City of York Council is to carry out resurfacing work on Askham Lane from the Foxwood Lane roundabout to Cornlands Road. The works will start at 9:15am on Monday 22nd October and be substantially completed by 4pm on Friday 26th October; weather permitting.

Length of day time closure of Askham Lane

The works will take place under a full road closure between 9:15am and 4pm. A signed diversion route, suitable for all vehicles, will operate during working hours. Outside of the working hours, the road will be open as usual.

The road closure will be supervised at each end to prevent unauthorised access. Access for pedestrians and emergency services will be maintained at all times. Cyclists will be instructed to dismount and use adjacent footways.

Bus services are affected as follows:

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Guildhall dig

A fragment of a comb from Viking times, a wig curler from the 1700s and the wall an even older building than the Guildhall are among the finds from this summer’s York 800 dig to be revealed by Dr Mark Whyman of York Archaeological Trust (YAT) at his lecture during City of York Council’s Local Democracy Week.

The council commissioned the dig from York Archeological Trust as an element of the York 800 celebrations which would literally delve into the foundations of the home of democracy and its civic origins. Few digs had been carried out in this area and they had not been thoroughly documented so this was an excellent opportunity to learn more about the seat of local democracy .
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More than 100 police officers joined forces with specialist staff from partner agencies to conduct one of the biggest metal theft operations ever undertaken in the county.

The operation, which ran for 24 hours from 7am on Thursday 11 October 2012, was part of a national day of action under Operation Tornado, a country-wide initiative aimed at disrupting metal theft across the UK.

Since April 2012, when Operation Tornado was introduced across North Yorkshire and the City of York, North Yorkshire Police has recorded a 53% reduction in metal theft compared to the same period last year.

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Credit to Cllr Gunnell who, at last weeks Council meeting, actually answered a question that three of her colleagues had avoided responding to for over 9 months.

No surprise that the much publicised Christmas Wonderland Grotto provided last year still owes the Council rent.

Exhibition Square grotto

Cllr Ann Reid asked the Cabinet member for Corporate services :

“In the light of other colleagues not having answered this question, I am now asking the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services – In April the Council said it expected to “receive full payment within the next month” for the outstanding rent still owed by UK Entertainment Online Ltd in regards to the Winter Wonderland in Exhibition Square last December. Could the Cabinet Member indicate whether this was achieved and if not what money is still owed to the Council?”

The answer was: “The council sent an invoice to the company on 26th April 2012. Unfortunately this invoice has not been paid and is currently going through our recovery process”.

This event is not as far as we know connected with the Magical Wonderland event taking place in the Museum Gardens at the end of the month. This forms part of the £300,000 Illuminating York project.

The Theatre Royal are advertising details of Illuminating York: Vic Reeves – Wonderland in the following terms

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There was little change in UK house price growth over the first nine months of 2012, according to the latest Halifax house Price Index.

• House prices in the three months to September were 0.5% lower than in the preceding three months. This compared with a 0.3% decline in August.

• House prices fell by 0.4% in September. This was the third consecutive monthly fall. These declines have more than offset the two successive rises in May and June.

• Prices have fallen very slightly over the first nine months of 2012. The average UK house price in September 2012 was 0.3% lower than in December 2011, at £159,486.

• Prices in the three months to September were 1.2% lower than in the same period a year earlier. This measure of the annual rate has moved outside the narrow range of 0% to -1% for the first time in seven months.

• Activity remains subdued but stable. Home sales have been very stable in recent months, at between 75,000 and 77,000 per month between May and August. Overall, sales in the three months to August were 3% higher than in the same period last year. (Source: HMRC)

Prices achieved by vendors in the Westfield /Woodthorpe area recently have also suggested a stable housing market.

The prices range from £103,000 in Hinton Avenue to £220,000 in Tedder Road.

Chain free properties in west York currently on the market include a 3 bed semi in Acomb Wood Drive for £175,000, a 2 bed bungalow in Stones Close for £149,950, a 1 bed flat at The Rectory (£119,000) in Dringhouses and a 4 bed detached on Briar Avenue for £329,995.

Buyers might find a bargain in properties that have been reduced in value.
These include a a 3 bed detached on Grange Lane for £250,000 (down 13%), a 3 bed semi in Duchess Mews at £189,995 (-5%), £299,950 for a 4 bed in Nairne Close (-6%) and a 5% reduction on the asking price for a 3 bed terrace in Finsbury Street (£235,000).

Properties available to rent include a 2 bed flat in Wains Road (£550 pcm), a 2 bed flat in Lindley Street (£675 pcm), a 2 bed Tce property in Milner Street will cost £650 pcm while a 1 bed flat in Holgate Road is valued at £550 pcm.

The cost of buying a home in the UK is now almost a fifth lower than renting, according to research by Halifax. http://tinyurl.com/Buying-cheaper

Would you support or oppose the following policies?

Introducing a new tax on homes worth over £2 million

Support 73%
Oppose 20%

Net: +53% (+22% amongst Tory voters, +75% amongst Labour voters, +78% amongst Lib Dem voters, +32% in London)

Source: YouGov

Police investigating the robbery outside the HSBC bank in Acomb, York on Thursday 11 October 2012 have arrested four people in connection with the investigation

They are a 22-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman, both from Wallasey in Merseyside who were arrested in Merseyside on Thursday 11 October. Two men from York, aged 23 and 24 were arrested on Saturday 13 October 2012.

All four have been released on police bail while the investigation continues.

Anyone who has any information about the incident and has not yet contacted the police is urged to call North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for York CID, quoting reference 12120171264.

Alternatively, you can pass information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Residents of the City of York whose homes have been flooded, who are on a low income, have little capital and who are not adequately insured, may be eligible for help from York’s Disaster Fund, a registered charity which was established after flooding in York in 2000.

Applications to the charity may be made at any time but, to assist with decision-making, residents are encouraged to send in their applications shortly before 2 and shortly before 30 November 2012. Businesses are not eligible for help from this fund.

For more information about how to apply for a grant, please call City of York Council’s Welfare Benefits Advisors on 01904 552233 or 01904 552252. When lines are busy there is a voicemail service where callers can leave a message and their contact details

click to enlarge

What’s the problem?

We believe that everyone should pay their fair share of tax. Unfortunately, it’s too easy for the super-rich to dodge paying what they should.

By employing expensive accountants they can use loopholes not available to ordinary working people.

It’s possible for a billionaire to live in the UK and pay almost no tax at all.

Know more click www.fairertax.org

From next week residents will receive a new winter timetable from City of York Council which outlines the changes to garden waste collections between November and March 2013.

Residents with a garden waste collection will receive a new calendar attached to their grey (rubbish) bin and are advised to refer to their collection calendars to find out what their arrangements are over the winter months as collections will be less frequent during this time.

The new calander also includes information about rubbish and recycling collections over the Christmas and New Year period.

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