Indecision grips key York Council decision making meeting

Second Council “Cabinet” meeting postponed

For the second month running the Council’s policy decision making body, the “Cabinet”, will not meet. The meeting was to have taken place on 2nd December. But now – like the meeting which was to have taken place on 4th November – it has been cancelled.

It means that no major decisions will have been taken since 7th October.

The next Cabinet meeting is not due to take place until 6th January, only a few weeks before the Councils budget has to be drawn up.

Future of empty Guildhall still unclear

Future of empty Guildhall still unclear

The indecision is being blamed on the chaotic state of the Council’s Labour group, which still has the largest number of members. Recently the Council Leader announced his resignation leading to an apparent power vacuum and crippling the decision making process.

Amongst the decisions which were due to be made were the future of the Guildhall. Labour plans a hugely expensive “digital media and arts centre” for the building but it unlikely that the new Council would agreed to the increased levels of borrowing required to fund the project. It is possible that the, relatively new, annex – which comprises mainly modern offices – may now be marketed separately.

Other agenda items, now shelved, include:

Senior Councillors have now had sufficient time (over 6 weeks) to come up with a workable way of making decisions in a balanced (hung) Council.

It had to do so in a similar situation, between 2007 and 2011, when there was little delay in dealing with issues..

It is now vital that all Parties agree to put the welfare of the City ahead of partisan political priorities.

York Council project failures

Calls for system overhaul

With yet another major York Council project falling behind schedule, and hopelessly over budget, there are growing calls for a review of project management processes in the City.

Poppleton Bar Roadworks delays

Poppleton Bar Roadworks delays

The latest budget overrun is reported on the A1237 Haxby – Wigginton cycle path. As well as major delays the project will now cost over £1.3 million compared to a budget of £700,000.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said,

“It is time re-introduce regular project updates to the Councils monitoring committees.

Any significant delay – or cost overrun – of more than 10%  must trigger a formal report in future.

We’d also like to see more openness in reporting with regular updates being posted on the Council’s web site”

As well as the cycle path, projects which would be subject to review include:

The Press are reporting that the Green Council Group Leader has now decided that there are questions about the Lendal Bridge trial which do need to be answered publicly. Despite voting last week against an Inquiry, he is apparently now saying that the Council’s Chief Executive should be asked to account for the mistakes at a “governance” committee meeting.

NB. The Lendal Bridge situation is also likely to be discussed at the Council meeting which is scheduled to be held on 11th December.

Guildhall future still in doubt as Labour cancel key meeting

Labour Councillors have cancelled a meeting of the “Cabinet” scheduled to take place on 4th November.

York Guildhall

York Guildhall

The move came without any explanation.

The meeting had been expected to consider the future of the Guildhall – scheduled by Labour to become a controversial “digital arts and media centre”.

With the balance on the Council having changed, the project – which was originally to have been determined in June – may never now get the “go ahead”.

York residents petition

York residents petition

Both LibDem and Tory Councillors have been very critical of the Labour leadership (see petition right collected in 2012) for leaving the building largely empty and for failing to recognise the role that both the Guildhall and Mansion House should continue to have in the civic life of the City.

The Cabinet meeting was also expected to receive a report on the final costs of the Tour de France events with most eyes still on the reported six figure costs of the “Grand Departy” held at the Huntington Stadium in July.

The Council have already delayed answering a Freedom of Information request on the issue – somewhat disingenuously claiming that they had not yet assembled all the bills for the event.

The FOI request has now been re-submitted.

York TV channel remains nameless?

The new TV channel aiming to start broadcasts in York next spring apparently still has no name.TV_Camera

A “competition” – offering a £1000 prize – to find a name ran on “Twitter” until 27th June.

With a similar project in Birmingham having recently been abandoned there is now some speculation about the future of the York channel.

There was some suggestion that the company could be based at the Guildhall but it now appears that the new channel will be located initially at the University’s Department of Theatre, Film and Television.

The station enjoyed the ringing endorsement of Council Leader James Alexander last November when it was awarded a license to broadcast on a “freeview” channel.

Station publicity said, “Launching in spring 2015, York’s new television channel will provide original and exclusive news, current affairs, entertainment, heritage, business and culture programming about York and the local area.

It follows the award of a 12-year L-DTPS license to broadcast on Freeview channel 8 by Ofcom to a consortium of leading local institutions including One&Other TV, University of York, York St John University, SCY, Visit York, York CVS, City of York Council, Yorkshire Film Archive in November 2013.

