North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 25 April and Tuesday 1 May 2012.

•A64 east-bound carriageway Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A1237 Monks Cross, York
•The Village, Stockton-on-the-Forest, York
•A1036 Malton Road, York
•A64 west-bound Carriageway, Bowbridge Farm, Tadcaster
•Ryecroft Avenue, Acomb, York
•Temple Lane, Copmanthorpe, York
•A1036 Tadcaster Road, York (more…)

At tonight’s Extraordinary Council the ruling Labour Group ignored public opinion again and decided to press ahead with their plans to close the Beckfield Lane Household Waste and Recycling Centre.

A petition against the closure, signed by over 3,000 local residents, was debated at the meeting alongside a Liberal Democrat motion that proposed keeping the site open.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Ann Reid, who moved the motion, commented:
“It is deeply disappointing that Labour once more completely ignored public opinion and pressed ahead with their closure plans. Over 3,000 residents signed the petition, including a record number using the Council’s e-system. It was a groundswell of opinion and anger that Labour closed their eyes to.
“Labour also failed to address many key issues that councillors and residents raised, including the threat of increased fly-tipping and the risk of damaging the recycling rate. Labour’s argument has shifted from economics to location to accessibility and in each area their claims have been found wanting.

“The Beckfield Lane site is convenient; serves the needs of the West of the City and the staff help overcome any accessibility problems. The Liberal Democrat Group demonstrated that it was possible to keep it open within the current budget constraints. It is shameful that Labour have chosen to close it instead.”

Detectives investigating after a cash delivery man was robbed on Front Street, Acomb, on Wednesday 18 April 2012 have arrested two more men in connection with the incident.

A 22-year-old man from Liverpool was arrested at York Train Station at around 12.45pm today (24 April 2012). He remains in police custody for questioning.

A 23-year-old local man was arrested on Ordnance Lane, York, at around 4.15pm on Friday 20 April 2012. He has been released on bail as enquiries continue.

Police have now arrested a total of five people as a result of their enquires into the robbery.

Any witnesses to the robbery are urged to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101 – select option 2 – and ask for York CID.

Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111, quoting reference number 12120061468.

The Council have finally announced the date of the meeting which will determine the Oakgate planning application for the Monks Cross area. The application incorporates proposals for a new Community Sports Stadium.

The Planning meeting on 17th May will have a start time of 10:00am.

“This flagship development will feature a varied selection of 2, 3, 4 & 5 bedroom unique contemporary designed, energy efficient, homes set in an environment of well managed, public open space and parkland areas for the benefit of the whole community”. So says the advertising pitch from developers David Wilson Homes and for once they are probably correct. Prices range from £205,000 to £430,000. Homes are also available to rent and under “shared ownership” arrangements.

A preview of the homes, and unique district heating system last Friday convinced most attending that the development will indeed rank with its predecessor New Earswick as a paradigm of innovative planning.
Meanwhile a planning application for the second wave of homes is recommended for approval at the Planning Committee which is scheduled to take place on Thursday. Outline planning permission was granted by the Secretary of State in May 2007 for the residential scheme of approximately 540 dwellings. Phase 1 of the development, accessed from Osbaldwick Village, was granted reserved matters approval in 2008 and this is the section which is currently under construction

The district heating system is provided by an Energy Centre which is located for efficient underground distribution. It will house plant, together with an underground store for the fuel (woodchips and pellets) that ‘fire’ the biomass boiler. The plant within the Centre will supply the heating and hot water needs for the whole community. This system is a key feature for delivering the low carbon component for the development. Derwenthorpe’s preferred bio fuel is woodchip. Woodchip will burn with extremely low pollution effects on the environment (compared to traditional sources like coal and oil) and can be sourced through both harvesting trees grown specifically for this purpose and recycling forestry thinning. It is anticipated that the woodchips will be sourced from a supplier in Yorkshire.

Homes have been designed and constructed to consume less heat to help save costs. Similar to the principle of a thermos flask, the new homes are extremely well insulated and the joints at windows, doors and roof details so robustly sealed that heat leaks from the inside at a significantly reduced rate compared to the average home in the UK
The Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust are providing a ‘Fibre to the Home’ (FTTH) service for all residents of Derwenthorpe. This infrastructure is state of the art and specifically designed for the development to ensure that high

quality technology services such as broadband, telephone, television and radio will be accessible to all homes.

The latest planning application seeks reserved matters approval on land west of Metcalfe lane, Osbaldwick. It covers the siting, design and external appearance of the neighbourhood located in the south-west quadrant of the site and accessed from Temple Avenue.

There are 123 dwellings proposed as part of this reserved matters application, laid out around a circular outer road and internal cruciform street pattern. There are seventeen house types arranged in a mix of terraced, semi-detached and detached properties. Some of the properties have garages, which are either individual or in short runs and are to be red brick with plain clay tiles to the roof.
All properties have a parking space, whether within a garage, parking court, in-curtilage or on- street. Visitor parking spaces and two car club spaces are accommodate within the neighbourhood. Two Local Areas of Play are shown on the plans, one in the central square and one adjacent to the Sustrans cycle track.

