York Liberal Democrats are calling on Labour to rethink plans for streetlights that would see the Council stop routinely checking for faults.

The plans were agreed by the Labour Cabinet Member at a ‘behind-closed-doors’ decision session last month. The proposals would see the lighting maintenance contract, currently outsourced to AMEY, brought back ‘in-house’.

As part of the process the Council will stop routinely checking (scouting) for faulty street lighting and instead rely on the public to report any faults.

The Liberal Democrat Group has decided to ‘call-in’ the decision for further review amid growing concerns about the plans. The decision will be reassessed at a meeting of the Council’s Scrutiny Management Committee on April 15th.

Cllr Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Environmental Services who is calling-in the decision, commented:

“We have a number of concerns about these proposals. When the Council stopped routinely checking for faulty lighting about 15 years ago, some communities quickly reported faults, but in other areas lights were often left not working for months. No apparent research or consultation was carried out before this latest decision was taken on how it would work this time.

“The decision, which was made in secret, failed to present any business case as to how a council operated service would function or what capacity exists within the council to do the work. They seem to be relying on staff being TUPE’d across from the contractor, but this is not certain and it is unclear what pension and other costs this could involve. There was also no proper analysis of the service currently provided by the contractor or the service standards that the Council hopes to achieve.

“All in all, it looks like a rushed decision. This is perhaps not surprising as the Council left consideration of a replacement until just 10 days before
the current contract with AMEY was due to expire on the 31st March. The Council should not be rushing decisions or taking any risks with such a vital frontline service. This is why we have called-in the decision. We want some proper analysis to take place. With no contract in place, we will also be asking questions as to what is currently happening with streetlight maintenance.”

Last year Labour removed around 500 streetlights without earmarking money to replace them, meaning some residents went nearly six months without replacements being put in place.

NB. The Corporate Scrutiny Management Committee (CSMC) ‘Calling In’ Meeting will take place on Monday 15 April 2013 at 5.30pm.

Liberal Democrat Call-In: Street Lighting Maintenance Procurement. Reasons:

• It is a serious concern that the Council will stop routine checking (scouting) for faulty street lighting.

• No apparent measures in place in the event skilled staff can not be TUPE’d across and the Council needs to recruit and train staff.

Details click here

Traders are hitting back at the Council’s blanket ban on board advertising.

They have added an E petition to the Council’s web site. Click here to access it

The petition reads

“Sense on A-boards

The petition is to ask for the council to implement a sensible policy on A-boards rather than a draconian zero tolerance policy”.

Meanwhile 3 recent E petitions have passed the 100 supporter threshold. They are:

1. “Protect Towthorpe Household Waste Depot” which has 231 supporters and runs until 31st May

2. “Stop the Green Bin Tax” 150 supporters (ends today)

3. “Protect our Library and Archives service” 128 supporters (now closed).

Shamefully the Council has failed to update the web site which contained the timetable for visits by the Toy Bus.

Although the timetable expired at the end of March, the YorOK web site still has the following message on it.

“The Toy Bus website is being updated following the budget decision on the 28th February 2013 to stop providing a toy lending service with the Toy Bus.

Further details will be provided as soon as we have more information”

So far, Cllr Looker – the Labour Councillor with responsibility for the future of the Toy Bus – has failed to respond to a question tabled at the last Council meeting on 28th March which asked about its future.

We think that it is disgraceful that the Council can’t be bothered to make a statement about the future of the Toy Bus.

The “Save the Toy Bus” petition has so far attracted 49 supporters and will be available for more to add their signatures until Friday.

Click here for more details

York is set to become the first city in the UK to install a network of pay-as-you-go charging points for electric vehicles, and an event will be held this month to encourage the use of electric vehicles across the city

The scheme was announced last July by Liberal Democrat Transport Minister Norman Baker.

In addition to the 12 charging points already located across York, a network of fast charging points will be installed in city centre car parks and Park & Ride sites to allow residents and visitors to re-charge their cars on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The network will be installed by City of York Council and will be publicly accessible and have a simple payment system so that users can pay by phone/text in a similar way drivers currently pay for parking in council owned car parks.

Once installed, in the coming months, users can track all their energy usage remotely and see live availability of charge points from their mobile phones.

By registering their debit/credit card details, payments can instantly be made to pay for the charge time which will be at a very low cost compared to the price of petrol/diesel.

The charging point cables are secured behind a locking flap which guards against cable theft when charging and are operated by an internal GSM transmitter.

The charging facilities, being rolled out at the York Designer Outlet, supermarkets and hotels can add a 30-mile range to a vehicle’s battery within half an hour of use.

Renault Zoe

A ‘Switched On’ event will take place at the south entrance of York Designer Outlet on Wednesday 10 April from 10.30 – 4pm and will feature electric supercar the Tesla Roadster.

Electric cars from Nissan, Toyota, Mia and the new Renault ZOE will also make its UK public debut, and there will be a range of fun activities for families, including test drives.

The Yorkshire Ambulance Service, the first in the country to trial electric ambulances, will be displaying one of its vehicles at the Switched On event.

For more information about Switched On, click here.

