Community seeks right to buy bowls club

 The Council will be asked on 24th July to list the New Earswick and District Indoor Bowls Club, Huntington Road, Huntington, York as an asset of community value.

The same meeting is already scheduled to consider a similar request relating to the Murton Arms Public House.

The Executive Member will be asked to make a decision on whether the above listed property should be added to the list of assets of community value.

If they are added to the list then the community will have 6 months in which to put together a bid to buy the properties should they come onto the market.

Vulnerable children and young people in York to receive laptops

3,000 Newcastle families to get free laptops and internet access ...

Over 450 children and young people across the city will have access to their own laptops this summer, as part of a national scheme to help vulnerable young people during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The laptops will be distributed by children’s social workers to children and young people they’re working with who don’t currently have internet access, as well as recent care leavers.

Several Councils been given laptops to distribute under a government programme covering children with a social worker, those who are leaving the care system, and Year 10 students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

It is understood that the move is aimed a ensuring that no child falls behind with their home work as a result of COVID restrictions.

The Council has yet to confirm that the equipment will remain the property of the local authority or what maintenance and insurance arrangements have been put in place.

Coronavirus York updates; 27th June 2020

Deaths and test results

There have been no further Coronavirus deaths at York Trust hospital (26/6/20). There have also been no more positive lab test results (26/6/20)

The independent COVID 19 monitoring site estimates that 4156 people in York will have had the virus. That represents 0.4% of the population.

COVID cases daily and cumulative

The site derives its information from returns regularly submitted by residents from across the country https://covid19.joinzoe.com/

Care home deaths

The government released details earlier in the week of the number of deaths which have occurred  in care homes click

At that time, the last death at a York care home had occurred on 12th June.

In total there were 63 deaths in York homes.

South Park care home

Now the media are reporting that some of the COVID 19 cases occurred at the South Park care home on Gale Lane. Some staff were also affected.

The York authorities have not been prepared to break down the death rate figures to individual homes. We think that they are wrong to withhold that information.

It – like the results of the local COVID tests being undertaken at Poppleton – are matters of public interest.

Latest waste service update from York Council

Friday 19 June

All scheduled household waste collections have been made. We also collected outstanding household waste from Acacia Avenue.

We were unable to collect recycling from parts of Clifton, Haxby and Skelton due to vehicle breakdown. This recycling will be collected on Saturday 27 June or Sunday 28 June. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.

We collected outstanding recycling from Thursday 25 June.

We were unable to collect garden waste from parts of the following areas due to vehicle breakdown:

  • Acomb
  • Clifton
  • Holgate
  • Huntington
  • Old Earswick
  • Rufforth
  • Skelton

This garden waste, as well as outstanding collections from Chapelfields, will be collected on the evening of Friday 26 June or on Saturday 27 June. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.

We collected outstanding garden waste from Thursday 25 June.

Acomb and some other York libraries to reopen on 6th July

The library managers say that things will look a little different for a while.  From some of our libraries you will be able to:

Libraries These libraries are open from 7 July Tuesday to Saturday for pre-booked visits.

Cafes

Explore’s brand new café in Hungate opens for the first time on 7 July and our cafes at Rowntree Park and Homestead Park open 6 July for drinks and snacks to take away and enjoy outside.

Safety

All venues will have safety measures in place to protect customers and staff.

First York announce more frequent bus services

Westfield services affected

From Sunday 28th June, the following changes will take place to help with safe, socially-distanced travel for essential journeys.

Full details of the changes and timetables can be found in the ‘Forthcoming’ section of the timetables page.

The changes are being made to help manage continued capacity restrictions on buses due to social distancing as further lockdown measures are eased.

City Services

Service 1 – Frequency of buses increased to every 10 minutes during the day Monday – Friday and every 12 minutes Saturday, changes to times to reduce waiting at bus stops due to reduced traffic levels.

Service 4 – Frequency of buses increased to every 8/9 minutes during the day Monday – Friday and every 12 minutes Saturday, changes to times to reduce waiting at bus stops due to reduced traffic levels.

Service 5/5A – Frequency of buses increased to every 15 minutes during the day Saturday and every 30 minutes Sunday, changes to times to reduce waiting at bus stops due to reduced traffic levels.

Service 6 – Frequency of buses increased to every 10 minutes during the day Monday – Friday and every 12 minutes Saturday, changes to times to reduce waiting at bus stops due to reduced traffic levels.

