Current York Council consultations

A consultation on a proposed review of City of York Council’s Statement of Licensing Policy has opened.

At the Licensing Committee meeting on 25 April, it was agreed to pursue North Yorkshire Police’s request to amend the local authority’s current policy. Published in 2014, it includes a ‘Special Policy’ which relates to applications for the variation of a premises licence or club premises certificates.

The police believe these variations to licensed hours or style of operation can have as much impact locally as granting a new license. To give these variations greater weight and to reflect that they can significantly change the nature of the original license conditions, the force has requested that the policy’s ‘Effects of the Special Policy’ section is changed.

This section of the policy currently reads:
5. “Application for the variation of a premises licence or club premises certificate due to a change of style of operation:

Any application for the variation of style of operation which is subject to relevant representations will be considered on its own merits having regard to the promotion of the licensing objectives

6. Application for the variation of a premises licence or club premises certificate resulting in an extension of the premises and increased capacity:

There will be a presumption to refuse such applications, where relevant representation are received and where the increase in capacity would undermine the licensing objectives unless the applicant can rebut the presumption that the granting of such a variation would undermine the licensing objectives.

7. Application to vary the hours of operation attached to a premises licence or club premises certificate:

All applications that seek to extend the licensed hours will be considered on an individual basis. No different policy will apply in this area as opposed to the rest of the city.”

The a new form of words proposed is:

5. “The following variations are considered to be material:

• change in style of operation

• physical extension of the premises that increases capacity

• extension of hour of operation

and therefore, there will be a presumption to refuse such applications, where relevant representations are received [deleted and] unless the applicant can rebut the presumption that the granting of such a variation would undermine the licensing objectives.”

Views can be sent by email to: licensing.unit@york.gov.uk or posted to Licensing Section, City of York Council, Eco Depot, Hazel Court, York YO10 3DS.

Other current Council consultations
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Council to receive 100 page report on…

……….goose droppings

click to view

The York Council’s Executive will tomorrow Thursday decide what to do about the fouling caused by York’s Canada & Greylag Goose population.

There had been suggestions that a cull was needed although treatment of eggs has been an option for some time.

It is difficult to see the geese as a major issue in the City although they reputedly produce as much as 5 pounds of waste each day.

There is a goose dropping cleansing machine – invented not surprisingly in Canada – which could be used to clean parks and footpaths of all droppings. See demonstration video.

Ward Committees have funding available to use on local problems like these and so could hire in a machine periodically.

NB. The Executive will also consider removing the right to free home to school transport for some York children. The report on that item includes only 20 pages.

A plan that could see social care budgets cut by £1 million is covered in 90 pages

Violence, public order and street crime levels up in York

The latest crime figures released by the Office of National Statistics reveal a worrying trend in York with street crime and sexual offences at record levels.

Drug offences have also risen during the last 3 years.

York Crime stats

While at the overall number of crimes is slightly down, with 44790 recorded during 2015, the figures do not include “anti social behavior” (ASB).

In some neighbourhoods ASB accounts for as much as 50% of the reports made to the Police.

The figures are bound to lead to more calls for a return to community policing principles and a reversal of the York Council’s policy of centralising agency anti crime work in a City centre “hub”.

York Council using hi tech equipment to improve service stadards?

New road sweeper

Weed killing by quad bike

After a poor few years there are signs that some of the street level public services provided by the York Council are beginning to improve.

Last year saw parts of the City engulfed in weeds.

This year a quad bike is already zipping round the area applying weed killer to paths and gutters.

Blocked drainage gulley in Hammerton Close

Litter and detritus is also another major problem as these photos show.

We hope that the new specialist street sweeping machines (above left) will soon make an impact…and that the Council has thought through how it will cleanse difficult to access areas.

We hope that the York Council will also make its street cleansing – and weed control – timetables available on their web site. Taxpayers should know how often they can expect their streets to be swept

Detritus at Grange Lane cycle path entrance

Detritus in Chapelfields Road garage area

Litter in Walton Place snicket

We continue to report any issues that we see using the excellent “Fix my Street” web site

Anger as Acomb snubbed in new road resurfacing programme

School Street must wait for another year for repairs

School Street carriageway surface

The York Council appointed a new highways boss recently.

He’s likely to get a frosty reception if he ventures into Acomb following his decision earlier in the week to leave School Street off this year’s resurfacing programme. The surface of the carriageway there has been labelled “the worst road in York”.

Not a single footpath or road will be resurfaced in neighbourhoods like Chapelfields and Foxwood.

In a break with tradition the report, to another behind closed doors meeting, failed to identify in which wards the programmed schemes are actually located. This had been a useful way to reassure residents that the limited funding was being shared fairly. References are made to several very long streets (Wetherby Road, Front Street, Hamilton Drive etc.) although the money available will resurface only short lengths of them.

The Director has apparently agreed that the assessments made of each road in the City will be made publicly available in future. This is unlikely to be much of a consultation to those living on the west of the City

Local footpaths that will be resurfaced include:

Hamilton Drive (part)
Lidgett Grove
Middlethorpe Grove

Carriageways due for attention include:

Askham Fields Lane
Lindsey Avenue
Wetherby Road (part)
Front Street (Part)

Taken together the investment in roads and footpaths in west York is now at a record low level.

A1237 dualling – call for action

A1237 dualling still illusive

With congestion levels on the A1237 York northern by pass gradually increasing, residents have called on the City of York to provide an update report on plans to dual the road.

Hopes that work on at least one junction would start in March have been dashed.

Progress had been promised by Conservative candidates in last years elections but funding – with possibly as much as £240 million needed – is apparently caught up in a wrangle about electing a new regional Mayor.

