Heavy rain and high winds are forecast across central and southern England and Wales tonight and into Monday.
This may mean that some trains are delayed or cancelled, and some Train Operators are running amended timetables.
Details here http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/today.aspx
The York Council has released details of the payments that it has made to local Universities over the last 4 years.
Click to download full list
In total, payments of around £3.5 million have been made although the vast majority of this (£3 million) was a grant to York University for the provision of a County Standard swimming pool. The scheme – part of the new “sports village” on Hull Road – was agreed after the Barbican pool closed and was paid for from the proceeds of the sale of the land there.
In total £192,519 has been paid to St Johns University. The largest payments were made to an anti bullying campaign although the University receives significant payments from taxpayers for the “Higher York” organisation.
The University of York fee payments range from £170,000 paid for the York Cares organisation (which managess voluntary projects in the City) to £850 for a speaker at a “women’s development session”.
All Council expenditure is now being closely scrutinised following the decision of the Labour Leadership to remove winter salt bins from key foopath locations in the City.
The bins cost only £50 a time to fill.
NB. At the last Council meeting the Labour Leadership revealed that it will pay £31,000 to York Athletics Club as a sweetener to move out of the Huntington Stadium. It had been intended to provide a replacement athletics facility at the sports village but Labour now propose to fund the refurbishment of the existing University athletics field.
York City centre “to let”
The calamitous decline in the number of shoppers in the City centre first became apparent in 2012.
In that year, the new Labour administration increased car parking charges by 20p for residents.
Yearly footfall figures click to enlarge
In 2013 they went up a gain meaning that residents faced a 36% hike in just 2 years.
We forecast that this could have major implications for City centre traders.
The additional traffic restrictions have simply accelerated the downward spiral with “to let” notice springing up all around the City centre as shops pull out.
In the period up to 2011 the, then LibDem led, Council had frozen parking charges.
It had even reduced them at an innovatory “shoppers car park” at Foss Bank.
Footfall figures reveal that for the first 3 years of the recession (2008 – 2011) the numbers accessing the City centre were remarkably stable.
2012 saw a 6% reduction while this increased to 12% comparing September 2013 with the same month in 2012.
Bus Journeys in York Click to enlarge
New traffic restrictions were blamed for the accelerating trend.
Meanwhile the numbers of bus passengers has also fallen away although the Council has so far refused to reveal the 2012 passenger numbers.
As we said yesterday, the Council seems to be frozen into inactivity with no real idea what to do to get itself out of the self created crisis.
Nero showed a greater sense of urgency.
The Council has approved a licensing application which could see the Rawcliffe Bar car park used for open air entertainment events.
It transpires that this may include the “Kaboom” fireworks display scheduled to take place on 3rd November.
Why the Council should leave the licensing application, until only a couple of weeks before the event is scheduled to take place, will be a cause for speculation..
Although the Council has cut back on the number of amenity skips it provides, several residents associations continue to run programmes aimed at making it easier for tenants to get rid of unwanted items.
The skips are only in place for a few minutes and residents must ensure that they put any rubbish into the skips and do not leave it on the path or highway.
1 Barfield Rd 08:30 09:30
2 Saxon Place 10:30 11:30
3 Jute Rd 12:30 13:30
4 Ebor St 08:30 09:30
5 Fossway 10:30 11:30
6 Bramham Rd 12:30 13:30 Grange Lane
click to enlarge
We guess most students will probably opt not to be neutered.
Foxwood Christmas Fair is taking place at the Community Centre on Saturday 7th December from 11am to 2.30pm.
Santa will be there, a magician, carol singers, lots of tables and games, refreshments, face painting – don’t miss it – bring the family, entry is FREE
We are still receiving a large number of adverse comments from visitors who have been caught out by the ANPR cameras on Lendal Bridge
A selection is reproduced below.
None of the Cabinet Councillors responsible is prepared to respond publicly to the criticisms and the local media increasingly adopt a supine approach to Labour’s excesses.
The Press haven’t even published the footfall figures, which were released last week, and which showed a 12% drop in the number of visitors in the City since the traffic restrictions were introduced.
