North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 23 November and Tuesday 29 November 2011.
• A59, Beamsley Hill, Harrogate
• Jennyfields Drive, Harrogate
• Skipton Road, Harrogate
• King Edwards Drive, Harrogate
• A61 Leeds Road, Harrogate
• A59, High Street, Starbeck
• Silver Street, Barton
• Leeming Lane, Catterick Village
• A6108, Darlington Road, Richmond
• A66, Gilling West
• A684, Aysgarth
• A6108, Middleham
• Gatherley Road, Brompton
• Brayton Lane, Brayton, Selby
• Barff Lane, Brayton, Selby
• A61, Green Lane, Brearton
• Northfield Farm, Cobcroft Lane, Cridling Stubbs
• A64 eastbound carriageway Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
• A64 westbound Carriageway, Bowbridge Farm, Tadcaster
• Millfield Lane, Poppleton, York
• Beckfield Lane, York
• Green lane, Acomb, York
• Skipwith Road, Escrick
• A63 Hemingbrough
• Church Lane, Wheldrake
• B1257 Newgate Bank, Hawnby
• A19 Crathorne
• Station Road, Thirsk
• B6271 Great Langton
• B1264 Low Worsall
• Guisbrough Road, Great Ayton
• B1257 Great Broughton
• B1249 Staxton Wold, Staxton, Scarborough
• B1249 Foxholes to county boundary
• A1039 Filey Road at Flixton
• A165 Reighton by-pass
• A64 Malton by-pass, Malton east and westbound
• A64 Seamer by-pass Scarborough
• A64 Seamer Road, Scarborough
• A64 between Whitwell Hill and Barton Hill
• A64 between Barton-le-Willows and Jinnah
• A64 between Barton Hill and Whitwell Hill
• Stoney Haggs Road, Scarborough, southband towards Seamer Rd
• A170 Scarborough to Thirsk Road at Snainton
• B1257 Helmsley – Stokesley, Road Newgate Bank
• A170 at Scawton Moor
• A170 Eastgate Pickering
• A170 Wilton
The mobile safety cameras will be in operation at the above sites at various times during the dates stated. Cameras will not be in use on the above routes all day, every day. The above locations were accurate when this news release was produced.

Askham Lane will be closed between 184 and 192 Askham Lane for urgent sewer work for a period between 22 and 29 November.

Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times.

Traffic lights will control traffic between Cornlands Road and Askham Lane

For further information please contact phone 01904 551367 or email darren.hobson@york.gov.uk

An alternative route for traffic travelling along Askham Lane will be available
• from the northern closure point via Cornlands Road, Gale Lane, Foxwood Lane and Askham Lane
• from the southern closure point via Cornlands Road, Gale Lane and Askham Lane

Police are appealing for information following a serious road traffic collision on the B1363 near York

It occurred shortly after 1pm on Sunday 20 November 2011, between Wigginton and Sutton-on-the-Forest. The collision involved four vehicles, a blue Renault Clio heading out of York and a white Vauxhall Astra van, a black Suzuki Swift and a blue VW Polo, which were all heading into the city.

As a result of the collision the 64-year-old man, from Ampleforth, driving the VW Polo suffered chest injuries and the 28-year-old man, also from Ampleforth who was his front seat passenger, suffered a broken leg. The York woman driving the Suzuki Swift suffered chest injuries. All three were taken to York District Hospital, where they currently remain in a stable condition.

The road was closed for approximately five hours following the collision.

Traffic Constable Lee Cobb, of North Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Group, said: “This was a nasty collision which left three people requiring hospital treatment as in patients.

“I am appealing to anyone who may have seen the collision or any of the vehicles prior to the incident to come forward as a matter of urgency.”

If you can help to progress this investigation please contact TC Lee Cobb at Tadcaster Police Station on 0845 60 60 24 7 quoting reference number 12110196583.

The York Council has teamed up with the Yorkshire Energy Partnership to offer free home insulation to York residents through the ‘Warmer Warmer’ scheme.
Subject to a free, no obligation home survey, householders can get free loft and cavity wall insulation in their homes, on a first-come first-served basis. The scheme is open to all private homeowners in the City of York Council area, including landlords. The deal expires on 31 January 2012.
For more information or to claim your FREE insulation, call Yorkshire Energy Partnership on 01904 55 44 06 quoting ‘Warmer Winter’.
The £100,000 scheme aims to to tackle fuel poverty and keep the cold at bay during the freezing winter months and is being funded by national energy providers and City of York Council.

