The Local Government Ombudsman was asked to investigate 57 complaints about the York Council last year.
Transport and planning issues attracted the most complaints.
Ombudsman complaints 2018/19
The equivalent figure for the North Yorkshire County Council
was 82 complaints in total, with Adult Social Care and Children’s Services being
the most criticised.
The figures are included in the annual report of the Ombudsman
Of the York complaints, 21 were further investigated by the Ombudsman.
Of these, 11 were upheld. A full list can be found here (click)
The Ombudsman says that the Council complied with their recommendations
in all 11 cases although there were delays in 3 instances.
The annual letter from the Ombudsman to the York Council can also now be read on their web site (click)
It includes a “public interest” report about the Council’s failure to provide adequate support for a couple with a terminally ill baby.
The report says that social workers did not visit the baby in hospital
The Ombudsman’s findings are normally reported to a Council committee for consideration and possible changes to procedures.
Extract from the Ombudsman’s annual letter 2019 to York Council
City centre traders are likely to be looking with concern at the numbers of people who are visiting the City centre. New footfall figureshave been published.
The figures suggest that visitor numbers to the City may have plateaued.
Parliament Street less busy this year?
Long periods of hot weather haven’t, in the past, been good for York with some tourists preferring to visit coastal areas.
This years weather has been mixed.
Special attractions like the Rose Theatre, although generally successful, are not sold out while interest in events like the current “Great Yorkshire Fringe” are at best comparable with last year.
During June several York streets saw a 10% drop in visitor numbers in 2019 compared to the same month in 2018.
Early figures for July in Parliament Street suggest a 4% drop in visitor numbers during July.
Perhaps not surprisingly, given the number of empty shops on Coney Street, that area has seen visitor numbers drop from 812,808 in June 2017 to 713,762 in June of this year.
There is no shortage of excellent “Festivals“ in York while the work of the BID has seen several parts of the city centre tidied up.
The most important time for many City centre traders is the period between now and Christmas.
Lets hope that the City continues to be “best day out” in the region
Gradual decline in visitor numbers to Parliament Street. Smaller shopping streets are doing better with visitor numbers to Stonegate stable and numbers in Micklegate increasing.
Over 4,000 pedestrians and cyclists have been using the upgraded Scarborough Bridge foot and cycle bridge everyday since it reopened after a £4.4m upgrade.
This is already an increase of 1,000 extra journeys on the average of 3,000 daily crossings on the old footbridge.
The new accessible bridge has been delivered in partnership by City of York Council, the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership (YNYER)and West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) through its £60m City Connect programme, aimed at encouraging more people to cycle and walk.
Although the bridge is now open to the public, work will continue to complete sections of the ramps, install the permanent handrail and erect new lighting.
The new steps to the riverside are open for public use in an interim state, with the final Yorkstone finish and permanent handrail to be installed in the next two weeks.
The bridge and ramps remain open to the public at all times, although the public are reminded that direct access into the station remains – as it was before the upgrade – closed between 22.30 and 05.30.
The £4.4m project has been funded by a £1.9m grant through the Combined Authority’s CityConnect programme, a £1.5m Local Growth Fund secured by YNYER and £1m of City of York Council funds.
At 65-metres long the new bridge is three times as wide at 3.7metres, increasing access to more people and the new ramps and steps mean that it is accessible even at times that the river is in flood. The new bridge is constructed of weathering steel – the same as Gateshead’s famous statue, The Angel of the North.
In March, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and City of York Council were awarded £300,000 from the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund. to make further improvements to cycle and walkways between Scarborough Bridge, York railway station and the city centre.
These improvements will include:
An enhanced crossing of Bootham linking into the cycle route through to the district hospital.
Improving the riverside cycle route on the Esplanade side of the river.
Replacing the steps from St Mary’s to Marygate Lane with a ramp.
An investigation by City of York Council has uncovered and prosecuted a serious case of fly-tipping in the city, as part of Operation Eyeball a multi-agency campaign to tackle illegal waste disposal.
Haizhou Zhou (aged 46 of Outgang Lane, Osbaldwick, York) appeared yesterday [7 May 2019] at York Magistrates, where he pleaded guilty to fly-tipping and a related waste disposal offence.
Mr Zhou and two unknown male accomplices were caught on CCTV arriving at Ocean Corals and Reptiles, Clifton Moor, York, on 26 May 2018.
The three men discarded waste from a hire van into a skip next to the business. The waste included black waste bags, a wooden pallet, strips of plastic, cardboard, and wooden boards.
City of York Council officers noted that some of the waste recovered from the site belonged to Pegasus Textiles, registered as Pegasus World Ltd, Outgang Lane, York, for which Mr Zhou is the company director.
