It has become clear how the York Council’s controversial £1 million “Delivery and Innovation fund” is being spent. Allocations, of under £100,000, from this fund are made by the Leader of the Council.
Contrary to expectations, most of the money has been allocated to “beer and skittles” style leisure events*.

There is a history going back a couple of centuries of unscrupulous politicians using various transient events to draw the attention of voters from more pressing matters. Cynics called it a “beer and skittles” tactic.

The tradition seems to be alive and well in York.

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Liberal Democrats will next week formally call on Labour to rule out charging for green bin waste collections after over 1,000 residents came out against the plans.

In July it was revealed that Labour run City of York Council was considering introducing a “subscription-based service” and seasonal garden waste collections in a bid to make budget savings. After the resignation of Cllr Sandy Fraser, then Cabinet Member for Environment Services, Labour’s plans were delayed with public consultation now not due to begin until next year.

However, at next week’s Full Council meeting the Liberal Democrats will call on Labour’s new Cabinet Member, Cllr David Levene, to abandon the plans. The Lib Dem petition against charging has already been signed by 1,173 residents. The Group has also raised concerns that charging will lead to a fall in recycling and a rise in landfill tax for the council. Last month, it was revealed that due to missed recycling targets, the Council will pay £3.3 million in landfill tax this year, an increase of nearly £400,000 on last year. A fall in green waste recycling would make the problem worse.

Councillor Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Environmental Services, commented:

“After months of uncertainty we are calling on Labour to formally abandon the plans to charge for the green bin service. The response from the public has been overwhelming this summer with 1,173 residents so far having signed a petition against the plans. Residents are angry that this frontline service is under threat and they see that this is just another way of getting money out of people for a service that is not changing or improving.

“Without public support these plans are unworkable and could lead to the situation that Labour had in Newcastle, where they introduced charging and over 40,000 residents returned their bins. A similar reaction in York would have a huge impact on recycling rates and could lead to a further rise in the landfill tax the Council is paying. Already, after the closure of the Beckfield Lane site, landfill tax is set to rise by £400,000 this year. A fall in garden waste being recycled will make the problem worse and is likely to cancel out any money raised through charging.

“It is time for Labour to cut their losses and stop spending any more money preparing these unpopular and ill-thought through proposals.”

NB Councillor Ann Reid will ask the Labour Cabinet Member for Environmental Services the following question at next Thursday’s Full Council meeting: “Given the delays in consultation, the threat of a rise in landfill tax charge, and the public opposition, will the Cabinet Member formally rule out introducing charging for the green bin service?”

1173 residents have so far signed a petition against Labour’s plans to introduce charging for green bins.

City of York Council will carry out essential surfacing works throughout parts of the city next week.

Starting on Monday 8 October, the council will carry out works to Micro Asphalt the following roads, which will provide a new skid resistant overlay.

• B1228 Main Street, Elvington

• Netherwindings and West Nooks (Part), Haxby

• Melcombe Avenue, Chipstead Walk and Portisham Place, Strensall

• The Village/Sandy Lane, Stockton on the Forest

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Tech support scams

Cybercriminals might call you on the telephone and claim to be from companies such as Microsoft.

They might offer to help solve your computer problems or sell you a software license.

However, once they have access to your computer, they can do the following:
•Trick you into installing malicious software that could capture sensitive data, such as online banking user names and passwords. They might also then charge you to remove this software.
•Take control of your computer remotely and adjust settings to leave your computer vulnerable.
•Request credit card information so they can bill you for phony services.
•Direct you to fraudulent websites and ask you to enter credit card and other personal or financial information there.

Neither Microsoft nor their partners make unsolicited phone calls (also known as cold calls) to charge you for computer security or software fixes.

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North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following routes between Wednesday 3 October and Tuesday 9 October 2012.

•B1217 Saxton lay-by
•Grange Farm, Wheldrake Lane Elvington
•Woodhouse Farm, Escrick Road
•A1246 Great North Road, Fairburn
•Escrick Road, Stillingfleet Mine
•A64 west-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A64 east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•Brayton Lane, Brayton, Selby
•Barff Lane, Brayton, Selby
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Tickets are still available for the York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir concert taking place in the Guildhall this Saturday, 6 October.

The annual concert is held in support of the Lord Mayor’s Christmas Cheer Fund where the award-winning choir will perform a wide variety of pieces with something to suit all musical tastes, including romantic love songs, numbers from popular shows and jazz.