Disillusion with the local democratic system is resulting in residents shunning the Councils activities.
-The annual “democracy week” attracted low attendances.
– Few residents attend the new ward forums
– The much vaunted (and expensive) web casting of Cabinet meetings attracts a tiny audience
– While the so called “housing week” events attracted in the main only officials and Labour members.
The Councils procession from the Guildhall to its new offices attracted City wide derision.
So it does raise the question of what residents can do, in a democracy, if their views are totally ignored by an inflexible Council leadership?
In the end, the answer will be to ensure that it never happens again.
Reintroduction of the “so called” committee system where decisions are take (at meetings open to the public) by all party groups, looks increasingly attractive.
Cabinet/Executive members have no delegated authority to act under such a system.
We will see if this option finds its way into the party manifestos for the local elections in 2015.
Sadly other options for reinvigorating the democratic system in the City (annual elections and smaller wards) have so far been rejected by the Boundary Commission
In the meantime those who have suffered through the bad planning of new traffic restrictions, who are appalled at the profligate expenditure of the Council, who oppose the ridiculous plan to increase the City’s size by 25% over the next 15 years, who fear the impact that new de-icing schedules will have on safety or who reject the idea that 20 mph is the right speed limit for all urban roads, should continue to make their views known to local Labour Councillors.
There is evidence that’s some of them are now beginning to question the style and content of the Alexander leadership.
Only 18 months to the next Council election. For some businesses though they will come too late.
Recent feedback includes these comments
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Bonfire night can be fun for all, but if it creates nuisance to neighbours, the council can take enforcement action. That’s the message from City of York Council this autumn.
The council is reminding residents that garden waste can be disposed of by composting, recycling or through the green bin rather than heaping it on a bonfire – especially if it’s damp. Gardeners can use a topical check list of bonfire night do’s and don’ts relevant at any time of year:
• It’s best to burn materials when they are dry
• Household rubbish, rubber tyres or anything containing plastic foam or paint should never be burned and should be disposed of at York’s household waste recycling centres
• Never use engine oil, meths or petrol to light the fire
• Try and light fires when light wind will carry smoke away from your neighbours
Thanks to funding from the Safer York Partnership, the council will be running extra noise patrols to help tackle the problems of excessive bonfire smoke and noise in the days surrounding the event.
The council has put together a helpful list of do’s and don’ts for bonfire night events, but it will also be happy to offer practical advice to those holding their own fireworks events, if require d.
We will be running extra patrols on 5 November to help tackle any potential problems. Residents can call the council’s environmental protection unit (EPU) on 01904 551555.
Extra noise patrols will run on:
Thursday 31 October, 10pm-1am
Friday 1 November, 9pm-3am
Saturday 2 November, 9pm-3am
Sunday 3 November, 6-11pm
Thursday 5 November, 10pm-1am
Residents can contact the EPU on: Environmental.protection@york.gov.uk
There is more information on bonfires at: http://www.york.gov.uk/info/200360/air_pollution/486/air_pollution/2
There were no surprises when the route that the Tour de France will take though York was revealed today in Paris.
click for enteractive map
The route will start from the Racecourse on Sunday 6th July taking in the City centre before leaving the City via Bootham, Clifton Bridge and Boroughbridge Road and making its way to Harrogate and Sheffield.
York taxpayers are already set to get a bill for over £1.4 million for the stage two depart event.
There were no surprises either when it was revealed that another Labour Councillor jumped at the chance to visit Paris today for the, somewhat less than historic, announcement of “Le route”.
This time is it was Cllr Tracey Simpson Laing, who represents the Acomb Ward, who took the opportunity to top up her air miles.
The trip came only a couple of days after the Council decided to scrap 12 self help salt bins in the Acomb ward (see list below)
These bins would have cost £600 to fill with salt this winter.
NB. Co-incidentally, the cost of 2 airline tickets from Leeds/Bradford to Paris return is around £500. Eurostar is a bit cheaper.
The Acomb Ward salt bins being scrapped by the Council are located at:
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