Good idea from Jo Ro Housing in York – Property swap “drop in” today

With the empty bedroom subsidy about to end, it is good to see the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust taking positive steps to encourage residents to move into accommodation of a size that meets their needs.

They are holding a property swap event today (Friday 22 March 2013) between 3pm and 5pm at The Folk Hall, New Earswick. You don’t have to be a Jo Ro tenant to attend. More details here.

This is the kind of initiative that the York Council should be taking (instead of grumbling darkly about an imaginary “bedroom tax”!)

Shame that the event hasn’t been better publicised though. It’s more important than some stories that make the press!

clcik to enlarge

clcik to enlarge

LibDems “Green Deal” project will aid over 1000 low income York residents

Vulnerable residents in York could be offered additional grant funding towards their energy bills over the next three years and beyond, if Labour Councillors endorse a Liberal Democrat policy which is being considered by the local “Cabinet” on 2nd April.

We hope that they will.

Hopefully local anti poverty campaigners will also welcome the news (and say so publicly!)

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The “Green Deal” fulfils another pledge contained in the Liberal Democrat 2010 election manifesto which said, we will “offer a home energy improvement package … paid for by the savings from lower energy bills”. For background click here.

The Green Deal is one of the Government’s flagship initiatives which will operate by providing energy efficiency and other works at no up-front cost to the householder across all tenures and businesses.

Details can be found by clicking here

(more…)

Labour back down on Green Bin Tax – but a second bin will cost £35 to empty!

The Liberal Democrat campaign to stop Labour introducing a charge for emptying green bins has been successful.

A report to the Councils Cabinet says that there will be no charge for emptying one bin at each property.

Green bin petition

However the service will not be available between November and March (when less than 17% of green waste is collected). The Council hopes to save around £67,000 by discontinuing this part of the service.

A survey undertaken by the Council revealed that only 14.5% support a charge. That compares to 96% who responded to our survey in the Westfield area who were opposed to a charge.

There are over 5000 additional green bins in use at properties with large gardens. The Council hopes that around 3500 residents will pay £35 a year to have these second bins emptied.

The majority of respondents to the Councils survey supported having a combined food and green waste collection. In other parts of the country this has reduced landfill volumes by 15% and officers are to look further at how this could be introduced in York.

The Council is also to close the Towthorpe recycling centre on one day a week. It appears that they have still not learnt the lesson that closing the Beckfield Lane centre should have taught them (inconvenience means increased landfill volumes).

The Council claim that their online/telephone survey attracted about 1000 responses.

It was attacked as misleading as it failed to explain that changes to the current arrangements would have been unnecessary if the Council had decided to scrap some of its more extravagant plans like establishing an “arts barge” on the Ouse.

Indecision grips York Council on Voluntary Sector and Manor School

One of the revealing things about the York Councils list of upcoming decisions relates to the number of issues which keep getting “put off”.

Current record goes to Manor school who have been seeking to lease an additional area of playing field from the Council.

The decision has now been delayed on 6 occasions!

Only slightly less worrying is a plan for developing a “thriving voluntary sector”.

The origins of this item are lost in the mists of time but it was due to be discussed last November then slipped to December and then March.

It is unlikely now to see the light of day before June.

Small wonder then that the Council for Voluntary Service chief in York has recently quit.

Smarter York app little used but it works (sometimes)

In 9 months the York Council have received only 374 reports using the Iphone smart “app” service . The much publicised facility was launched in June last year.

The majority of the reports made concerned litter and graffiti. The Council does not say how many of the reports were acted on and no customer satisfaction figures have been published.

Before

Before

After

After

However we can say that we have reported using the system residual leaf mulch left over from the autumn in places like Acomb Green and Barkston Avenue. The Council reported back today that it had been cleared from Barkston Avenue.

You can access the system by clicking here.

Labour cut waste collection, road maintenance, community centres, libraries, elderly persons homes, ice clearance, job training and Social Services.

Cuts to street level services click to enlarge

Cuts to street level services click to enlarge

Labour’s hopelessly misjudged Council budget proposals are set to be approved tonight. Cuts to all front line public services are planned yet

Labour also intend to retain a £1 million a year “slush fund” which is used to pay for a range of inessential “vanity” projects.

The £1 million this year has been used to pay for lighting and firework displays, free WiFi access in the City centre, a plan to open the Bonding warehouse as a “digital media hub”, building design competitions, an “innovation catalyst” programme; not to mention the occasional foreign travel trip.

