What’s on in York: Memory Matters
Bungalows scheme for Newbury Avenue gets “go ahead”
York Council Executive ducks car parking issue
The construction of 8 bungalows on a garage site at Newbury Avenue was approved by the York Council last night It replaces a scheme for 9 apartments hatched by Labour Councillors when they held office.
The bungalows, which would attract “downsizing” older people, have been criticised by Labour last night as making “inefficient” use of the land.
Unfortunately the Council has so far ducked out of dealing with the knock on effects of developing the garage site.
More cars will now be parked on an estate where road side parking space is already at a premium.
The extra homes – added to the still to be occupied Hob Stones development – will also generate more traffic on the only access route (Kingsway West between Danesfort Avenue and Ascot Way).
No attempt has been made by the Council to address these issues. They are likely to be the major objections to the scheme when it is put before the Planning Committee later in the year.
NB. Although last nights Executive committee meeting can in theory be viewed “on line” (click) part of the section on Newbury Ave has been muted by officials. So residents may never know what was actually said about the plans!
Acomb Christmas lights appeal reaches landmark
The Acomb Christmas lights appeal has now secured 10% of the required donations. Two months to go.
Click here to learn more and donate
New community profiles published for York
New statistics, which provide a detailed insight into the characteristics of each Ward in York, have been published by the Council.
The “Ward Profiles” give local details of;
- the age group of residents
- Religion
- Employment groups
- Housing tenure
- Benefit claims
- Unemployment
- Poverty
- Health
- Crime
- Resident satisfaction with the local area
The profiles for each ward can be accessed by clicking here
Taking the Westfield Ward as an example we can see that:
- The largest section of the community is aged between 25 and 34
- 32% are married
- 94% are white British
- 59.2% are Christian
- Most work in the retail/wholesale trade (18%) or in health/social care (15%)
- 57% own their own home (31.8% with a mortgage)
- 32% live alone
- 1155 live on benefits – a significant fall since 2013. There are now only 70 claiming Job Seekers Allowance
- Technically, Westfield is the most “deprived” ward in York although it is steadily becoming more prosperous
- 18% of children are obese while 79% of resident regard themselves as being in “good or very good” health
- Anti-social behaviour is above the York average
- 83% were satisfied with their local area as a place in which to live.
- 46% said that they could influence decisions in their area (much higher than for the rest of York)
- 55% were satisfied with the way that the Council runs things (slightly less than the City average) but an above average number (50%) felt the Council was doing well to improve the quality of street /public spaces
What’s on in York: MacMillan coffee and cake day tomorrow
York street cleaning maps published “on line”
Following an intervention from Cllr Andrew Waller, the Council has now published maps showing street cleaning frequencies across York.
The maps are available “on line”. Click here to access
The Council says that “in order to target our resources in the most effective and efficient way possible, we have reviewed our street cleansing schedules based on the local knowledge of front line employees. This has enabled us to identify what is actually needed rather than undertake work just because its always been done that way.
As a result of this we have commenced a trial of new street cleansing schedules in each of the wards from the beginning of August 2016 for a period of 6 months.
Although some locations may have a reduced frequency of mechanical sweeping, this means that when we do undertake mechanical sweeping we will have the time to do a more thorough job leading to improved standards of cleanliness”.
City centre footstreets
The changes do not include the city centre foot streets as this is a distinct service undertaken seven days a week, all year round, between 5.00am and 8.00pm, this service has recently been reviewed and the Council is currently working with the York Business Improvement District team on how they can work together to bring about further improvement in the city centre.
Feedback
If residents have any feedback during the 6 month trial period please email the shaping neighbourhoods team at: shapingneighbourhoods@york.gov.uk where the responses will be monitored and collated.
The Council says, “as well as giving us valuable feedback, you may wish to consider how you might be able to help with the upkeep of your local environment, this may, for example be in the way of volunteering as a snow warden or as a litter picker. See volunteering opportunities (click) page for further details and other ways to volunteer”.
Following the end of the trial, further consultation will be held followed by a report to the Executive Member for the Environments Decision Session in Spring 2017
Information event
The Council is holding an event at Hazel Court for residents on Saturday 15 October 2016 from 10.00am to 12.00pm.
The sessions will be jointly delivered between a number of council teams and external agencies.
Westfield
The schedules for the Westfield area are reproduced below. Generally, there is little change although there may be some concerns about sweeping frequencies at smaller shopping areas like Foxwood Lane.
Some publicly maintainable footpath links ( Chesneys Field, Kingsway West, The Green) are shown on the maps as “private”. These will need to be cleaned regularly as will housing department communal and garage areas.
But overall the plans seem to us to be worth a trial especially given the decision of the previous Labour administration to substantially reduce the street cleansing budget
New Foxwood Residents Association newsletter being delivered this week
Latest planning application for the Westfield Ward
Another new home proposed for Front Street
Below is the latest planning application received by the York Council for the Westfield ward.
Full details can be found by clicking the words highlighted in blue
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Ali Barber Ltd 45 Front Street York YO24 3BR
Erection of detached dwelling with associated access, cycle parking and bin storage following demolition of existing detached garage
Reference 16/02099/OUT
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Representations can be made in favour of, or in objection to, any application via the Planning on line web site. http://planningaccess.york.gov.uk/online-applications/
The Council now no longer routinely consults neighbours by letter when an application is received