The incident cost the owners of Ocean Corals and Reptiles £228 for an additional skip to get rid of the extra waste.
York Magistrates fined Pegasus Textiles Ltd £13,200 yesterday [7 May 2019], he was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £170 and costs of £1012.64 as well as repayment of the waste costs.
Mr Zhou was fined £3938, ordered to pay a surcharge of £170 and costs of £500, as well as £228 compensation to Ocean Corals and Reptiles.
The council is working with North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Crime team and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to lead on the development of the Operation Eyeball (cross-county work to reduce fly-tipping).
Together, this campaign aims to support communities to find alternative ways to recycle and reuse their waste, rather than resulting to fly-tipping.
Residents can take waste to our household waste recycling centres – see www.york.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling – or can arrange for the council to collect it via www.york.gov.uk/BulkyWaste. Up to ten items can be taken so why not join together with neighbours?
York’s new Scarborough Bridge will open to the public today (Thursday 18 April) with work on the £4.4m scheme continuing on site for several )more weeks.
The new accessible bridge has been delivered in partnership by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority through its £60m CityConnect programme aimed at encouraging more people to cycle and walk, City of York Council, and York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership (YNYER EP).
It is aimed at boosting access for people travelling by bike or on foot between the train and the city centre.
Although the bridge will be open to the public from 3pm on Thursday, work will continue to complete the new steps to the riverside paths and sections of the ramps.
The river crossing will remain open to the public throughout these works, but with some minor width restrictions at times, as well as temporary lighting and a temporary handrail.
Improvement works include, on the southern side, a new path on the top of the embankment, which will mean people can travel directly between York Station and the new bridge, providing a traffic free scenic route to the city centre. The new bridge will now be accessible even when the River Ouse is in flood.
The £4.4m project has been funded by a £1.9m grant through the Combined Authority’s CityConnect programme, a £1.5m Local Growth Fund secured by YNYER EP and £1m of City of York Council funds.
Scarborough Bridge has been closed to the public since the end of January to allow for ongoing construction works, including the old footbridge being lifted out by rail crane to make way for the new, wider and more accessible shared use bridge.
More than 3,000 people crossed the old footbridge daily, despite access issues and this number is expected to rise considerably one the scheme has been completed.
At 65-metres long the new bridge is three times as wide at 3.7metres, increasing access to more people. It had to be lifted into place in four separate parts due to its size.
The new bridge is constructed of weathering steel – the same as Gateshead’s famour statue, The Angel of the North.
The reopening of the bridge has been delayed by a month due to the need for extra piling works in the railway embankments as well as dense fog during one of the weekends a section of the new bridge was due to be lifted in.
Plans that will see the front of York Railway Station transformed with the removal of Queen Street Bridge and reorganising the layout leading into the station are now available to comment on using the planning portal.
The plans were submitted last month following an extensive public consultation in summer 2018 which saw over 1,500 people share their feedback on the scheme. People now have the opportunity to comment on the submission atwww.york.gov.uk/planning (ref no19/00535/FULM and 19/00542/LBC). Following this it is expected to go before the planning committee in summer.
Following feedback from the public consultation designers altered the master plan to take into account the comments.
Different landowners and funding arrangements mean that plans for the area will be delivered in phases, each with appropriate partners, planning approval and timescales. We’re working closely with Network Rail, London North Eastern Railway and Northern Powerhouse.
The project to transform the front of York Station will receive funding through the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund, and the Leeds City Region Growth Deal – a £1 billion package of Government investment through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.
A project to help prevent people falling in their own homes is expanding into a fifth ward in the city, in its second year of operation.
Having started in Clifton ward in March 2017 as part of the council’s YorWellbeing Services, work to prevent falls in homes extended to Guildhall ward, then to Micklegate and Fishergate wards. Now it’s rolled out into Holgate.
These wards were identified by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) as having homes with higher trip risks than the city average. These include hazards such as missing stair rails, uneven flooring or poor internal lighting, especially for children aged under five and older people.
The partnership of housing, health and safety experts including North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and Age UK York carry out free home visits to check and repair simple trip hazards in homes whether rented or privately owned.
Visits are arranged and carried out with a falls prevention practitioner and a joiner. They offer practical advice specific to the resident and their home and can make simple improvements there and then such as fitting a grab rail or banister rail, fitting brighter light bulbs, securing loose carpets or suggesting exercises to help improve residents’ strength and balance. They will also signpost residents to other relevant services.
Since its launch two years ago, the team has put thousands of fall prevention measures in place. These include fitting 733 grab rails, 277 banisters, 391 brighter light bulbs, 13 window restrictors, 11 carpet trims and four drop down toilet rails.