More waste is evident in the Councils capital programme where commitments to introducing an unnecessary Citywide 20 mph speed limit and the purchase of a barge for use as an arts centre have seen interest payments, on borrowed money, double since Labour took control of the Council.

Abandoning these “vanity” projects and making good use of the reduced running costs (down by £375,000) of its new HQ would allow the Council to restore many of the most damaging cuts.

Labour’s key proposals would see:

• A 1.9% hike in Council tax levels (despite central government offering to underwrite the costs of a freeze)

• Privatisation or outsourcing of leisure/swimming pool management the Warden Call service and the “Sheltered housing with extra care” service. Even the Mansion House will be commercialised

• Grants to Museums Trust cut by £100,000, the Theatre Royal by £101,000 with similar % cuts other voluntary sector bodies

• At a time when people are rightly worried following revelations about meat quality, trading standards faces a £42,000 cut, while there will be less air quality monitoring.

• There will be less for job training as Future Prospects loses £150,000

• The closure of elderly persons homes will be brought forward meaning that some residents face double moves before new accommodation is completed. In 2014 pensioners will face a 90p charge when using their passes on Park and Ride services

• Disabled facilities at Greenworks and Brunswick Nursery cut by £50,000 Supported employment budget cut by £200,000 forcing disabled people into “mainstream employment”

• Social Service clients with personal budgets will lose out from a £500,000 budget cut

• Looked after children – basically those with foster parents – face a £700,000 cut with another £400,000 to come off in 2014.

• Respite services get a £50,000 reduction.

• Children’s centres face a £128,000 cut in 2014

• The toy library bus will scrapped in 2014

Some reductions in expenditure were inevitable.

Labour have simply chosen to economise on the wrong services.

Meanwhile there are some concerns about the likely quality of tonights Council debate

Behind the times

Council web site

2 weeks after the Beckfield Lane recycling centre closed, the Council is still advertising its “opening hours” on its web site. (See right).

Similarly the Council seems to have abandoned support for local Residents Associations.

Many of these Associations use their estate improvement monies to provide local rubbish skips for use by residents.

Some are being provided, for example, in the Cornlands area but – without any real prior publicity – today the skips were mostly empty.

Even the Councils web site hasn’t been updated for over a year http://www.york.gov.uk/housing/residents/associations/

Perhaps not surprisingly local Councillor D Williams has become the second “cabinet” member to be sacked from the “neighbourhoods” post within the last year. He was responsible for a series of blunders including the closure of the Beckfield Lane recycling centre and the decision to fell hundreds of lampposts without making adequate provision for their replacement.

Save Beckfield Lane recycling centre campaign gets timely boostas £3 million bill hits York taxpayers

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The Council has admitted that it is York is “slipping behind other unitary authorities, who have introduced alternative waste management methods and strategies”. This is despite a forecast 2% increase, in the amount of waste recycled by residents, by the end of the year (47.01% compared to 45.1% in 2010/11).

The failure to invest in reuse and salvage, coupled with the pending closure of the Beckfield lane recycling centre on 10th April, means that taxpayers will pick up a bill for £3 million in landfill tax penalties this year.

The petition to keep the Beckfield Lane facility open is getting good support. Anyone who can help to gather signatures on a petition is asked to contact Reuban Mayne on York 781589

£16,955 on offer to Westfield residents

The government has allocated nearly £17,000 to be spent over the next 4 years on community projects in the Westfield Ward. The “Neighbourhood Grant” is a minimum figure and comes from a £30 million national budget.
A Community Development Foundation (CDF) has been set up to administer the programme although Ministers are keen to maximise the involvement of community organisations. It is expected that local groups will match the grants with money or time.
The programme complements the “Community Organiser” (so called “Big Society”) initiative.
A “Community First” panel will be set up in Westfield and will help to determine priorities and monitor progress. It will be comprised entirely of local residents. The CDF are currently contacting voluntary organisations in the Ward to brief them on the opportunities available.
Steps are already being taken to set up the Westfield Community First Panel which will comprise between 4 & 8 local residents. Expressions of interest are welcome. More details can be found at http://cdf.org.uk/
In the longer term it is hoped to sustain investment in better community facilities by encouraging people and businesses to dedicate endowments to continuing the programme.