Public meeting to discuss controversial Lowfields playing field development plans

The agenda for the next Westfield Ward committee meeting has been amended  to include an item on the proposed development of the playing field at Lowfields.

The Council’s development plan has provoked a lot of opposition in the area and a “Save Lowfields Playing Field” action group has been set up.

The meeting on 29th March will hear an update on the Councils plans which have yet to navigate various planning hurdles.

In 2007, when the Lowfields and Oaklands schools were merged to form a “York High School” the Council gave assurances that only the built footprint of the former Lowfields school would be redeveloped.

The Council reneged on that promise last summer when it published comprehensive redevelopment plans which would see 162 homes built on the site.

The new High school buildings in Cornlands Road were occupied in September 2009 but the Lowfields playing field continues to be used for sporting activities to this day.

York Council develops colour blindness

Promise to tell the truth?

The Council has published a report which contains a blatantly misleading statement. In an attempt to justify the development of former school playing fields at various sites in the City, it claims that these are “brownfield” land.

Playing fields are classified as greenfield sites, although they do not necessarily form part of the Green Belt. (The former built footprint of the school sites could be regarded as “brownfield”. In the case of Lowfields this is around 50% of the total site area).

Sites like Lowfields – where the proposed development of the playing field has attracted a lot of opposition – have not yet even been subject to the public examination which will only start when a draft Local Plan is finally agreed for the City.

The Council is therefore being asked to spend thousands of pounds of taxpayers money on architects and professional fees on projects which may never get off the drawing board.

Council owned sites proposed for early development

Nor has there been any discussion with residents about the future of sites like the Askham Bar car park (former park and ride site) on Moor Lane.

Ironically the Council has, once again, chosen to ignore the vacant – and derelict – brownfield land behind Acomb Library. Sites like these could be developed quickly with one Front Street option being to provide more accommodation for the library and public services on the ground floor with flats being built above.

The site is ideally located to accommodate older people who the Council identifies will generate by far the largest growth in housing demand over the next 20 years.

Nor does it appear keen to exploit the opportunities available to purchase additional Council houses on the open market – the quickest way of supplementing social housing stocks in the City.

The report proposes a complex partnership arrangement with the central government Homes and Communities Agency. It seems that the Council leadership see themselves as developers with the aspiration to provide a mixture of house prices and tenures on individual sites.

Doing so, without an agreed strategic plan in place, represents a high risk option.

Oakhaven redevelopment – contractor announced

The Council has announced that Ashley House PLC will develop and operate an Extra Care elderly persons facility which will be built on the Oakhaven site on Acomb Road.

Ashley House generally get good inspection reports for their homes.

The deal – agreed at a behind closed doors decision session – also secures for the Council nomination rights to affordable and discount sale apartments for the next  80 years.

There will be 48 one bedroomed and 8 two bedroomed homes provided on the site

Of these

Oakhaven

  • 20 will be for affordable rent,
  • 5 shared ownership,
  • 15 at market rent and
  • 16 outright sale.

The development will include a lounge, cafe/restaurant, buggy store and staff rooms plus 16 car park spaces.

The one bedroomed properties will be rented for £241 a week and the 2 bedroomed properties for £266. The target sale price for the properties is between £165000 and £195,000.

The developer will pay the Council £150,000 for the land.

If the adjacent Police station becomes available, the developer say he will provide an additional 14 apartments on that part of the site.

Further details can be found by clicking here

Carlton Tavern

Coincidentally, the owners of the nearby Carlton Tavern public house have today announced its closure. They are understood to have sold the site to “Crown Care” who will develop a similar care facility.

The Oakhaven proposals are tied up with controversial plans to develop the Lowfields school site.

At Lowfields, government officials have said that they may not be able to intervene to stop the sale and development of the playing fields “if they have not been used for over 10 years”.

York Council officials claim that Lowfields/High School pupils last used the  sports field in September 1997. In reality it was much later than that.

Meanwhile there is considerable confusion about whether the North Yorkshire police can afford to move their Acomb Police Station onto the Lowfields site, while the NHS has confirmed that no funding has been made available for the promised health centre which was also to have been built there.

