LibDems take action as vandals strike west York

As we reported yesterday, crime levels are becoming an increasing concern in York.

Over the weekend a telephone kiosk on Thanet Road and a litter bin on Woodthorpe Green were both damaged.

Burnt out bin on Woodthorpe Green

Vandalised phone box

Another unusual hazard has arisen on St Stephens Road. Bees are swarming in a tree there. We hope to get a bee keeper to take them away.

Bees swarming in a tree in St Stephens Road

Elsewhere more mundane issues have been reported by Andrew Waller following one of his periodic inspection tours.

Speed cushion on Kingsway West is breakign up

Speed cushion on Kingsway West is breaking up

A speed cushion on Danesfort Avenue requires attention

Dumping on Middleton Road has been reported

A pothole on Windsor Garth has been reprted

A pothole on Windsor Garth has been reported

Full poop scoop bin on the Foxwood Park has been reported for emptying

Finally some good news with the flower tubs on Beagle Ridge Drive – which are sponsored by the residents association – having been planted out by volunteers

Volunteers have planted out the tubs on Beagle Ridge Drive which are beginnign to look good.

Volunteers have planted out the tubs on Beagle Ridge Drive which are beginning to look good.

Shock as Guildhall repair bill tops £2.5 million

As we forecast over three years ago the empty Guildhall is decaying and needs prompt repairs and an early start on renovation works.

York Guildhall

The then Labour controlled Council had abandoned the buildings when they moved to West Offices. Incredibly no thought had been given to the future of the Grade 1 Listed building. The original intention – discussed in 2009 – had been for the Council to continue to occupy the historic part of the building (Guildhall, Council Chamber and some offices) while deriving an income from selling or leasing the modern annexes – which might have been redeveloped as residential accommodation.

This income would have paid for the upkeep of the historic buildings.

After much prevarication, the Council opted in 2013 for a £9 million scheme to provide a “digital media centre” at the complex.

The newly elected administration in 2015 had the opportunity to test the market at a time when residential land prices in the City centre were rocketing. Inexplicably they chose to add £7 million to the Council debt burden as they opted to build a “serviced offices” complex. …..And this at a time when workshops were vacant at suburban locations while all over the City commercial and office space was being converted into residential units (because of lack of demand)

Now a report to a Council meeting says that more money will be needed.

Part of the problem is that the empty buildings have deteriorated. The report says,

the existing condition of the Guildhall complex is poor. Historic England have advised that the complex could soon be considered at risk were no future use to be identified. The 2013 condition survey identified £2m (exclusive of fees) of necessary works to bring the complex up to a satisfactory standard – of which £1m were priority urgent works. With fees and inflation factors this equates to approx. £2.5m of works necessary to sustain the complex

In addition, the report says,

additional repair and remedial works are likely to be necessary to bring the complex back into use specifically relating to the structural movement in several locations across the complex, almost certainly linked to the ground conditions at this riverside location. …. On-going structural monitoring will also be used to gather further evidence of the movement occurring at various locations across the building complex (south range / Guildhall south wall / Victorian offices / north annex tower).

The latest design involves the provision of a larger restaurant. How many more restaurants the City Centre can accommodate may be an interesting question.

No provision is made for residential use despite continuing evidence of burgeoning demand.

The Council’s Executive will have to decide in July whether this expensive and out of control plan goes the way of the Community Stadium with more and more taxpayer’s money being thrown at a poorly specified and “ever changing” project

What seems increasingly clear is that York’s taxpayers cannot afford such a risky project which still looks to be three years away from completion.

Time for an urgent re-think.

Revised Guildhall project layout plans

York Council has paid out £8.2 million in redundancy costs since 2011

546 staff made redundant – 41 sign “compromise agreements”

A Freedom of Information response has revealed the costs of cutting staffing levels at the York Council.

FOI response Redundancies table 2

The figures don’t include teaching staff.

In total 546 have left the Council with average pay-outs of around £15,000 each. Over 80% of the redundancies were voluntary.

The figures reveal that the largest number of redundancies occurred in 2011/12 when 212 left the Council. This has fallen gradually each year to a figure of 66 during the last financial year.

A total of £8.2 million has been paid out of which £4,554,000 was the cost of statutory payments, £3,339,000 early retirement costs and £352,000 pay in lieu of notice.

Only three former staff were subsequently re-employed directly by the Council.

The authority says, though, that they don’t record whether any of their agency or contract staff have previously been employed by the Council.

Individual redundancy proposals are reported to a small group of Councillors who meet each week in a “behind closed doors” decision session.

The Council has specifically said in its response that it “has made no enhanced redundancy or pension payments”.

Compromise agreements

The Council has also confirmed that 41 “compromise” agreements have been signed with staff. Usually these involve some sort of compensatory pay.

A compromise agreement is a legally binding agreement made either during or following the termination of employment. It is recognised by statute and is the only way an employee can validly “contract out” of their employment law rights. It usually provides for a severance payment, in return for which former employees agree not to pursue any claim or grievance to an Employment Tribunal.