The last (Labour) government brought in a raft of measures which required public servants – when making decisions – to be open and honest about what may have influenced their judgements.

One of the consequences was that local Councillors were required to declare publicly if they had received any financial donations from, or had other links to, individuals, companies, Unions or other organisations which might benefit from a particular decision on which they were voting.

The move led to an improvement in the transparency of decision making. The new Code of Conduct was enforced initially by a National Standards Board but that responsibility soon passed to a local, independently chaired, “Standards Committee”.

Last week we published a list of Labour Council candidates who had declared on their election expenses returns the amounts donated to their campaign by interest groups such as the Local Government Trades Union UNISON.

A total of £ £2,385.65 was admitted as the cost of a 6 page glossy manifesto leaflet that had been printed and paid for by UNISON. It had apparently been delivered in all York wards except Heworth, Heslington, Haxby, Heworth Without, Huntington and Strensall. It remains unclear why electors were not given the manifesto in these wards especially as the total cost of the leaflet – according to UNISON – was £4724. Whether or not election expenses returns are accurate though is a matter that falls within the responsibilities of the Electoral Commission (and ultimately the Police) if inaccuracies are suspected.

A few days after the election expenses returns had been lodged with the Guildhall in June, the new York Council met to decide whether to change the budget for the current financial year.

One of the proposals tabled by the new Council Leader was to increase the amount allocated to the local government union to pay for their members to have “time off” to attend to union affairs. In total the cost of this concession was valued at £37,350. The budget amendment was carried with all Labour Councillors voting in favour of the proposal.

Councillors are not allowed by law to vote on issues in which they have a “prejudicial” interest. Essentially these are decisions where they might benefit from the proposal.

Councillors may also declare a “personal” interest. While this might not debar them from voting on an issue, it ensures that residents are aware of a possible influence on their voting behaviour.
At the June meeting the following Labour Councillors didn’t declare the Interest which arose out of the donation that UNISON had made towards their election expenses.
Cllrs Horton, Douglas, King, Scott, Semlyen, Looker, Watson, Alexander, Riches, Barnes, Fitzpatrick, Gunnell, Merrett, Cross, McIlveen, Burton & Jeffries.

5 other Councillors did declare personal interests either because they were current, or past, members of UNISON (Crisp, Fraser, Laing, Hodson & Williams)

(NB. Labour representatives for the Heworth and Heslington Wards had previously claimed that they did not issue the UNISON funded leaflet in their wards).

The issue is now one for the local Standards committee to consider.

We will publish later this week extracts from the standing Register of Interests which can be found on the Councils web site and which is supposed to list any donations made by third parties, including Unions, towards a councillors election costs. We have copies of the Register as it was at the end of October. It contains some surprises.

The media has reported today that experienced Councillor Ruth Potter has quit Labours ruling Council Cabinet in York. The decision comes only 6 months after she took up the post and against a background of increased criticism of Labours cavalier attitude towards consultation and expenses.
Labour cabinet members in York have already run up a £3750 bill for travel and hotel expenses in just 5 months.
1. Alexander £1,213.20
2. Gunnell £1,009.20
3. Simpson Laing £596.90
4. Crisp £518.20
5. Looker £295.35
6. Potter £67.50
7. Merrett £25.40
8. Fraser £24.30
• Total £3,750.05

The figure far exceeds anything claimed by leading Councillors over the last 10 years. It includes the now infamous visit to the Britain in Bloom awards ceremony, at the £119 a night St Andrews hotel in Scotland, by not one but 2 Labour Councillors. They were accompanied by 3 officials. Wouldn’t have been so bad if Cllrs Looker and Crisp had actually done anything to support the Britain in Bloom entry but it was all done and dusted by the time they took office.
Biggest individual claim came from Cllr Gunnell who handed over £954.00 of taxpayers money for the privilege of attending “The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Annual Conference”.
Meanwhile Cllr Alexander has been to roving the country at taxpayers expense. Trips to Leeds, London, Birmingham, Wakefield, Halifax, Durham, Sunderland, Scarborough, Doncaster, Thirsk, Skipton and Huddersfield have added up to an eye watering £1213 bill for taxpayers. He was even accompanied to Lewisham by Cllr Looker as they apparently both needed to see a “mobile phone service for reporting graffiti”.
Meanwhile Cllr Crisp has visited Blackpool twice. Something that leading Councillors from York managed to avoid during the previous 10 years!
NB. Cllr Alexander has defended the claims saying that Cabinet members have sometimes paid travel costs “including international flights” themselves. We await with incredulity details of which international destinations the Cabinet have been visiting….. and why!

