North Yorkshire Police is joining forces with City of York Council, Bell Farm Management committee and the North Yorkshire and York Community Payback Team to spring clean

Residents are invited to come and take part in a litter pick in the Bull Ring and South Beck areas on 25th May as part of the Smarter York spring clean scheme.

For more information please visit www.york.gov.uk/smarteryork or follow@SmarterYork on Twitter. Residents can nominate an area they think is in need of a spring clean by calling 01904 551551 or emailing ycc@york.gov.uk or download the Smarter York mobile phone application from all app stores.

Litter pickers, refuse sacks and high visibility vests are available to volunteers on the day.

The Council has spent £2.7 million moving into its new HQ at West Offices.

By far the largest sums went on furniture (£1.4 million) and ICT infrastructure (£800,000). The latter figure does not include the cabling undertaken by the builders.

A detailed list of removal costs is:

• Furniture £1,419,000

• Audio Visual £72,974

• Signage £103,060

• White Goods (Fridges, Dishwashers & Microwaves) £13,329

• Thin Terminals (Qty 398) £74,028

• Monitors (Qty 626) £50,080

• Telephones (Qty 480) £63,480

• ICT Infrastructure at West Offices – Cisco Data Network (core and edge), Firewall/DMZ Solution, Cisco Wireless Network £695,510

• ICT Cabling costs £19,973

• Datacentre Environment £24,284

• Telephony and Data Connectivity £71,359

• Removal costs £97,000

Total £2,704,077

As previously reported no income has been received by the Council for the sale of redundant equipment and furniture.

They say that the “works to clearing the old buildings is continuing. Any monies received by the clearance contractors for the sale of goods is offset against the invoiced costs of labour, transport, skip hire, and recycling costs”.

The West Offices are now full.

Tenants include the Citizens Advice Bureau (whoa re paying £15,000 a year in rent) and the NHS (£18,500).

“Free” accommodation is being made available to Veritau and the South Yorkshire Credit Union

A brand new visitor attraction is set to open at York Minster on Saturday 25 May 2013, the largest set within a cathedral in the UK. ‘Revealing York Minster’ tells the story of the last 2000 years at the historic site, from the Romans to its modern day custodians.

The contemporary chambers of the Undercroft are built in a space created in emergency excavations during the 1970s which uncovered a hidden history of the site, including the remains of a Roman barracks, an Anglo-Saxon cemetery and the foundations of the Norman Minster – the forerunner of the present cathedral. The new attraction weaves the story revealed by these discoveries into an immersive and interactive journey through two millennia of York’s history, featuring artefacts never before on public display. Visitors will be able to see, touch and hear 2000 years of history.

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Police in York are seeking help to identify a man and woman they would like to speak to following the theft of bedding from Dunelm Mill in York.

Officers have issued CCTV images (click here) following the theft which occurred at the Clifton Moor store at around 6.15pm on Friday 22 March 2013.

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York prepares to be amazed as six professional street performers have been chosen to wow audiences at Buskival in York on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 May.

Following the success of last year’s festival, some of the world’s best performers have been asked to perform at the event alongside local buskers.

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The Liberal Democrat Group have announced their new Shadow Cabinet for the 2013/14 Civic Year.

Earlier this month, Cllr Keith Aspden was chosen as the new Leader of the Lib Dems taking over from Cllr Carol Runciman and last week Westfield Councillor Lynn Jeffries joined the Group. The Lib Dems will now have the same number of councillors – nine – as the Conservatives, the official City of York Council opposition since 2011.

Lynn Jeffries will lead for the Group on Communities, Housing and Equalities; Carol Runciman will return to the Children and Education brief where she was Executive Member between 2003 and 2011; and Ian Cuthbertson will lead for the Group on Public Health.

Cllr Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat Group Leader, commented:

“I am delighted to announce such a strong Shadow Cabinet team for the forthcoming Civic Year. The experience and expertise we have will enable us to constructively hold the ruling Labour Group to account. With Lynn joining the Group we now have the same number of councillors as the Conservatives and in the coming months we will cement our position as the real alternative in York.”

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A colourful and imaginative exhibition of work produced by York’s adult learners is on display at York Explore Library from Friday 24 May to Sunday 26 May.

The exhibition has been collated by City of York Council’s community education team, and as well as pieces from its own creative courses it includes work from the Fine Art Departments of York College and WEA (Workers Education Association).

It is an opportunity to see the work of students across the city and see what can be achieved by attending local courses.
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A second phase of panels that converts daylight into free daytime electricity with zero carbon emissions is to be installed on the roofs of suitable City of York Council homes.

To take advantage of changes to the Government-set Feed-In Tariffs, the council has agreed with social enterprise Empower Community andsolar photovoltaic panel contractors Nationwide Solar to complete the installations ahead of the 1 July deadline.

Besides houses with conventionally pitched roofs, this phase will also consider roofs of suitable flats, where tenants of the top floor flats will benefit from the free electricity generated. In addition, suitable sheltered accommodation schemes will be assessed, including those with extra care facilities, where the free electricity will be used for the council-run communal areas.

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York men are being encouraged to lace up their boots and kick off their fitness by joining Back to Boots football sessions at York Sports Village in Heslington on Wednesday 12 June.

York City in the Community and benenden health are backing a second block of council-run sessions following an extremely popular first nine weeks. The sessions take place from 6.30pm to 7.30pm and will run weekly to Wednesday 31 July. As well as learning and improving football skills from the expert York City coaches, new players will also be offered a free health check.”

The sessions are aimed at men who want to return to football and increase their activity levels, and there has been great feedback from participants who have attended so far.

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The latest results for the Police mobile speed cameras have been published.

Last week saw 34 drivers stopped on the A1237 near Monks Cross.

Next highest number was 19 on Tadcaster Road in the space of half an hour one Saturday evening. Other high numbers were detected at Beckfield Lane (15), Strensall Road Huntington (11) and Stockton on Forest (10)

The monthly figures reveal that the above roads – together with York Road in Haxby – are those where drivers in York are most likely to be caught speeding.

The numbers caught speeding in York are relatively small compared to other sites in the County.

85 speeders were caught in one 4 hour period at North Stainley while 95 triggered the cameras at Calcutt over just 30 minutes.

66 offenders were logged on the A64 westbound by pass near Tadcaster in 3 hours one tea time.

A full set of stats can be found at this web site http://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/10951

Below are enforcement locations for North Yorkshire Police’s mobile safety cameras for week commencing Wednesday 22 May 2013.

The mobile safety cameras will be in operation at the following sites at various times during the dates stated. Cameras will not be in use all day, every day.

• Beckfield Lane Acomb York

• Church Lane Wheldrake

• Grange Farm, Wheldrake Lane, Elvington

• Greenshaw Drive Haxby

• Main Street Askham Richard

• Main Street Flaxton

• Malton Road York

• Millfield Lane Poppleton York

• Murton Way Murton York

• Skipwith Road Escrick

• Stillingfleet Mine, Escrick Road

• Strensall Road Huntington York

• Tadcaster Road Dringhouses York

• Temple Lane Copmanthorpe York

• The village Stockton-on-the-Forest York

• Towthorpe Road Haxby

• Woodhouse Farm, Escrick Road

• York Road Haxby York

• A1039 Flixton

• A1237 Monks Cross York
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