A leading law firm says that the major reasons for using the compromise agreement (other than to settle an existing claim) are to “remove an employee on the grounds of poor performance or misconduct, to avoid legal challenge in redundancy situations and to make it easier to remove senior staff without embarrassment”.

The Council has so far failed to explain what the reasons were for the compromise agreements that it has been party too.

While such agreements usually involve a confidentiality clause, there is no reason why the main reasons for the high level of use of the system in York cannot be made public.

We’ll press the Council to provide taxpayers with more information about this policy.

Future of Lowfields school site to be considered on 30th June

Lowfields school site is now overgrown

Only days after the NHS said it was considering building a Mental Health Hospital on the Lowfields school site, the York Council has slated the future of the location for debate on 30th June.

A new “Forward Programme” has been published which gives only 4 weeks notice of the discussion.

The three items down for decision are:

1. Move forward with plans for the re-development of the Lowfields school site, beginning with public engagement regarding use and design.
2. Consult on the closure of a further Older Persons’ Home in the autumn of 2016 and one in the first half of 2017, following the Moving Homes Safely Protocol.
3. Open negotiations to purchase land adjacent to Haxby Hall in order to facilitate the examination of options for its future.

The original intention had been to site an older persons “village” on the footprint of the former school site. This was subsequently abandoned when the then Labour led Council lost control of the project amidst escalating costs.

Instead, they decided to concentrate all resources on building a new “hub” on the east of the city at Burnholme.

This led to accusations that the Council was ignoring the needs of older people on the Acomb side of the City.

There now seems to be no chance of the Council finding money to develop the site itself.

Instead the hope is that it will be put on the open market (as it could have been two years ago) with bids being assessed against an agree set of criteria. If the aim remains to provide accommodation principally aimed at older people (the site is ideally located near to amenities) then a high weighting could be given to bids that can guarantee that outcome.

This is what the Council (belatedly) did when selling off the Oliver House elderly persons home for redevelopment. That site was subsequently sold to a company specialising in retirement properties.

This strategy has the added value that older people “downsizing” to Lowfields would free up more family sized accommodation elsewhere.

Residents will be keeping an eagle eye on the Council to ensure that no development intrudes onto the Lowfields playing fields.

There is a shortage of football pitches on the west of the City and potentially the former school playing field would also be an important amenity for any new community development.

Bus shelter engulfed by nettles and branches

Overgrown bus shelter small A bus shelter on Askham Lane has been engulfed by weeds. Branches from a “self seeded” bush totally obscure the view from the shelter which is well used in inclement weather. Ponding on the adjacent highway has been a problem for some years.

Nettles also pose a risk for young children.

It is a repeat of a problem which happened in 2014. Residents complained that they could not see approaching buses while those waiting at the stop could not be seen by bus drivers.

Local Councillor Andrew Waller is following up the issue with the Council. He has also asked for weeds on Waterman Court to be treated.

Nearby the bus shelter at the top of Foxwood Lane is also gradually being overwhelmed. Here the problem is aggravated by weeds growing on the roof of the shelter.

The Westfield Ward committee meeting taking place on 22nd June is likely to consider allocating part of its budget to manage overgrown trees and bushes in the area.

Graffiti presents poor image of York

Graffiti at entrance to Fossgate car park

Graffiti at entrance to Fossbank car park

Graffiti at entrance to York – Selby cycle track

Graffiti is unfortunately the first thing that some visitors to our City see. The entrances to the Fossbank shoppers car park are particular blackspots.

We think that – as well as getting the graffiti cleaned off quickly – the authorities should install cameras aimed at identifying and prosecuting those who are disfiguring the City

Meanwhile signs (below) are still displayed in Goodramgate giving directions to the Tour de France start.

This event concluded over 2 years ago and the signs add little to the streetscape in what is a Conservation Area.

Commemorative plaque or just forgot to take the sign down?

Trees blight Foxwood properties

Overgrown trees prompt security fears

Several trees in the Burgess Walk area of Foxwood have grown so large that they are contributing to a security problem. The trees are protected by Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs) which were imposed when the estate was built over 30 years ago. At that time the trees – which had formed part of the boundary of a farmers field – were modest in size. Their conservation was viewed as one way of avoiding the bleak and windswept look that many new developments have until new planting establishes itself.

However the trees have continued to grow and now block out both sunlight and the illumination offered by street lamps. The access footpath is therefore unnaturally dark prompting security fears. Parts of the trees regularly drop off – adding to the list of residents concerns.

Some trees are overgrowing the highway and pose a threat for high sided vehicles

The matter has been discussed by the Foxwood Residents Association who have asked officials to consider taking action to have the TPOs lifted. This would permit the trees to be lopped or even felled and replaced by a species more appropriate for small sub-urban gardens.

There is a broader issue.

The Council is largely reactive in dealing with problems caused by overgrown trees and bushes. We believe that local wards should have a delegated budget which they can use to manage the stock of trees and bushes in an area. The budget could be used to remove or cut back vegetation which is blocking paths and amenity areas.

It could also be used to ensure that an annual tree planting programme is sustained.

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Elsewhere the trial wildflower bed established on Huntsmans Walk (below) as now been moved to a more rural location. The island has been turfed.