Winning bids for the 2012 Why should they? campaign

12 North Yorkshire charities and groups are celebrating this week after they were chosen to receive a cash award from a pot of criminals’ cash. One of the groups is based in York

York Playspace Chill-out zones – £3,000

Providing much needed youth engagement in the deprived areas of York, the three zones or youth clubs provide a safe haven and essential emotional and practical support for 250 young people across York.

The zones cost £43,500 per year to run, 75% of which is funded from other sources. The money will go towards the remaining shortfall to help continue the project.

Many of the children who attend the zones face problems including low self-esteem, behavioural and anger problems, drug and alcohol dependent parents, parents in prison, loneliness, abuse and long term exclusion from education.

The Zones are one of the few places they can go to be supported and listened to and be themselves. The Zones give the children life skills through activities including our aspiring project to help them to grow their own food to turn into a main meal.

The Zones give young people something positive to do instead of hanging around the streets and becoming involved in criminal activity and anti-social behaviour. They are provided with a hot meal, which may be the only hot meal they get that day and which they plan, cook and prepare.

They also receive help with maths and English to equip them with key educational skills.

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The award-winning leisure centre “Energise” located on Cornlands Road has doubled the size of its gym.

The gym now accommodates 95 users – previously 56 – at any one time, and has extra space to improve access for disabled users.

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One month to York hosting region’s Paralympic Flame

A gold medal-winning disabled York climber will be among City of York Council’s welcoming party which will divide Yorkshire’s Paralympic Flame for the region’s five events at York on 24 August.

The York High School pupil earned the highest number of nominations to carry York’s Paralympic Flame. Sianagh, from Acomb, learned to climb at Energise Leisure Centre where she’s just completed a fortnight’s work experience.

Sianagh said: “I cannot believe I’ve got gold again: that’s two gold and a silver this year and it feels amazing. My ultimate goal is to compete at Paralympic level, so that’s where I’m aiming!” Meanwhile she hopes to do well in the 2013 Parclimbing Series and be selected for the world championships.

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Amongst the plethora of cuts introduced by York’s Labour Council earlier in the year, their decision to borrow an extra £20 million to fund an Economic Infrastructure Fund perhaps failed to get the scrutiny that it deserved.

Here was a Council, moaning about expenditure reductions imposed by central government, and yet – in contradiction with its own election manifesto which claimed that the York Councils debt was already too high – were willing to increase that burden unnecessarily. The decision had all the hallmarks of the borrow and spend policies of the last Labour government which so damaged the British economy.

At the end of a 5 year period, Council Taxpayers will be paying an additional £1.6 million a year in debt charges, although national limits on tax increases would mean this money would have to come from additional cuts to front line services including the care of the elderly and disabled.

Supporters of the move claimed that the investment would generate more income for the City in general and for the Council in particular.

The first of the projects to be funded by this increased debt burden have been announced this week.

They include contributions to the new Park and Ride facilities while £1.7 million is earmarked for an unspecific “better bus fund”. £200,000 will be spent on painting city centre poles and continuing the “de-cluttering” programme stared a few years ago (paving, lighting, seating as well as de-cluttering unnecessary signage, fencing, bollards and other items of street furniture).

These are all items which would traditionally have been identified separately in the Council’s capital programme and represent the continuation of existing policies. They have simply been “rebadged” to give the impression that they are new thinking. None of these will directly generate new jobs or any increases in business rate income.

But it is the economic development proposals that have raised eyebrows.
• A Digital Media Cultural Centre – to be located at the Bonding Warehouse – will get a £1.4 million grant/loan with another £1.0M from the, government funded, Local Enterprise Partnership and £1.2M from the European Regional Development Fund. Only £755k would come from the private sector.
• A campaign to get the “Tour de France” to visit York will get £50,000 with £250,000 supplementary funding coming from other sources. Essentially this should have been a revenue (current account) grant to the Visit York tourism body.
• £80,000 is reserved for “targeting growth in sectors”. This is basically an increase in the Councils grant to Science City York. It is difficult to justify as a “capital” grant. There will be no tangible Council asset that has been improved in value
• £430,000 has been allocated for administration of the fund

The plan to invest £3.6 million of public money in the Bonding Warehouse – a building subject to flooding and notoriously difficult to maintain and heat – is causing deep concern. The building was owned until about 5 years ago by the Council. It was in poor condition as a result of flooding and was eventually sold for around £1 million, at the height of the property boom, to a bidder who wanted to establish a residential use for the building. This and subsequent plans for a hotel, exhibition space and offices, also failed to get off the ground and the Listed building continues to be empty.

The business case for investing £3.4 million of taxpayers money rests on the claim that “the project responds to a market failure in the provision of flexible, city centre space for the digital and creative industries”. We are told that “the sector is dominated by micro or small businesses; many of them are young and innovative. These businesses require flexible, low-cost premises located in the city centre, however land values and rental prices are prohibitively high acting as a barrier to growth. Market demand for affordable studio and business premises is high”.

The business case included with the Council papers fails to identify rental income streams which would be critical to any decision. Claims are made about job generation but without any detail of the assumptions made about the number of units that would be provided or likely occupancy rates.