A communal housing group has meanwhile announced two “public meetings” to discuss their plans for a small section of the Lowfields Site. Yorspace was allocated a site near little Tudor Road by the Councils Executive although the financial terms of any deal are not yet known. Their allocated site is not on the school playing field as such, although they apparently lobbied for the whole of the school campus to be developed (bringing them into potential conflict with the “Save Lowfields Playing Field” action group which was formed in the autumn) .

The meetings are being held on:

  • 11 March – Foxwood Community Centre, Cranfield Pl, York YO24 3HY, 3pm 
  • 15 March – Chill Cafe, 8a Front St, Acomb, York YO24 3BJ, 7pm

 

 

Police tight lipped about Acomb Police station closure

Acomb Police StationThe Police and Crime Commissioners office (PCC) has refused to reveal details of the proposed move of the Acomb Police station to a new site at Lowfields. They claim “commercial confidentiality” as a reason not to reveal their forward investment programme (other Authorities agree forward capital plans at public meetings).

The PCC does admit that £141,000 was spent in 2013 modernising the existing station on Acomb Road.

The PCC claims that the Police do not hold any notes or the minutes of any meetings which have taken place during the last 2 years at which the expansion or relocation of the Acomb Police Station has been discussed. Nor will they provide details of the costs associated with any proposed changes

The PCCs decision-making process is at best opaque.

A response to an FOI request refers to a decision taken by the PCC in 2015. A report then outlined ways in which around £1.6 million a year will be saved from the police budget by rationalising premises.

Across North Yorkshire, it estimates that total capital costs (including project management costs and costs for digital technologies) would be of the order of £17.6m, and will exceed disposal proceeds (estimated to be £12.4m) by around £5m.

A background paper says that police services will be delivered through three tiers,

  • Tier 1: Core operational hubs; which will typically include essential core police and back office activities including Force Control Room locations, Custody locations, Investigative Hubs and facilities to store and retain property and exhibits.
  • Tier 2: Deployment/Response bases, strategically located across the force to supplement the core operational hubs and provide operational coverage to mitigate Threat, Risk and Harm.   These bases may be shared with other public services.
  • Tier 3: Local community “touchpoints” will provide a range of mechanisms to increase and enhance the opportunity for the public to engage with the police, including mobile police stations, online “real time” contact and community based information points.  These may include mobile Gateway access via either shared multi-agency public access points or virtual access (online/self service).

It is unclear what role any office in Acomb will fulfil although most residents have supported the idea of providing a police contact desk at the Library rather than go through an expensive new build project at Lowfields.

The annexes to the strategy are exempted on “commercial grounds” meaning that taxpayers do not know which police stations could be affected.

This raises suspicions that financial, rather than operational, needs are driving the change process in Acomb

The PCC declines to say which functions any new Police building at Lowfields would be designed to accommodate.  For example it has been suggested that the site will be used for overnight parking.

The FOI response says that “a letter of intent for North Yorkshire Police to work with the City of York Council in respect of the Lowfields site, has been sent to the City of York Council by North Yorkshire Police’s Chief Executive Officer”. The date and content of the letter are not revealed.

Given that it appears that the Police have no idea what kind of facility they hope to build at Lowfields – and at what cost to taxpayers – any letter of intent would seem to be premature.

The PCC has made no attempt to engage with local Councillors or residents on their plans

The PCC is proposing to increase the police precept by 1.99% in April.

PCC FOI response Jan 2017

PCC FOI response Jan 2017

Tory finance chief quits York Executive

Mystery surrounds consultants contract

The Conservative Councillor responsible for City finances has abruptly quit his post. The announcement came only days after the Council released details of a hitherto confidential consultancy contract.

In 2014 a small consultancy firm, run by a former City Council employee, had been awarded a contract to project manage the older person’s accommodation project. This is the programme which will see existing elderly person’s homes like the one at Oakhaven closed and replaced by larger privately run “mega homes”. Part of the programme would see elderly person’s accommodation built on the Lowfields school site.

The consultants contract was to have run from 1st January 2015 until 31st December 2015. The contract was extended to 31st March 2016 with a total value of £130,000.