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Beat the Christmas rush and make sure you get your Xmas parcels signed, sealed and delivered in time for Christmas day. This means:
.Getting your standard parcels posted by Wednesday 14th December
Your second class and recorded signed items in by Saturday 17th December
Your first class recorded signed for items in by Tuesday 20th December
.
Avoid having a nightmare before Christmas by being organised and using the special delivery service, which offers delivery before Christmas if you post your items by:
.Thursday 22nd December, or
Friday 23rd December with a Saturday guarantee
.
Christmas overseas

For those of you with family or friends on further shores then keep in mind that international delivery in time for Christmas has a tighter schedule! (The reindeer have to travel further, you see):
.Airmail services to South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Australia and New Zealand must be made by Monday 5th December
Get your parcels in by Friday 9th December for Eastern Europe, USA and Canada
Get your parcels in by Monday 12th December for Western Europe

Property values in the Westfield area are fairly stable at present but it is still possible to buy a bargain

Land Registry recent sales
The table below lists the most recent transactions recorded by Land Registry.
Postcode Address Price
• YO24 3JR Otterwood Lane £157,500
• YO24 3JP Otterwood Lane £185,000
• YO24 3NN Invicta Court £100,000
• YO24 3JB Tedder Road £179,000
• YO24 3LT Foxwood Lane £131,500
• YO24 3FE St Josephs Court, Tedder Road £113,000
• YO24 3LN Bellhouse Way £125,000
• YO24 3HE Askham Grove £330,000
• YO24 2SF Allendale £163,500
• YO24 2XW Helmsdale £165,500

Discounted property for sale
Below are properties for sale where the asking prices have been reduced
Address Type Beds Price Listed On Reduction
• Otterwood Lane Semi-D 3 £157,995 13-07-2011 10%
• Foxwood Lane Flat 2 £105,995 15-08-2011 8%
• Huntsmans Walk Detached 3 £175,000 22-09-2010 12%
• Westfield Place Terrace 3 £157,500 27-07-2011 6%
• St Stephens Road Terrace 3 £130,000 18-05-2011 5%

Other property for sale
The list below shows what is currently on the market for sale
Address Type Beds Price Listed n
• Otterwood Bank 3 £179,950 15-04-2011
• Otterwood Bank Detached 3 £207,500 28-02-2011
• Eaton Court Semi-D 2 £127,500 26-08-2011
• Morrell Court Terrace 4 £134,950 19-05-2011
• Bellhouse Way Detached 4 £199,950 03-09-2011

Property for rent
Address Type Beds Rent (pcm) Listed on
• Slessor Road 3 £695 26-08-2011
• Tedder Road Detached 3 £775 30-09-2011
• Huntsmans Walk Detached 3 £725 04-10-2011
• Cranfield Place Semi-D 3 £675 06-10-2011
• Ryecroft Avenue Detached 3 £795 13-10-2011

With Amazon heavily promoting their new EBook reader (Kindle), we think that the York Library service were right to press on with their download service.

However, at present – unlike in the USA – the Kindle is not one of the supported devices serviced by UK libraries.

A variety of formats can, however, be downloaded to PC and mobile devices. There are two ways to access the service.

If you’ve got an Android phone, an i-phone, or an ipad, you can go to your app store and download the Overdrive app. Using the app is very easy. You’ll need to find York Libraries from a list of libraries all over the world, then you can start downloading e-books and audio-books straight to your device.
The other way to access the service is to use the internet browser on your home computer or mobile device to browse to yorklibraries.lib.overdrive.com.

The web site http://www.york.gov.uk/leisure/Libraries/24hour/elibrary/ gives more details.

We forecast this as a big growth area over the next few years so the Council needs to make sure that it remains on the cutting edge of this new technology.