 The channel is expecting to create 12-15 new jobs initially”

NB. Science City – which was involved with the station – has recently been taken over by the City of York Council reviving some concerns about the impartiality of any affected media outlets.

A report on the future of the Guildhall is scheduled to be considered at the Council’s Cabinet meeting on 7th October 2014

Archaeological excavation at Richard III’s favourite York friary:

‘Hidden Guildhall’ Community Archaeology Project

AOC Archaeology Group are about to begin the ‘Hidden Guildhall’ archaeology project, an exciting summer of community archaeological investigations adjacent to the Guildhall on behalf of the council

AOC Archaeology Group are about to begin the ‘Hidden Guildhall’ archaeology project, an exciting summer of community archaeological investigations adjacent to the Guildhall in York on behalf of City of York Council.
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Empty Guildhall building costing taxpayers £118,000 a year

 

Labour’s failure to identify a use for the Guildhall complex when officials moved to West Offices is rebounding onto taxpayers.

York Guildhall

York Guildhall

Just keeping the building empty cost over £118,400 last year.

Much of this went on Business Rates (£63k) and energy costs (£27k).

A report on the future of the site is promised in October with some expecting to see a proposal to establish a “media centre”.

However, as we said 3 years ago, lack of a plan to ensure the continued use – and preservation – of this important building was a major flaw in the Councils economic plan.

Can you help unearth the Guildhall’s past?

AOC Archaeology Group, which has been appointed to undertake an archaeological dig close to the medieval Guildhall site, are encouraging residents and visitors to help unearth the Guildhall’s past.

please credit the york past and present photographic groupCredit:York past and present photographic group

In partnership with City of York Council, the unique dig is set to begin later this year to give a better understanding of the site’s history and significance, which will help to move forwards with the development of emerging plans for the new-look Guildhall complex.

However, before the digging begins, AOC Archaeology would like to uncover more of the history of the site and the old timber buildings itself (aka the hutments).
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York Channel TV – more revelations

Details of the bid submitted by the organisation which will run the new “York TV Channel” have been revealed.

The bid can be read on the Ofcom web site (although it is far from easy to find).

click to see full details

click to see full details

There is no evidence on the web site of what action Ofcom took to assess the wishes of York people regarding the editorial policies of any new local TV station.

The reasons for the enthusiasm, shown by the Councils Labour leadership for the new channel, are also now clearer.

They plan to have a studio in the remodelled Guildhall.

The Council is still committed to spending over £1.4 million turning the Guildhall into a “digital media hob”

The York Channel expects to rent space at this new model Guildhall.

The York Channel promises to broadcast the (one party) Council Cabinet meetings and refer to their “partner” organisation Pilot Theatre who rather mysteriously secured the Councils internet beaming contract earlier in the year.

They also claim that the Councils (largely bogus) “Big Survey” will be included in their programming.

They say,
“The York Channel will grant unparalleled access to those in power with the live broadcast of Cabinet meetings, interactive ‘meet the politician’ debates, and coverage of local elections.

The station clearly intends to engage in the local political scene.

They say, “Now is an exciting time in politics and York is calling out for a broadcast platform for political debate. The York Channel’s proposed ‘Question Time-style Show’ will debate the issues that matter most to York residents and analysing the policies, decisions and social media posts of local politicians and councillors”.

The station says that it will observe the BBC code of practice on impartiality.

The license applicant requested Ofcom not to release publicly details of the funding arrangements for the new station.

Having a local TV station should provide a boost for the City.

We wish the organisers well in their endeavours to establish a good reputation in the local community.

More behind closed doors decisions made in York

The York Council has made several decisions about new parking restrictions in the Guildhall and Clifton wards. In summary they are:

Behind closed doors logo

Newborough Street

Approved the advertising of No Waiting at any Time Restrictions and identified space for a Car Club vehicle in Newborough Street (Clifton Ward). Click for more details

Gladstone Street/ Dennison Street

click for map

click for map

“No Waiting at any Time Restriction” on Gladstone Street and Dennison Street to prevent obstructive parking taking place on footways, as well as inconsiderate parking which blocks the entrance to the play area and private driveway access. .

The issue related to parking conflicts since new homes were built on the Minster Engineering site. The Council required only 1 parking space per property but this has proved to be inadequate with parking being forced onto pavements and neighbouring streets

Council agreed to overturn the objections made to a proposed amendment to the Traffic Regulation Order located within Guildhall Ward and implement restrictions as advertised. click for more details