In response to a Freedom of Information request the Council says it does not hold any information to indicate “which Directors and Councillors were involved in the letting of the contract, and any extensions thereof” nor can they ” provide copies of all appropriate decision meeting minutes or notes – including copies of any invitation to tender adverts”!

The contract had an “output” specification. This meant that payments were made to the consultancy only when agreed targets and milestones had been met.

The Council was also asked about its current policy in engaging employees, consultants and contractors who seek to be remunerated via a private company.

They replied;“There is currently no policy which specifically deals with this question.  Each assignment will be considered individually and advice is provided on the employment implications by human resources or the procurement team”.

In March 2016, the Council, now under coalition control, decided that further work was needed on the older person’s project. They decided to let a further consultancy project covering the period 31st March 2016 – 30th March 2018 using the services of NEPRO This is a local government “spin off” company run from Sunderland. It effectively procures and manages contracts let on behalf of local authorities.

behind closed doorsThe Council have admitted that “The decision to use NEPRO is an officer decision and was made by the Council Management Team on 7th May 2014.  As this is a legally compliant framework, the terms and conditions are pre-agreed.  Suppliers on the framework have already agreed to these terms and conditions, therefore no further steps were deemed necessary to ensure transparency of individual contracts agreed through the framework. 

The new contract was handed to the same consultant who had held the old contract since January 2015.

It appears that no Councillors were involved in the decision nor is there any evidence that the employment of NEPRO has been reviewed during that last 3 years. It is unclear what proportion of contract costs are retained by NEPRO or indeed what value they add, in a situation where an existing contractor is simply reappointed to a role.

The new contract had a potential value of £216,000.

£54,000 was paid out in 2016 during the first 9 months of the contract.

The contract is again based on “outputs” being achieved (see below).

While output contracts can have advantages, they are an opaque system and unsuitable for activities where taxpayers opposition to proposals must be overcome before payments are released. The temptation may be to prioritise financial gain over the views of residents.

This happened with the decision to build on the Lowfields playing fields, where lobbyists were urged to influence consultation results and a, misleading, report gave the impression that the NHS had agreed to fund a new health centre on the site (see here).

It hadn’t.

The lack of engagement by senior Councillors in the contract letting process at the York Council is a concern. So is the lack of, publicly accessible, records of decisions taken about contract letting.

With spin off companies not subject to FOI regulations, this means that large sums of public money can be committed to controversial projects with minimal accountability.

consultants

Spotlight on York NHS finances as Acomb GP surgery looks to extend

Freedom of Information response confirms no discussions held regarding Priory Surgery move to Lowfields site

With the NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (YCCG), which buys services for people in York, heading for a £24 million overspend this year, the spotlight is being turned on some major investment decisions.

The Estates and Technology Tranformation Fund provides investment for General Practices to improve premises and technology.

Grants can be between 30% and 100% of the capital cost.

Part of the purpose of this programme is to “help practices establish infrastructure which enables sufficient routine appointments at evenings and weekends to meet local demand alongside effective access to out of hours and urgent care services”

All schemes have to be implemented by March 2019.

On 2nd June 2016 a local commissioning committee meeting in York decided which projects to bid for. Some have since been added to the approved national list.

The national improvement list for 2016/17 authorises funding for extension work at the Front St (Copmanthorpe), Posterngate and Priory (Cornlands Road) surgeries. The Cornlands Road scheme could cost around £800,000 and would fund an extension for a “new patient lounge” and facilities to “manage long term conditions”.

Four new build schemes are also listed for York.  They are located at Wheldrake, Jorvik/Gillygate South (Terry’s site), Huntington and Priory (Burnholme Health and Well Being campus).

In deciding its priorities, the YCCG had to observe national policies, They are set out here click

The guidance says “It is not anticipated, at this stage, that a further national round of submissions will be offered as it is expected the fund will be fully committed and the pipeline fully populated following this second invitation for schemes”.

The situation at the Priory practice on Cornlands Road came to the fore in the autumn when the York Council agreed to allocate a site at Lowfields for the practice to move into.

Priory had already been working with the Council on providing health facilities at the Burnholme school site on the other side of the City.

Although NHS documents (see below) reveal that the current Cornlands Road premises do require improvement, the local YCCG nodded through the extension scheme in June.