Concerns still remain about the limited range of electric powered vehicles. Further technological progress is needed before large numbers are likely to be seen on our roads.

Funding will continue to be available for major adaptations that help more people stay independent and safe in their own homes for longer.

£615,000 will be available over the next year to offer discretionary assistance for disabled customers who need financial help to adapt their home.

Grants are generally means tested – exceptions are made for families with disabled children– meaning that support and advice is offered to the most vulnerable residents.

The funding will benefit disabled people who live in homes they own or rent privately, by improving facilities to support their independence.

This includes installing home adaptations such as level access showers and home access ramps of which the City funds over 170 a year across the city.

The continuation of funding shows a commitment to supporting vulnerable residents across the city and the effect of these adaptations.

Recent feedback showed that 100% of people who had them installed said that the aids met their needs and improved their quality of life.

The funding complement s other schemes which enable the provision of minor adaptations such as grabrails and handrails – of which between 1,800 and 2,000 are installed every year – and which are quick and easy to fit and help disabled people feel safer.

The Council’s ruling Labour “Cabinet” have tonight agreed to impose a £35 a year annual charge on residents who have a second green – garden waste – bin.

They have also decided to cut the hours of operation of the Towthorpe recycling site

A large petition was collected opposing the charging plan.

It is unclear how long it will be before the bills start to arrive through the letterboxes of the 3500 customers who together have around 5000 “additional” green bins.

Many could choose to give up the extra bins and use their grey bins instead.

As we saw with the closure of the Beckfield Lane site, everyone loses if the Council is faced with higher landfill charges.

To this should be added the 2370 tones of green waste generated in the winter months which will also not now be collected.

The Council’s “Cabinet” agreed to the plan to cut back on resident participation in decision making, as we predicted earlier today

Below is the latest list of planning applications received by the York Council for the Dringhouses and Woodthorpe ward. Full details can be found by quoting the application reference on the “planning portal” web site. Click here.

Representations can also be made in favour of, or in objection to, any application via the planning portal.

NB. The Council now no longer routinely consults neighbours by letter when an application is received.

Ref No: 13/00409/ADV Location: Knavesmire Service Station 20 – 22 Tadcaster Road Dringhouses York YO24 1LQ Proposal: Display of various signage to replace existing Applicant: The Co-operative Group Limited Contact Mr Derek Squibb Consultation Expiry Date 23 April 2013 Case Officer: Heather Fairy (Mon – Wed) Expected Decision DEL
Meanwhile the planning decisions taken by officers and Councillors in York are being increasingly criticised when appeals are considered.

Click to enlarge

The table (right) shows that between 1st January and 31st March 2013, a total of 16 appeals relating to CYC decisions were determined by the Inspectorate.

Of those, 6 were allowed. At 37.5%, the rate of appeals is higher than the 33% national annual average.

By comparison, for the same period last year, 4 out of 17 appeals were allowed, i.e. 23.53%

For the full year between 1st April 2012 and 31st March 2013, CYC performance was 43.55% allowed, higher than the previously reported 12 month period of 39.60%

A list of appeal decisions can be found by clicking here

A list of outstanding appeals can be found by clicking here.

The Council is likely to abandon today one of the key opportunities available for local residents to influence their communities.

Ward Committee meetings are likely to be consigned to history. Instead residents who wish to question the Councils policies at local level will have only an annual forum meeting to attend.

Vandalised cycle stands in Front Street

The agendas for these meetings will not have a “have your say” section. As a result resident participation will be so restricted it is unlikely that anyone will bother to attend.

The lack of meetings is likely to be of less concern than the loss of the Ward Committee budgets which were used to address priorities voted on by local residents. The annual ballot has been scrapped. A very small budget (only 15% of the amount budgeted in 2010) will be available although it will be allocated by local Councillors without a ballot of residents views.

Rather than being spent directly on tangible improvements (such as off street car parking) “local voluntary groups” will be commissioned to do the work. If there are no local bodies with the skills or capacity to complete projects then they simply won’t get done.

There are hidden threats in the new process. The Council talks about local groups “taking on” local assets. This means the Council abandoning its responsibilities and handing youth centres and other public facilities over to local volunteers. It is a cost cutting exercise, which is likely to result in the closure of facilities.

The decision to scrap ward committees is due to be taken at a meeting later today

The new process involves a refresh of “community contracts” which have been in place in York for the last 15 years. They are largely anodyne documents which are too inflexible to address the real concerns of local residents. They notably fail to include objective measures by which service quality and performance can be judged.

Ironically, a separate Council committee also meets this week called the “community engagement task group”.

Set up to consider ways of involving residents in the democratic process, its interim report praises the participation of residents in setting local budgets

Ironically it is that resident participation which is now being jettisoned by the Council’s “Cabinet”

The 20 mph propaganda web site run by the Council is still claiming that west York will be covered by the new 20 mph limit “by the end of the 2012/13 (financial) year”.

Well it hasn’t happened…….. fortunately.

Most residents still haven’t been consulted on the plan which could see £600,000 wasted on an unnecessary array of 20 mph signs on roads where speeds are already less than that limit.