The Neighbourhood Watch organisation have launched a web site where you can see the latest Police alerts about crime in our area. Click here.

Labour Councillors have announced a 4.4% increase in Council house rents will be implemented from 1st April. It is the first increase to be decided locally following the Coalition governments decision to delegate Council housing finance management back to Local Authorities.

Labour have said that they expect to implement more above inflation increases which will see the average weekly Council home rent rise to £81-71 by the time that they are due to leave office in 2015.

Under that last Labour government around £7 million a year was being siphoned out of the City to subsidise housing in other parts of the country.

Now local authorities are free to make their own decisions about how to balance the housing account.

One consequence of this new freedom is that York will be able to invest around £6 million in building 60 new Council homes.

In addition the programme of extending existing council homes to accommodate larger families will be reinstated. The programme was suspended when Labour took control of the Council in 2011.

There has been speculation that the Council will build the new Council houses on the Beckfield Lane recycling centre site with the former Fordland’s site at Fulford and the now redundant Burnholme school site also apparently possibilities.

We hope that they will avid cramming more houses onto amenity spaces or unsuitable garage sites.

More information is promised in April

NB. The Council has now announced its window replacement programme for the forthcoming year. Draughty windows in the following streets will be replaced:
• Kingsway West (even numbers)
• Stuart Road
• Middleton Road
• Danesfort Avenue
• Lincoln Court
• Tudor Road
• Gale Farm Court
• Gale Lane
• Cornlands Road
• Tennent Road
• The Knoll
• Lown Hill
• St Stephens Road
• Thoresby Road
• The Reeves

North Yorkshire Police is urging residents to be vigilant after a series of burglaries across the county.

Homes have been targeted in the Hambleton, Malton and York area and police are urging residents to ensure they take adequate security measures.

Details click here

click to enlarge

You can download the latest directory by clicking here

New Festival of the Passions, Early Music Festival and Handel’s Messiah for 2013

York Minster has announced details of its most impressive ever year of music with the launch of the 2013 programme of concerts and performances, which includes a new Festival of the Passions in March, participation in York’s Early Music Festival, a Summer of Music and rounding the year off with a performance of Handel’s Messiah in December.

Labour Councillors have said that, in future, neighbours will NOT receive a notification from the Council about any planning applications that they receive.

Instead they will depend on residents seeing the notices which should be displayed on a nearby lamppost.

We think that such a system is highly fragile.

We will therefore report on this web site the applications received each week for the Westfield Ward. Most are likely to be routine domestic extensions, many of which are likely to be uncontroversial.

Full details can be found by quoting the application reference on the “planning portal” web site. Click here.

The Council is also scrapping one of its three planning committees.

The application received this week:

(more…)

Hot on the heels of the announcement of prohibitive parking charges which will shortly be introduced in the City centre, the Council has now indicated its plans to evacuate the whole area!

City of York Council has published and shared its city centre evacuation plan “to assist the emergency services and the council manage an orderly evacuation in the event of a major incident.

The police and fire service routinely clear small public areas surrounding an incident to preserve life and evidence, but when there is a major event it may be necessary to isolate a larger area.

To help them do this, the plan details how to clear part of or all of the area within the Bar Walls”.

This city centre area has been divided into three areas with 24 numbered zones. Click here

Castle short stay car park

Labour Councillors are proposing on Thursday massive increases in car parking charges in central York.

The biggest hike could come for those who shop in the City centre.

The last Liberal Democrat Council introduced discounted parking charges specifically aimed at encouraging shoppers back into the city centre.

The project saw a 20p (per 30 minutes) discounted “on street” charge introduced on Micklegate – a street where local traders had been under economic pressure. The aim was to encourage local residents to “drop in” to businesses like newsagents and hairdressers for quick purchases.

Car parking charges in York – click to enlarge

Now Labour are proposing a 50% increase in the” on street” charges for the area.

The designated “shoppers car park” at Fossbank will also see a rise. The charge, which was 80p an hour in 2011, is being increased to £1 an hour from 1st April 2013. This represents a percentage increase of 25%.

There have been no discussions with trader’s representatives about the changes which were “hidden” within a 400 page report presented to the Council’s last “Cabinet” meeting.

All car parking charges are being increased by at least 4 times the inflation rate.

Local residents who hold Minster badges – entitling them to a discount parking rate – fare particularly badly. They will have seen a 36% increase at standard stay car parks (up to £1-50p an hour) while short stay users face an increase to £2-10 per hour (a 24% hike over the last 2 years).

Elsewhere in the Council’s draft budget, the introduction of “pay on exit” car park charging has been quietly shelved while substantial increases in charges for ResPark areas are planning for 2014.

The Boundary Commission has now published the consultation responses it received when asking for the comments of local residents.

Responses were received from the Liberal Democrats, Labour and Green parties (The Conservative Party did not respond)

2 Councillors and 1 MP sent comments as did 6 Parish Councils and 22 residents.

Overall this was a pretty disappointing response rate although generally interest only increases when specific proposals are tabled. That will be the next stage in the process.

There was strong support from a significant proportion of residents and York Central Liberal Democrats for the introduction of single member wards throughout the City. Single member wards were also favoured by the only Conservative Councillor to respond and had the support of some Parish Councils.

There was some support for the re-introduction of annual elections (although this did not form part of this stage of the consultation).

There were some inconsistencies in the responses. Local MP Hugh Bayley argued that Parished and non Parished areas should not form part of the same ward. He then went on to support a Labour proposal to merge Heslington, Fulford and part of the (non Parished) Fishergate ward!

Labour also made a bloomer in saying Foxwood Lane was the existing boundary of the Westfield Ward (with Dringhouses). In fact the boundary currently follows a line from the Acorn sports field to Acomb Wood. Labour wanted Bellhouse Way to be the new boundary.

All the responses can be viewed here

The Boundary Commission are expected to publish draft proposals for new ward boundaries in April 2013.