With the eco business centre at Clifton Moor an obvious comparator, it would be relatively easy to test the validity of the assumptions being made.

On the face if it, allocating some of the space to starter businesses at the new Council HQ building would make more economic sense, especially if it meant that the Guildhall was retained for management and democratic use.

Most physical investments, which bring into use new facilities, have a favourable economic impact. That ranges from jobs in the building industry to longer term labour and supply chain impacts. Multiplying the income as it spirals through the local economy (for example to shops and local trades people) means that a very large number can be claimed as a “gain”.

However the real test is whether the investment in a different place or in a different sector would produce even bigger returns (and perhaps ones that have a lower risk). Some may feel that – for example – the provision of a new visitor attraction in the city is overdue. With only York Minster Revealed in the pipeline, there is a danger that technology rich interpretation attractions in other City’s may soon steal away some of York’s market. Such investment in a city centre location might help also to improve the confidence of City centre retailers.

It is difficult not to conclude that, at the moment, the Council is adopting a blinkered approach and lacks the confidence to allow public scrutiny of its investment plans.

A leading children’s charity has hailed City of York Council’s library services for being a ‘good place for all young people to come’.

The Children’s Society has praised the council after an assessment was carried out by disabled young people who visited Acomb Explore Library Learning Centre last November.

In feedback provided to Acomb Explore, the young people unanimously agreed in their report that the Explore Centre “provides a wide range of inclusive activities, it is fully accessible and the staff have a good attitude”.

Lynda Corker, programme manager of The Children’s Society in York said: “The award isn’t just about ramps for wheelchairs and accessible toilets, important as they are, but also looks at the attitude of staff and their commitment to ensuring disabled people receive a warm welcome and support when it is needed.”

The ‘Good Place To Come’ Award is granted by disabled young people from The Children’s Society’s PACT project in York who aim to help places become more inclusive to disabled people.

The Acomb Explore Library was built by the last Liberal Democrat Council. Further examples followed including a massive refurbishment of the Central Library

Labour have finally published their proposals for changes to the City centre. They are contained in two documents that will be debated at a meeting on Thursday.

Today we look at the changes that they propose to the traffic and parking arrangements in the City centre pedestrian areas.

Several of the proposals are welcome and build on the improvements made in the City centre over the last decade. They include standardising – and extending – the footstreet hours, adding Fossgate (and Castlegate) to the zone, additional cycle parking, additional parking spaces for disabled drivers on Piccadilly, reductions in unnecessary signage and eliminating A (advertising) boards from public footpaths.

Other proposals will be more controversial;
• The exclusion of most motor vehicles – together with the elimination of “on street” parking outside the pedestrian hours – could hit the evening economy.,
• Putting in a (one way) cycle link on High Petergate will not please all and it fails to address the need for a west to east cross city centre cycle route,
• The most severely disabled residents who currently have green badges (in addition to those with national blue badge ) will have less access to the city centre and fewer “on street” parking spaces.
• Changes to access arrangements in Micklegate could hit traders and area beingpropmoted with little preliminary consultation with those affected.

Some plans need to go back to the drawing board.
 Extending the pedestrian zone to include Monk Bar would leave a large number of residents and businesses without day time vehicular access. This would include part of the Aldwark development and The Minster
 Reducing the number of general parking spaces available in car parks – and reserving the spaces for blue badge holders – is unnecessary (given that spare spaces are available at most time for all potential users).
 Erecting 10 mph advisory speed signs at the entrance to the zone would simply add to the street clutter. The few vehicles that could still enter the area are unlikely to travel quickly.
 Evening parking spaces in Blake Street, Lendal, Goodramgate and Duncombe Place would be lost. Some of these, at least, add to active feel of the city particularly on winter evenings.
 Closing the Blake Street slip road (from Duncombe Place) would have little effect (it is only used regularly by a horse and cart)

We will review the more controversial, and costly, proposals for physical changes tomorrow.

Labour have confirmed their threat to close the Councils Acomb branch office. Currently located at the Front Street/Carr Lane junction the original plan had been to move the reception functions into a small extension to the Acomb Explore Library (erroneously derided as a “second Council HQ” in Labour’s election literature). Local estate managers and neighbourhood workers would also have been housed there while annual running costs would have been reduced by £60,000 compared to continuing the present arrangements.
Now the Labour leadership have agreed to give up the lease on the existing building next year, despite even their own surveys revealing that over 80% of Acomb customers wanted to have local face to face contact with Council officials.
Users now face a trek to the new Council offices in Station Rise adding to the congestion problems in the City. Disabled residents would face a particularly difficult journey.
In response Labour Councillors claim that people will use the internet to access Council services in the future. We will see.
Some interview session may be provided within the limited accommodation at Explore and at the Hob Moor children’s centre but they are unlikely to provide a satisfactory response particularly for urgent or complex issues.
We suspect that this is only the first part of an attack on the public service standards enjoyed by residents of Acomb. Labour have threatened to close the public toilets on Front Street
…and as recently as the beginning of September one Labour Councillor criticised the Front Street shopping area as being “quiet” with lots of empty property. She went on to tell The Press, “It’s disappointing when people lose vital services they rely on. ……….. because not everybody has the internet or a car”
Indeed!