Latest waste service update from York Council

Thursday 9 July

We collected all household waste as scheduled.

We were unable to collect recycling from parts of Rufforth and Huntington due to vehicle breakdowns.

We were unable to collect recycling from parts of New EarswickHaxby and Huntington due to vehicle breakdowns.

We’ll return for waste on the evening of Thursday 9 July. Please leave your containers out for collection.

We collected all outstanding recycling waste from Wednesday 8 July.

Die Horibilis

Been a horrible day for the Council with many more missed bin collections.

Recycling collections were missed in Haxby, New Earswick, Strensall and Wigginton.

Green waste bins weren’t emptied in Haxby, Wigginton and Strensall. The bins not emptied in Woodthorpe on Tuesday still haven’t been collected.

Household waste wasn’t collected in part of Holgate (blocked access).

Sources inside the Council point to continuing difficulties in recruiting staff including drivers. There has still not been any statement from the Council leadership about this issue or why replacement vehicles haven’t been introduced into the fleet.

Councillors hand in New Earswick Pool Petition to Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust

The petition against the closure of New Earswick Pool was presented to the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) this morning, at the Garth, with over 1,400 signatures.

Local Liberal Democrat Councillors in Huntington & New Earswick ward are calling on the JRHT to properly consult on its proposals to close the pool. York Liberal Democrats are concerned that the value of this facility to the community is not being considered and that the decision to close goes against JRHTs stated social values.

The petition has received excellent support since being launched in October and has reached over a 1,400 signatures, including that of former Olympic swimmer, Adrian Moorhouse.

Cllr Keith Orrell added:

“Immediately after the Trust announced their intention to close the pool, we wrote to New Earswick residents asking them to sign our petition. Furthermore, we also put the petition online and people from across the city have now signed. The response has been amazing. We would urge anyone who has not signed our petition yet to do so.  We need to show the Trusts how strongly people feel about the pool.”

Cllr Carol Runciman said:

“We appreciate that housing associations are facing budgetary pressures, forced on them by the Government, but we would urge the Trust to work with users and local people to explore ways of maintaining this facility.  The petition we have handed in today represents local peoples desire to keep the pool and the JHRT should work with residents to this end.”

Cllr Chris Cullwick said:

“We fully support all the users of the pool who have come together in their determination to keep the pool open. We will support them where we can in order to help them achieve

York swimming pool closure challenged

The decision by the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust to close the New Earswick swimming pool has come under fire.  The Trust announcement yesterday claimed that the pool was losing £130,000 a year and needed £1.3 million spending on building repairs.

The statement came as a surprise with the last published accounts of the Trust (covering 2016) making no reference to the pool or the looming financial crisis.

The accounts do however reveal that the Trust had assets of over £163 million including reserves of £45 million.

The organisation made an operating surplus of £1.9 million last year.

The cost of supporting the swimming pool fell from £147,000 in 2015 to £133,000 in 2016.

The Trust spent £12 million on salaries last year including £185,000 on the remuneration of its Chief Executive.  Pay increases of 2.6% were agreed for staff last year.

Huntington and New Earswick’s three Liberal Democrat councillors have launched a petition calling on the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust to reconsider plans to close the swimming pool in New Earswick.

Cllrs Keith Orrell, Chris Cullwick and Carol Runciman are encouraging residents to sign the Liberal Democrat petition online: www.yorklibdems.org.uk/neswimmingpool.

Cllr Keith Orrell said: “The swimming pool’s closure has been announced by the Trust without any consultation with users of the pool or local people, and with no attempt to explore alternative funding options.

“We appreciate that the 1% rent reduction forced on Housing Associations by the Government has put even more pressure on their budgets but we would urge the Trust to work with users and local people to explore ways of maintaining a facility which has served local people for 50 years.”