulators”.

The York report will be discussed at a meeting taking place on 8^th January 2018

Better news for Lincoln Court

Lincoln Court

Elderly residents of sheltered accommodation units at Lincoln Court can expect the building to be modernised next year,.

Top of the priority list is new windows although a general uplift is also needed.

The building was discussed yesterday at the Councils Executive committee meeting which decided to close the adjacent Windsor House elderly persons home.

The two buildings share a heating system.

Residents of Lincoln Court had been left in suspense while Council officials consulted about closure plans but it now seems that the future of the sheltered accommodation is secure.

A report on the future of the Windsor House site is expected early next year. One is suggestion is that a “centre of excellence” for disabled people should be built there.

The Council will first have to address chronic traffic congestion and parking problems in the Kingsway West/Ascot Way/Windsor Garth area.

York Council criticised for Lowfields decisions

Lowfields Green – Unimaginative layout

The “Save Lowfields Playing Field Action Group” are rightly unhappy this morning. https://www.facebook.com/LowfieldsActionGroup/

They have criticised the quality of analysis which preceded the councils decision yesterday to form a development company which may be used to build on the Lowfields playing fields.

The Council also decided to back financially the provision of football pitches at Bishopthorpe although these are too far away to be relevant to the leisure needs that already exist and those of the 350 new residents that the Lowfields development will attract.

Many of the pkanned hiomes will be for private rent. They will not be added to the Councils housing revenue account and so will not be subject to “right to buy”. However private rent levels are high.

Typically a 3 bedroomed house in the Lowfields area would cost around £800 a month in rent payments.

The Action Group rightly point out that the decision is not only risky for taxpayers but also premature because the planning application for the site has not yet been considered.

The Lowfields scheme has been criticised by local residents for providing an inadequate amount of open space and for the cramped and unimaginative layout design.

NB. Both Liberal Democrat and Labour candidates in the 20-15 Council elections promised to conserve the Lowfields playing fields and restricted development to the built footprint of the old school.

Council aims to make £3 million profit by building and selling houses on Lowfields playing fields

Lowfields playing field development – decisions expected on Thursday

Lowfields Green – Controversial development to be debated on Thursday

Despite no planning permission having been granted for the proposed development of the playing fields at Lowfields, the York Councils Executive will debate on Thursday how construction work will be funded.

We have already commented on the bizarre claim that a new football pitch, being established near Bishopthorpe, will in some way compensate for the loss of pitches at Lowfields.

December 2016 report extract

Another report on the Executive agenda addresses how the Council can fund its Lowfields plan. It intends to use a new Housing Development Company (HDC) to undertake the work.

The report refers to a previous meeting in December 2016 (right) when the decision was taken to sell off the site for £4.5 million. At that time the Executive also decided to ask for reports on how health facilities, a police depot and football facilities could be provided. Of these, only the report on football pitches has been forthcoming.

The new report claims that in July 2017 “66% of people who provided feedback gave support the plans”. The report fails to mention that the Council consultation didn’t offer the opportunity for residents to object to the development of the playing field. Most of the favourable comments – as they are with the current planning application – came from people living outside the area who were lobbied to support the “communal build” section of the development (which will not be located on the playing field).

The report makes other contentious claims.

It says using the Councils HDC will reduce the time that builders will be on site. The Council has no control over how long self-builders, the community builders, the Health centre, the care home and police builders will be on site. None of these uses is included in the detailed planning application.

The Councils claim of a 30-month development period is therefore highly optimistic.

They hope to start building towards the end of 2018.

The report also lauds the “6,434 sq. metres of public open space” being provided.

Currently there is 33,150 metres of usable green space on the site. The new design includes a, so called, “pocket park” which is little more than a wide grass verge while the usable part of the “village green“ is little bigger that the existing green space at the junction of Lowfields Drive and Dijon Avenue

However, the main concern for most taxpayers will be the plan to borrow an additional £9 million to fund building work. The Council already has a total debt of over £357m (including £139m historic council housing debt).

Around 13% of residents Council Tax payments are used to pay interest charges. This is set to increase to 14% next year.

The development (houses and infrastructure) will cost £25 million.

The Council hopes to sell houses for £28 million, making a £3 million profit.

York Council set to become City’s largest PRIVATE landlord

Lowfields Green – “pack em in” approach to housing development?

Not content with being the largest provider of affordable (Council House) accommodation in the City, the York Council is now considering entering the private rented market.

Under plans to be discussed next week, it would set up a company that would develop homes on land currently owned by the authority. They hope to reinvest the profits from rents, and some house sales, into further developments.

In recent times, Council land has generally been developed by Housing Associations who have rented the properties at little more than the rents charged to Council tenants.

This approach is set to change with the Council now saying it will enter the private rental market.

Private rents in the City are typically three times higher than Council house rents. Private rent levels in the city have increased by 17% during the last 5 years.

Any private rented properties managed by the Council would not be subject to “Right to Buy” legislation (and hence discounts).

Individual developments would still have to include a planning requirement for at least 20% affordable units. It is possible that the housing revenue account (mainly income from Council House rents) will be used to purchase homes to expand further the number of affordable units available.

The sites that the Council hopes to develop through a new QUANGO are located at these sites:

Former Askham Bar Park and Ride
Former Burnholme College
Castle Piccadilly,
“City Centre car parks”,
Former Clifton Without School,
Hospital Fields Road/Ordnance Lane,
Former Lowfield School,
Former Manor School,
Tang Hall Library,
Woolnough House.

