Turf Tavern saved from redevelopment.

A CCTV camera is installed at Wains Grove.

The new 3 box system for recycling was introduced. 92% of residents said they preferred them.

Swale Ave footpaths have been re-laid and Eason View carriageway resurfaced

We finally get vandal proof bollards at Ashbourne Way

The Ward Committee pays for bollards to protect grass verges on Pulleyn Drive

Salt bags are provided to help combat the winter weather

Silverdale Court gets dropped crossings

The clock on St Edwards Church gets a facelift thanks to Ward Committee funding.

Leeside Park was refurbished and new play equipment provided

We fight against the proposal to build houses on green fields adjacent to Moor Lane

The first Cold Calling Zone was launched on St Helens Rd. There are now over 30 across the Ward

Verge crossovers were provided on Chaloners Rd to reduce on street parking.

Improvements were made to Hob Moor Tunnel to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists and to try and combat graffiti.

Moor Lane Bridge was rebuilt. Facilities for cyclists were improved and screening provided for the houses on Moor Lane

Some alarmist literature has been circulating in the area claiming that Police patrols are being cut. This isn’t true in Dringhouses and Woodthorpe.

There has been a police reorganisation, and the “Neighbourhood” and “Reactive” policing teams are now based at the Acomb Police Station.

Our Neighbourhood Policing team continues to be:

PC Colin Park and PC Mark Antonelli covering both Dringhouses and Woodthorpe and Westfield Ward.

PCSO Louise Harness covering Woodthorpe, Acomb Park, Middlethorpe and
Tadcaster Road South.

PCSO Angela Hollywood covering the Hob Moor area bounded by Thanet Road and Tadcaster Road as far as St. George’s Place.

PCSO Craig Bounphrey covering the Chaloners Road/Wains Road area.
Lindsey Stamp is the local Sergeant and Phil Cain the Inspector.

You can contact the Neighbourhood Policing team by telephoning 0845 6060247

Residents who wish to report an incident in person can visit the Acomb Police Station on Holgate Road. The desk is manned by volunteers and the current opening hours are: hours are:

Mon 10:00am – 12:00 noon
Tue 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Wed 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Thurs Closed
Fri 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Sat 10:00am – 12 noon
Sun Closed

Work started on the Moor Lane/ Ring road roundabout

Ward funding paid for sessions of “Street Sports” at Leeside and Woodthorpe School. This has funding continued into 2008 and 2009

Carton recycling banks were provided at Tesco

Surveys over the last year show that only 4.4% of areas inspected had any litter compared to 19% in 2004. Detritus – leaves, etc. – was at 6.5% compared to 24% in 2004 and there was no fly posting and only 1% graffiti.

Residents of York sent 24,140 tons of their waste to be recycled this year. That’s 1216 tonnes or 5.3% more than last year. Overall, we will landfill 3.5% or 1,828 tonnes less of household waste this year. The total all waste going to landfill is down by 3,816 tonnes (6.3%). Great news for the environment and for our landfill tax!

At the Full Council meeting last night Labour revealed their plans to massively increase the number of houses built in the city over the next twenty years, putting our local green belt land under threat of development

They want to increase house building targets from 575 homes per year to more than 800. Such a high number couldn’t be accommodated by using brown field sites and so would put the green belt under pressure.

When challenged by Lib Dem Councilors, Labour were unable to say where the extra homes would be built and astonishingly Labour Councillor Dave Merrett said people wanting to protect the green belt were NIMBYs and the development was necessary to keep businesses happy.

Liberal Democrat Councillors in Dringhouses & Woodthorpe have been fighting to protect the green belt from development for many years. They have been doing this because local residents have consistently and strongly told us they do not want to see development on the green belt.

For the Labour group to be so dismissive of the views of local people is very worrying and gives a stark warning about their approach to the city if they were to control the council. Only the Lib Dems are in a position to prevent Labour giving the go ahead to development on our green belt.

The local Conservative party have failed to put up candidates in 14 seats across the city. Four of their nomination papers were rejected as they had been incorrectly completed, but they failed to even put in nominations for the other seats.

You can see from the candidate lists on the Council website that even the local Green Party have managed to put up more candidates than the Conservatives.

It is unbelievable that the Conservatives are so disorganised that they can’t even get candidates nominated for the elections. Their failure to put up a full set of candidates means that the Conservatives have no hope of controlling the Council after the elections.

The Lib Dems have hard working local candidates in every seat in the city. We have a record of delivering for local people and we are the only party to keep in touch all year round, not just at election time.

It is clear now that a vote for the Tories is a wasted vote. They have no chance of controlling the Council and cannot be trusted to even fill in forms correctly, let alone represent the views of local people.

Yesterday we launched our manifesto for the upcoming local elections on 5th May. You can download a copy from here. You can find out more about some of the city wide action we have taken over the past 8 year by clicking here.

There will of course be plenty of ward issues and campaigns on top of the city wide manifesto and as usual you can keep up to date with these in Focus and through this website.