In a response to a Freedom of Information request the YCCG says,

 “The CCG and practice have had no meetings about the relocation” of the surgery to Lowfields.

So, it seems that – with the deadline for funding applications now passed – there is little chance of a health centre being built on the reserved site at Lowfields in the foreseeable future.

…. and there is now even less justification for building on the Lowfields playing fields!

property-services-report

 

Lowfields battle goes on

The Council’s Executive has tonight endorsed plans to build on the Lowfields playing fields.

The decision was not unexpected.

Many residents were angered by a Council announcement that they intended to build on the Lowfields playing fields - braking a promise given when the school was closed 8 years ago. A petition is being collected and representations to the government are planned.

Petition sent to Council

However, it represents only the opening shots in what is likely to be a long war.

No Councillor attempted to explain why the proposal is being brought forward before objections to the draft Local Plan have been considered.

In reality it is a pre-emptive stike aimed at maximising the sale price of the site.

The meeting also heard that officials had been negotiating for some time with the communal building group although they omitted to include this development option in papers circulated to residents in the autumn.

Council officials continue to pretend that the majority of local residents support their plans. They have so far refused to respond to the views set by respondents to a survey collected by local Councillors in September

A residents group has been set up and they will be lobbying both local planners and central government in the fight to conserve the playing fields.

The issue will be discussed again at a Council meeting taking place on 15th December.

Any building project outside the old-school building footprint will need central government approval and that is likely to be the next battlefield.

Lowfields residents form action group to oppose playing field development

save-lowfields-playing-fields-tiltA new residents action group has written to Executive Councillors asking them to oppose development on a school playing field at a meeting tomorrow.

Residents had been told by the Council that only the built footprint of the old Lowfields school site, would be developed but that promise now seems likely to be broken.

A petition has been sent to the Council.

Residents are threatening to refer the matter to the Ombudsman as officials have not reported the results of a door to door survey of opinion, taken in the autumn, to tomorrows meeting. The survey had revealed strong opposition to the development of the playing field.

Questions have also been raised about to the role of the NHS and Police Commissioner in the plan which involves the relocation of a local GP surgery and the re-siting of Acomb Police station.

Council snubs Lowfields residents

Lowfields plans

Lowfields plans

The York Council is being recommended at a meeting being held on 7th December to go ahead with the development of the playing fields on the former school site in Lowfields. There are no major changes from the layout presented for public consultation in September, although the Council says that steps will be taken to stop vehicles short cutting through the new Dijon Avenue to Tudor Road access route.

There has been broad support from respondents for the Elderly Persons Home, bungalows and apartments which will be provided on the east (Green Lane) side of the site.  These will be located on the “footprint” of the former school buildings.

Otherwise the Council has ignored or suppressed the results of public opinion surveys undertaken on the future of the playing fields. 

However, the latest scheme would, in addition to the 52 older person’s units, see as many as 110 houses shoe-horned onto the sports field including 17 self-build and “community build” plots. This would make the development one of the densest in sub – urban York.  A large number of independent builders would be involved meaning that the development timetable could be fragmented over a period of 5 years or more (building work would be scheduled to start in Autumn 2018).

The plans still involve the relocation of the GP surgery from its present site on Cornlands Road.  A relocation of the recently refurbished Acomb Police depot from its purpose built Acomb Road premises is also planned.

Both would mean much more traffic entering and leaving the area.

The uncompromising stance of the Council comes at a time when sites for over 1600 additional homes have recently been identified on redundant MOD land in the City. This news caused the Council to put back its “Local Plan” preparation by 6 months. In turn this means that the objections registered on the sports field development will not be considered before next week’s meeting.

The Council’s move appears to be dictated by the need to generate £4.5 million from the sale of the site. The York Council’s financial position is precarious following decisions to fund a new £12 million sports centre at Monks Cross and a £4.7million “health and well-being” project on the Burnholme school site.

If approved on Wednesday, the proposals will still have to gain planning permission.

There are strong legislative safeguards for playing fields (of which there is a shortage on the west of the City).

The Council leadership will therefore have a far from easy ride if they persist in trying to develop the Lowfields sports fields without broad public support.

Residents are organising a petition opposing the development of the sports field