The government has said that devolution of resources is dependent on the boundaries for new Mayoral regions being agreed. West Yorkshire and North /East Yorkshire are at logger heads over the plan, with York caught in the middle. Meanwhile Sheffield is pressing ahead with its own plans to elect a South Yorkshire Mayor.

No reference was made to a northern Yorkshire devolution in the deals announced in the recent statement by the Chancellor.

The recently published forward programme of decisions likely to be made by the York Council over the next 4 months contains no reference to the dualling project.

Nor is there any provision in the Council 5 years capital programme which was agreed in February.

Lendal Bridge scandal tails off. Officials repay irregular payments. Gloom on Stadium risks

The deadline for applying for a refund in relation to receiving a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) during the Lendal Bridge trial traffic regulation and the Coppergate traffic regulation enforcement by automatic number plate recognition will come to an end on midnight 31 March 2016.

City of York Council wrote to all 27,000 people in February last year, who at the time had not currently claimed their PCN repayment, to notify them direct of the process. In addition a press release giving notice of the ending of the process was issued on 12 February 2016.

The decision to extend the repayment deadline to 31 March 2016 was agreed by the previous Cabinet, at a meeting held on 30 July 2015.

The council will publish the total cost of the Lendal Bridge and Coppergate settlement process after March 2016.

However it is expected that, when all expenditure is included, the reckless Lendal Bridge/Coppergate trial will have cost over £3 million in abortive payments.

To apply for a refund, or to find out more information about the repayment process, search ‘Lendal Bridge’ or ‘Coppergate’ at: http://www.york.gov.uk/. Please note that the application process will not be available after 31 March.

The council will assist anyone in person in the council’s West Offices or over the phone (01904 551550) to help them through the process if they have no access to the internet and apply before 31 March.

Meanwhile the future of camera enforcement, of access restrictions on Coppergate, remains unclear

Officials to repay £9000

The Council was told yesterday that officials had agreed to replay salary bonuses that were subject to an unfavourable Audit report.

Unfortunately the Council did nothing which might restore public confidence in its processes and governance structures.

Accountability meetings continue to be held in private.

Community Stadium

The Council has agreed a £14 million taxpayers subsidy for the Community Stadium Project. The money will be borrowed. In effect, the taxpayer will have to find £1 million a year in debt charges to prop up a project which in 2011 would have cost the public purse nothing. The Council will have to find the interest payments by cutting further into basic public services standards.

The project remains very risky.

Despite professional advice that the City has sufficient public swimming pools, a new one is being incorporated into the scheme. The sports centre operators – having lost their core customer base – face an uphill struggle to establish a new facility in a crowded market place. It they fail to do so, then the whole project would collapse.

The Council is also underwriting the lease on part of the commercial development. Another risk for taxpayers.

There are some good features. The – unsubsidised – provision of an IMAX cinema will be a first for the City and a welcome addition to the leisure options available to residents.

But it remains unclear how the football and rugby clubs will exploit their new home to maximise non match-day revenue. The only figures released suggest that they will pay relatively low rent levels, but the clubs will need more opportunities than that to be successful.

So, all in all, a deeply flawed business plan – dumped on an unsuspecting population in 2012 – lurches forward to an expected 2019 completion.

The opportunity – available last May – to stand back and adopt a more cautious approach was lost.

Most taxpayers will be watching progress from now on with deep concern.

Strong project management will be needed if there is to be an end product the City can afford.

Green Lane garage area gets clean up

After many months of complaining, we were pleased to see that the little Green Lane garage area was tidied up a few weeks ago.

Little Green Lane garage area cleaned

Unfortunately, since the clean up, some builders waste has been left in the area and we are still waiting to hear when the housing department plan to resurface the access road and forecourt.

Elsewhere other long standing issues also remain to be resolved.

Material dumped in the Dijon Avenue garage area 6 months ago is still there and perimeter weeds – having fallen back during the winter – will start to grow again shortly

Dijon Ave dumping

Dijon Avenue weeds

……and another black mark for local housing officials who refuse to allow residents access to public noticeboards in the Kingsway area (below). They have been inaccessible for over 2 years now, forcing charities and community groups to post notices on the outside glass of the boards.

It’s an issue that could be easily solved by giving local Councillors a set of keys for the frames.

Unused noticeboards in Kingsway area

We report all issues for the Council’s attention using the “fix my street” https://www.fixmystreet.com/ web site

York Council announce plans for easier electronic communications – again!

In the first stage of an exciting project to improve users’ online experience with the council, the new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system will aim to:

Provide online access to more services and information
Ensure the council is more efficient and easy to do business with on a 24/7 basis
Implement a ‘My Account’ system for residents offering a tailored access to council services
Provide access via mobile devices and tablets, increasing accessibility for residents and other customers
Allow residents and customers to track the progress of their requests and receive updates.

The report outlines plans for a high quality and responsive online service to ensure the council is always open and available and that services are easy for people to use.

We recommend "Fix My Street" as the best way of reporting issues - at least until the Councils new system has been proved to work. click

We recommend “Fix My Street” as the best way of reporting issues – at least until the Councils new system has been proved. click

It is proposed that, as with the website launch last year, residents are involved throughout the project with opportunities for them to offer their views.

As the CRM system is set up, the priorities are to provide online services first for waste (missed bins, new container), highways (highway defect, street light defect, drainage), public realm (reporting litter, fly tipping and graffiti), revenues and benefits as well as the ability to feedback on council services.

The proposals come after the launch of the council’s new website which included an improved search function, access to the site from a range of devices and a more modern, customer focused interface, which users said were important to them”.

Executive will take place on February 11 at West Offices from 5.30pm and is open to members of the public or is available to watch live online from: www.york.gov.uk/webcasts

To find out more about the report, or to attend, visit: http://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=733&MId=8846

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Current York Council consultations

Licensing variations

Other current Council consultations
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