Residents of Clifton, Guildhall, Micklegate, Fishergate and Holgate can request a free home visit for advice and help on preventing falls, please call 01904 567456 or emailreducingfalls@york.gov.uk
To find out more about the service and pick up some advice on reducing the risk of falls, please visit www.york.gov.uk/reducingfalls
Plans that will see the front of York Railway Station transformed with the removal of Queen Street Bridge and reorganising the layout leading into the station have been submitted today.
It seems that successive Councils chose to take potentially risky decisions in the weeks leading up to an election. In 2015, the then Labour led Council, was in turmoil following the disastrous closure of Lendal Bridge.
Now the coalition has announced that the Queen Street bridge will be demolished.
The present Councils plan has a better chance of gaining public support. It is after all a bridge that serves no purpose and its removal would kick start the regeneration of the Railway Station precinct.
The Council says that the planning application has been submitted following an extensive public consultation in summer 2018 “which saw over 1,500 people share their feedback on the scheme”.
Following this feedback designers altered the master plan to take into account the comments. This lead to several changes, including:
moving the cycleway on Queen Street to reduce conflict with on street parking spaces
providing safe access for cyclists to the station from the west-bound carriageway
provision for a suitable system for managing rail replacement buses
incorporating appropriate counter-terrorism measures that are sympathetic to the station setting
After the planning application has been validated by the council’s planning team in the coming days. Once it has been validated, it will be available to view at www.york.gov.uk/planning
City of York Council is working closely with Network Rail, London North Eastern Railway and Northern Powerhouse to deliver the proposals. Different landowners and funding arrangements mean that plans for the area will be delivered in phases.
The project to transform the front of York Station will receive funding through the West Yorkshire-plus Transport Fund, and the Leeds City Region Growth Deal – a £1 billion package of Government investment through the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to accelerate growth and create jobs across Leeds City Region.
First walk across new Scarborough Bridge, York ahead of next month’s opening following £4.4m upgrade
The new bridge is the first over the River Ouse in York city centre for 138 years
Unfortunately it does little for cyclists travelling from, and to, the Leeman Road area who still face an unpleasant journey through the black tunnel of Marble Arch (which lacks a waterproof membrane). It remains a major obstacle to the development of the York Central site.
Scarborough bridge cycle track with train!
The first steps across the new Scarborough Bridge, York, were taken during a site visit today (Tuesday 19 March) to see how the £4.4m scheme to boost access for people travelling by bike or on foot between the train station and the city centre is progressing.
The new bridge has been delivered in partnership by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority through its £60m CityConnect programme aimed at encouraging more people to cycle and walk, City of York Council, and York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Enterprise Partnership (YNYER EP). The bridge is due to open to the public next month (April).
Scarborough Bridge has been closed to the public since the end of January to allow for ongoing construction works, including the old footbridge being lifted out by rail crane to make way for the new, wider and more accessible shared use bridge.
More than 3,000 people crossed the old footbridge daily, despite access issues.
At 65-metres long the new bridge is three times as wide at 3.7metres, increasing access to more people. It had to be lifted into place in four separate parts due to its size.
Improvement works also include step-free access with ramps as well as new external steps leading to the riverside paths.
On the southern side a new path on the top of the embankment will mean people can travel directly between York Station and the new bridge, providing a traffic free scenic route to the city centre. The new bridge will be accessible even when in flood.
The original bridge was designed and built by Robert Stephenson in 1845. This first iteration saw the walkway placed between the railway tracks and was accessed by internal steps.
When York Station was moved in 1873-5 the bridge was updated to make it suitable. This is when the old footbridge was installed and, until recently, had remained largely unchanged for the last 144 years.
The owners of a dog found to be dangerously out of control have been handed a five year dog ownership ban by York Magistrates today [15 March 2019].
City of York Council, in a joint operation with North Yorkshire Police, seized the dog on the 27 July 2018, to prevent continued aggression towards people and other animals.
Scott Berkley (aged 42, of no fixed abode) and Katie Bradley (aged 41 also of no fixed abode), owned the Staffordshire bull terrier. The dog was not micro chipped and would frequently escape their former home at Dale Street and attack smaller dogs.
One attack left a resident visiting hospital due to injuries received when they tried to intervene as their pet was attacked. Their Jack RussellxCorgi required surgery to save its hearing.
Mr Berkley and Ms Bradley were charged with an aggravated offence of owning a dog which was dangerously out of control and injured a person.
They had previously pleaded guilty to failing to microchip a dog. This is the first time that City of York Council has brought a case of failing to microchip a dog.
Today [15 March 2019], Mr Berkley and Ms Bradley pleaded guilty to the outstanding charge and were each issued a five year ban on owning a dog by York Magistrates. They were also ordered to pay the victim a total of £468.