Service 10/10A – Changes to times to reduce waiting at bus stops due to reduced traffic levels.

Service 11 – Buses will run every 30 minutes for the majority of the day.

Service 11S – will not operate.

Service 12 – Buses will run every 30 minutes for the majority of the day.

Service 200 – will continue to operate 3 early morning services.

University Services

Service 66 – Changes to times to reduce waiting at bus stops due to reduced traffic levels.

66A, 66X – will not operate. Alternative journeys will be provided by Service 10, 10A and 66.

Service N66 – will not operate.

Park and Ride Services

Service 2A – will operate every 10 minutes Mon– Fri at peak hours, and run every 15 minutes during off-peak and Saturdays. A Sunday service will operate every 30 minutes. All stops will be served between Rawcliffe Bar and City Centre.

Service 3 – will not operate. Alternative journeys will be provided by service 12 between Askham Bar Tesco and York.

Service 7 – will operate every 10 minutes Mon– Fri at peak hours, and run every 15 minutes during off-peak and Saturdays. A Sunday service will operate every 30 minutes.

Service 8, 66A, 66X – will not operate. Alternative journeys will be provided by Service 10, 10A, 66.

Service 9 – will operate every 10 minutes Mon– Fri at peak hours, and run every 15 minutes during off-peak and Saturdays. A Sunday service will operate every 30 minutes.

Service 59 – will not operate.

Please only travel if your journey is essential.

£1/4 million York Council expenditure so far on advertising and publicity during COVID crisis

City of York Council website home page – City of York Council

The York Council spent £285,667 on advertising and publicity during the period from the beginning on February to the end of May.

The figures for June are not yet published on the “Open Data” web site.

Of the total expenditure £189,057 was spent during May.

The largest supplier was Platinum Print of Harrogate who lodged bills totalling £137,090 last month.

Royal Mail charged £6982 to deliver Council newsletters.

The Council didn’t advertise on Minster FM, the local commercial radio station. It spent £1,500 in May with “York Mix”. There were also regular payments to The York Press.

The Councils communications strategy has been criticised for being slow to get started, confusingly complex and unnecessarily repetitive.  Some key information about home deliveries was never circulated.

It is likely that, when the COVID crisis is over, an inquiry into what has been spent, why and with what authority will be launched.

York to be lit green in support of St John Ambulance

St John Ambulance joins the Independent Ambulance Association ...

City of York Council is celebrating St John’s Day by encouraging residents to show their support for St John Ambulance tomorrow.

As part of this effort, the city’s walls will be lit green on Wednesday evening.

St John Ambulance staff and volunteers have spent over 100,000 hours supporting the COVID-19 crisis response since the beginning of April, its biggest mobilisation of volunteers since the second World War.

To get involved, residents and businesses are encouraged to show their support by displaying lights, flags or banners in their windows and gardens.

Coronavirus York updates; 23rd June 2020

Deaths and Test results

York has a positive lab test result on 21st June. This was the first since 2nd June. There were none yesterday. The cumulative total of positive results in the City is 463

There were no additional Coronavirus related deaths at the York hospital

Further easing of lockdown restrictions

A whole raft of changes to social distancing and other health restrictions have been announced today. The new social distance will be “1 metre+”

Facilities allowed to open from 4th July will be

  • Pubs, bars and restaurants but only with a table service indoors, and owners will be asked to keep contact details of customers to help with contact tracing
  • Hotels, holiday apartments, campsites and caravan parks but shared facilities must be cleaned properly
  • Theatres and music halls but they will not be allowed to hold live performances
  • In other changes weddings will be allowed to have 30 attendees, and places of worship will be allowed to hold services but singing will be banned (!)
  • Hair salons and barbers will be able to reopen but must put protective measures, such as visors, in place
  • Libraries, community centres and bingo halls
  • Cinemas, museums and galleries
  • Funfairs, theme parks, adventure parks, amusement arcades, skating rinks and model villages
  • Indoor attractions where animals are exhibited, such as at zoos, aquariums, farms, safari parks and wildlife centres

The following places will remain closed

  • Nightclubs and casinos
  • Bowling alleys and indoor skating rinks
  • Indoor play areas including soft-play
  • Spas
  • Nail bars and beauty salons
  • Massage, tattoo and piercing parlours
  • Indoor fitness and dance studios, and indoor gyms and sports venues/facilities
  • Swimming pools and water parks
  • Exhibition or conference centres – other than for those who work for that venue.