York Green Belt showdown meeting date set for 18th September

The meeting to discuss possible changes to Labours highly controversial Local Plan proposals will take place on Thursday 18th September at 5.30pm at West Offices.

View of Minster from Acomb Moor click to enlarge

This will be the first opportunity that residents will have to personally confront the Labour Councillors who are responsible for the plan which could see 22,000 additional homes built in the City – mostly on land currently defined as “Green Belt”

The Labour plan would see the city increase in size by 25% over the next 15 years with potentially dramatic effects on transport, health, education and other public services in the City.

The papers for the meeting will be published on 10^th September on the Councils web site.

Any approved changes – and there will have to be some as new brownfield sites for over 1600 homes have been identified since the draft plan was published in April 2013 – will apparently be reported to a “Cabinet” meeting on 25^th September.

Given that there were over 15,000 objections to the Councils plan, giving residents only 8 days to read and analyse the official response is insulting to residents.

Amongst the original plans were proposals to build on Acomb Moor (opposite Foresters Walk) and land opposite Woodthorpe/Acomb Park on Moor Lane.

Proposals to build a “Showman’s Yard” on land between Wetherby Road and Knapton were subsequently withdrawn by the land owners, although the Councils enthusiasm for the scheme means that the Green Belt designation of the site is still under threat.

Labour are hoping to rush their plans through before they lose power in next years local Council elections. However a protracted Public Inquiry (Examination in Public) now seems inevitable.

Residents who wish to speak at either of the meetings (18^th and/or 25^th) must register to do so at least a day before the meeting.

Poor footpaths, litter and dumping – time for the York Council to take notice

Dangerous footpaths

The York Council needs to get a grip of the growing number of issues affecting the estates that it is responsible for managing.

Litter

Dumping

Dozens of issues are being reported to the Council with little feedback.

A petition has been started in Chapelfields asking the Council to improve parking arrangements and provide better maintenance of communal areas

Small business rate relief – non claimers in York

Power company fails to cash cheque

The Council has published a list of the business premises where the occupier may be able to claim Small Business Rates Relief but who had, by the end of July, not done so.

The list of properties with a Rateable Value of less than £12,000 can be accessed by clicking here

NB. Small businesses can only claim relief for one premise.

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The Council has also published a list of Business Rate refunds where the cheques have not been presented.

Click here for the list of un-presented cheques which includes, as well as companies that went into administration, some big names such as NPower, the Theatre Royal and the District Valuer (!)

Neglect in City continues

Ouse Bridge 7th August 2014

A couple of months ago we reported that public service standards in the City had declined.

Ouse Bridge York June 2014

One particular problem was weed growth – with Ouse Bridge badly affected.

The weeds were not only a potential threat to the integrity of the bridge but were an eyesore in a particularly sensitive area.

So it is disappointing to find that two months later no action has been taken to address the issue.

Empty Guildhall building costing taxpayers £118,000 a year

Labour’s failure to identify a use for the Guildhall complex when officials moved to West Offices is rebounding onto taxpayers.

York Guildhall

Just keeping the building empty cost over £118,400 last year.

Much of this went on Business Rates (£63k) and energy costs (£27k).

A report on the future of the site is promised in October with some expecting to see a proposal to establish a “media centre”.

However, as we said 3 years ago, lack of a plan to ensure the continued use – and preservation – of this important building was a major flaw in the Councils economic plan.

Report it on line – Not at York Council

The facility to report issues like potholes and faulty street lights via the Councils web site was discontinued last year.

click to access

The Council promised that the facility would be restored by “April”.

A red faced Cabinet member has now admitted that delays continue but the service should be restored “within the next 3 weeks”

That’s pretty poor for a Council which set out to reduce its “transaction costs” by encouraging the use of electronic communications.

Shocks on tour de cycle track

With the Tour de France now relegated to one of the more obscure ITV channels, the Councils leadership were asked last week precisely what targets they had for the “heritage” programme?
They had no numbers to share.

Still the chances are that some additional tourists will find their way to York over the next 12 months.

What impression will they get?

There has always been some criticism of he view from the railway carriage window on the East Coast main line approach to the City. Weeds, weed and more weeds is the usual vista.

But what of the dedicated cyclist making their way up the Selby to York cycle track?

The closer to York you get, the worse is the neglect, the litter and the graffiti.