The plan to develop land in the city centre, which is currently used for car parking, may come as a shock. The Council has yet to confirm what its long term policy is on parking space numbers in the city centre, but any reduction is likely to be opposed by beleaguered traders. It is possible that the intention is to add one or two floors above existing car parks. That is an idea that has been floated in the past with mixed reactions.

The inclusion of the other sites may be premature. Particularly so in the case of Lowfields, where a recently submitted planning application has yet to been determined.

Taxpayers face an early blow if the plan is approved.

Investment/return profile

Upfront costs of £450,000 have been identified. This will mostly be spent on staff.

Ongoing staffing costs of £225,000 a year in the development company are predicted, while forecasts suggest that development costs will not be fully offset by sales income for up to 8 years.

All in all, this is a risky and complex project for the Council to be considering. There will be unease that it is biting off more than it can chew with delays on providing homes the most likely consequence.

In the last couple of years the numbers of new homes built in York has exceeded 1000 – well above draft Local Plan requirements.

Future of Windsor House site being discussed

Proposal for Centre of Excellence for Disabled Children

Windsor House

A report is being discussed next week which is expected to result in confirmation of plans to close the Windsor House elderly persons home on Ascot Way. The proposal was first discussed in September and now Council officials are reporting back on the discussions that they have had with residents, their relations and staff.

5 residents have recently moved out leaving 17 to find new homes. The Council says that there is currently a good supply of alternative accommodation options available including Glen Lodge.

The care home has 33 staff in total, the majority of who work part time.

The main criticism of the closure relates to timing. Promised modern elderly care facilities on the west of the City will not be available for 2 or 3 years.

Lincoln Court

Hedges blocked view and light from Lincoln Court flats in the summer

Considerable concerns have been expressed by residents of the adjacent Lincoln Court sheltered development.

These self-contained flats which include some communal space, are not included in the closure plans. However, the building has been allowed to deteriorate recently. Window frames are rotten, while an ongoing criticism has been about poor management of parking facilities. Some boundary hedges weren’t cut in the summer, effectively isolated the elderly residents from the rest of the community.

York must do better in the way that it treats its tenants at Lincoln Court. They need to be given

assurances about the future of their flats as well as a date when modernisation works will commence.

The future of the Windsor Garth site

The Council has unveiled what seems to be a caring and imagination use for the Ascot Way site when the existing buildings have been demolished.

The report describes a possible state of the art facility for disabled children

“Should Windsor House close, the site could be redeveloped as the location for the Centre of Excellence for Disabled Children and their Families, for housing or sold.”

Just as society doesn’t always treat the elderly as well as it should, the same could be said of people with disabilities. The principle of the proposed facility would therefore be welcome.

However, there are two significant issues to be addressed before any further development is considered in this neighbourhood.

Traffic congestion and lack of off street parking are now major problems.

They have worsened since 66 additional homes were built on the Hob Stones site and were exacerbated by the Council decision not to let the garages in Newbury Avenue pending the redevelopment of that site. The two issues are linked with inadequate “on street” parking space making access difficult even for the bus service.

There have been calls to introduce a “one way” system or even reopen the second access from Kingsway West.

Whatever the solution may be, one must be found before any development takes place which could further increase vehicle movements in the area.

Castle/Piccadilly redevelopment – more meetings

New river walkways and public spaces, new uses for Castle car park, and alternative parking are among the exciting ideas to regenerate Castle Gateway being shared over the next month.

Guided walks across the weekend will introduce the range of ideas to regenerate the huge area of the city ― taking in Piccadilly, Fossgate, Castle, Eye of York and much more – at a special launch event taking place this weekend.

Planners have generated the ideas based on what people said during the first stage of My Castle Gateway, a unique and bold new consultation approach introduced earlier this year. You can also view and feed back all the ideas online at www.york.gov.uk/CastleGatewayIdeas .

City of York Council has joined forces with local engagement experts My Future York to run a series of guided walks, interactive events and online discussions to explore what people want to see and do in the area.

Instead of producing a single masterplan, the Castle Gateway team has created a series of options to allow York’s residents and businesses to keep shaping the future.

However, the consultation process has been criticised for being too ponderous and lacking any sense of urgency. Decisions on the sites are needed urgently to avoid piecemeal development and seize the opportunity to regenerate an area which has been run down for too long.
(more…)

Last day for objections to the “Lowfields Green” development

The deadline for objections to the Councils “Lowfields Green” planning application has now passed.

The Action Group opposing the proposal to build on the playing field part of the site have submitted a comprehensive objection. A copy of their objection can be found via their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LowfieldsActionGroup/

Most of the representations of support for the scheme seem to be generated by the communal living project (Yorspace) although there is general support for the plans for specialist accommodation for the elderly.

None of the representations in favour of the Councils proposals come for people living near Lowfields (or indeed from the Westfield/Acomb area more generally)

The only unconditional message of support for the Council plan has been lodged by Bob Towner – a former Director of Housing at (you guessed!) the City of York Council! He says local people should use Hob Moor for recreational activities.

Further examination of the artists impressions of the proposals reveal a regimented design, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the 1960’s.

Lowfields Green – a candidate for the least imaginative architecture award?

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