David Wilson Homes can be found at http://tinyurl.com/Derwenthorpe-house-sales

The Joseph Rowntree Derwenthorpe web site address is http://tinyurl.com/JoRo-Derwenthorpe

More about Joseph Rowntree 19th Century York Liberal (more…)

City of York Council will be holding several events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Baedeker Blitz in which The Guildhall was severely damaged on the 29 April 1942.

York Explore (@YorkLibrariesUK) will be tweeting a minute by minute account of the air raid through the night of April 29. There will also be display of fascinating historic documents, artefacts and books. The display will tell the story of the bombs as they fell and the courageous response of York’s people through photographs, maps, newspapers and the diaries of the city’s Air Raid Precaution (ARP) service.

York Stories 2012 are also looking for anyone who may have an account of the Baedeker blitz to record their story for posterity. There are many ways in which to tell a York story, it could be through words, music, video or digital media.

(more…)

Strange, no consultation for months then 2 come along on the same day.

This time you can give your views on issues like, vandalism, anti social behaviour, burglaries etc.

You can opt to see the results of the survey and chose to enter a draw for a £50 voucher if you wish.

Click this link to have your “on line” say here about public attitudes to policing. http://tinyurl.com/York-crime-survey

The survey is being run by York University on behalf of the Safer York Partnership

The Council have launched an “on line” survey which is apparently attempting to discover resident’s views on emission levels in the City. We think that residents should take very opportunity to make their views known on local issues, not least because the opportunities are very rarely offered these days and “silence may be taken as consent”.

The results of the survey are likely to be taken as an endorsement of the Council’s plan to exclude vehicles (of all sorts) from neighbourhoods that it has designated as low emission zones. The full impact of such a policy has never been explained (or thought through?) given that buses are currently some of the worst contributors to the levels of nitrogen dioxide in the City.

The Councils recent form is poor.

The low emission bus trial undertaken on 2010 has not been followed up and the Lord Mayor’s new Limo has a large conventional engine (another decision shrouded in secrecy).

Provision of electric charging points for plug in hybrids (and battery vehicles) are rarer than hens teeth.

The nearest hydrogen refuelling point is 200 miles way

The Council indicates some of the proposed methods which might be used in a low emission strategy include:
• Minimising the volume of vehicles and ensuring only the lowest emission buses, lorries and taxis available can access the areas of the city with the poorest air quality
• Promoting and incentivising the use of low emission vehicles, particularly those which run on electric, compressed natural gas (CNG), bio-methane and /or make use of hybrid technologies
• Investigating freight transhipment and electric vehicle deliveries for the city centre
• Promoting York as a centre of excellence for low emission technologies, attracting new businesses and industries

The supporting information fails the usual key test.

It does not reveal how much each change could cost and how could it be funded? This is particularly true of the concept of a transhipment depot to serve the City centre. It would be hugely expensive.

So we recommend that residents do complete the questionnaire but in doing so they retain a certain sense of scepticism about some of the statistics and health claims made in the supporting documents. In addition everyone should make the point that financial costings are essential if respondents are to make an informed judgement.

The survey can be found here http://tinyurl.com/York-Emission

York’s market will be held in Parliament Street on Monday 23 April to celebrate St George’s Day.

Traders in smart dress will be joined by face painters and musicians, and Parliament Street will be decked with flags and bunting

The annual survey of Council tenants in York has confirmed that the vast majority remain happy with most aspects of the service.

The biggest change came on replies to a question which asked tenants whether they were satisfied with opportunities to be involved with management and decision making.
This fell by 5 points with only 53% now satisfied with arrangements.

Although the survey was aimed specifically at relations with the Councils Housing Department, the poor response is likely to reflect a more general anger with the council about consultation arrangements – most of which have virtually collapsed over recent months.

When last in power, in the early part of the last decade, Labour started a process which might have led to Council Housing in York being hived off under an independent management arrangement.
In Leeds, Labour implemented their plans in 2003. The responsibility for managing homes owned by Leeds City Council transferred to an ‘Arms Length Management Organisations’ (ALMOs).

An Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) is a not-for-profit company set up by the Council to manage and improve the housing stock. Although an ALMO is a company wholly owned by the local authority, it is an autonomous self-governing organisation. The organisation operates under the terms of a management agreement between the Council and the ALMO.

In York the local authority passed into Liberal Democrat control in 2003 and plans to set up an ALMO in the City were scrapped. The Council went on to modernise all their properties before the 2010 deadline for “decent” homes.

The last tenant satisfaction survey published by Leeds revealed that 71% were satisfied with the services provided by the ALMO. This compares to an 89% satisfaction rating with Council housing in York.

It remains to be seen whether the Labour administration in York will resurrect their plans to hive off local Council housing into either an ALMO or a Housing Association.

NB. The Council survey asked respondents about their race, religion etc. The majority of respondents were white British females. 37% had a disability and 34% were aged over 65. 2/3 described their religion as Christian.