Obscene graffiti dominates the A64 underpass while the Tadcaster Road junction is rarely graffiti free.

Warning obscene graffiti

At the Tesco roundabout the cycle path is now blocked by overhanging bushes.

The – St Johns University sponsored – roundabout itself is weed infested and a poor advert for a City dependent on visitors to sustain its economy

Cycle lane blocked

Weeds take over Tadcaster Road roundabout.

Who is best for Front Street and Acomb Village – Labour or LibDems?

The two strongest parties in the west of York have thrown down the policy gauntlet to each other – 9 months before the crucial Council election poll which is scheduled to take place next May.

A motion about Front Street will be debated at tomorrow (Thursdays) Council meeting.

Acomb branch office closed by Labour in 2012

Absentee Labour Councillor S Burton kicked off the contest by tabling a motion which calls for the Cabinet to “receive options to consider extending business rates relief for all empty properties on Front Street being brought back into use.”

Liberal Democrat Councillors responded by calling for a much more comprehensive “regeneration” strategy.

At tomorrows meeting Cllr Lynn Jeffries will ask Councillors to vote for an alternative approach:

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York’s City centre shame

The York Council has been criticised for losing control of the City centre.

Disabled busker on Coney Street

Residents have been dismayed by the sight of severely disabled buskers taking up pitches on Coney Street. The scenes are more reminiscent of post Napoleonic war Britain than would be expected in a modern, relatively wealthy, City.

There was no sign of any Council official taking any action to address the problem.

“Carnival” lacked samba beat

No fewer than 4 buskers were operating in the Coney Street area on Saturday with one “Silverman” seeking to emulate the famous “Purpleman” by sitting on a bicycle albeit looking bored.

Busking used to be regulated in York but the new Labour Council decided in 2011 to make the restrictions only advisory.

Similarly the “pedlar” situation seems to be getting out of control. Pedlars are coming into the city selling their goods on “pedlar’s licences” but they are not actually adhering to the conditions of the licence which require them to keep moving unless making a sale.

They are selling from huge stalls on wheels but staying in one “spot” all day long. They need to apply for a street trading consent.

Cars in conflict with pedestrians on St Sampsons Square

The City centre decline can be traced back to the removal of an effective City Centre manager nearly 2 years ago. The Council may have realised their mistake as they announced last month a further major shake up in the remaining members of the team.

£160,000 is being cut off the budget, staff are being sacked and it seems likely that the management will shortly fall into the hands of an independent agency.

The Council’s decision was – of course – taken behind closed doors.

Whatever the structure the new managers will need to make progress quickly.

Not only do we have the problem of weed growth blighting the appearance of public structures – Ouse Bridge is still heaving under the burden of vegetation – but also poor forward planning is leading to police and civil enforcement staff being over whelmed.

Yesterday (Saturday) the Council had scheduled a (Samba lite) Carnival in the City centre on the same day as a Race meeting and a major football match.

Weeds still growing on Ouse Bridge – still no Council statement

So not only were buskers out in numbers, but there were obvious safety conflicts between the crowds in St Sampson’s Square and vehicles that had strayed into the area.

Even the number of A boards on the public highway, in areas like Church Street, seems to be on the increase.

The Council staff who work in the City centre deserve more support than they are getting,

The Councils Labour Leadership also need to spend more time reviewing the consequences of the decisions that they have taken.

York’s public conveniences’ refurbishment set to start

Work on a £663,000 refurbishment of York’s public conveniences starts on Monday

The contractor Healthmatic will take over the refurbishment and maintenance of facilities in the city centre and Acomb to both improve cleanliness and disabled access, while making required savings of £75,000.

Work at the Union Terrace car and coach park will start on Monday 24 March, and temporary facilities will be installed next door, with no charge for entry during refurbishment.

Acomb toilets

At Nunnery Lane car park, work will start on Monday 31 March. The men’s facilities will remain open and the night-time toilet and accessible toilet will be temporarily available for women, again with no charge for entry during refurbishment. Both projects will complete in early May.

Upgrading will take place at the public toilets on Acomb’s Front Street, Coppergate, Exhibition Square, Tanner Row and those at the car parks on Nunnery Lane and St George’s Field. Besides improvements to the Silver Street toilets which already includes a Changing Place disabled facility, an additional Changing Place will be built as part of the refurbishment at Union Terrace car park’s toilets.

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