The Lord Mayor of York, Cllr Keith Hyman, said: “Once again we are delighted that the York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir is able to support the Christmas Cheer Fund. It’s not only the concert we have to thank them for, but all the time and hard work they put in at rehearsals that make this a wonderful occasion. I look forward to seeing a full Guildhall on Saturday evening, for what I know will be an outstanding and uplifting evening.”

Visit York is supporting the event by selling tickets through the visitor information centre and they will be on sale right through until Saturday. Tickets can also be bought from the Guildhall reception during office hours.

Tickets are priced at £9 each, and all the proceeds from the evening will go to the Lord Mayor’s Christmas Cheer Fund, which will this year provide a Christmas reception for 800 elderly York residents. The concert starts at 7.30pm, and the ticket price includes an interval drink.

http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=3183188&ac=now

The York Council looks set to agree to ban high emission buses and commercial vehicles from the City.

A low emission strategy, first proposed in 2010 should finally get the green light next Tuesday. However, a public consultation exercise conducted earlier in the year attracted responses from fewer than 50 residents.

Sadly the road this strategy has followed has been tortuous and is littered with exaggerated claims and false starts.

A Labour opposition spokesman claimed in 2009 that 158 people died in York because of poor air quality. That seemed unlikely and it emerged last month that this figure was a pro rata extrapolation of a national study which cited “50,000” deaths. The logic applied was that because York has 0.3% of the UK population then it must have the same proportion of air quality deaths!!

In fact no accurate statistical evidence, of the effect that air quality has on local health, currently exists.

Nevertheless, the City now needs to make more progress on improving air quality (a problem in some of our narrow streets, when, in the absence of any wind, levels of NO2 and PMs can reach unacceptable levels). An officer report candidly admits that they don’t actually know why emission levels have been rising recently at some locations. They vaguely blame it on an increase in the number of diesel fuelled vehicles.

It is unfortunate that when Labour took control of the Council in May 2011 they jettisoned some important initiatives.

• A low emission bus trial was taking place on the Fulford corridor http://tinyurl.com/York-eco-bus. This was abandoned as the Council went on an, ultimately fruitless, search for a citywide bus franchise. Relations with York’s largest bus service provider also deteriorated against a background of public recriminations. No low emission buses have yet been ordered for the City (http://tinyurl.com/Low-emission-bus-setback).

eco bus

• Talks started in 2008 with a taxi operator who was interested in running low emission hybrid cars in the City. With the Council dithering over its priorities for taxi design the opportunity was lost and other Cities have now overtaken York. http://tinyurl.com/York-eco-cabs

• One of the first budget changes made by the new Council was to increase the ResPark badge fees paid by the owners of low emission vehicles. (Ironically they froze the charges for larger vehicles)

• Trials of a new car for the Lord Mayor had been going on for several months. The last Council had decided to evaluate the new Toyota Prius Plus, 7 seater, which was launched in the summer. Unfortunately by then, the new Council had opted for a more expensive vehicle with a 2.4 litre diesel engine. The opportunity to set an example was lost.

More hybrid cars in York over last few months

• Labour are also pressing ahead with their 20 mph citywide speed limit. This means that most cars will – if they observe the limit – be pushing out higher emissions than they would if they were travelling at 30 mph.

But the main failing of the current approach is the continued unwillingness of the Council to admit how much the transport changes (and particularly the vehicle bans) will cost and what the likely timescale is for it’s implementation. All the report to Tuesdays meeting http://tinyurl.com/emissions-York-9th-Oct-2012 says is that a further report will appear next year.

To support their plan the Council have issued a media statement which includes the following:

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Labours decsion not to fill nearly 50% of the salt bins, that are out on the streets of York, this winter is being “called in” for review.

It is expected that the meeting -which will be open to members of the public – will take place within the next fortnight.

Meanwhile it is becoming clearer which bins will not be filled. A map showing those that are being abandoned in west York is reproduced below.

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In Dringhouses 29 bins will not be filled this winter.

The Council have issued the following media release.

On the face of it having an on line option for checking when the next refuse collection is due at a particular house could be a handy tool.

This is particularly the case in those parts of the City with a large transient – student – population.

However we believe that it will be a precursor to introducing different day collections on different weeks.

The Council leadership would be mistaken if it believed that an online calendar would allow every resident to understand what was happening and when.

Many residents do not have internet access (about 40% at the last count).

“New online waste collection checker launched

Waste collection information is also available from City of York Council’s Customer Centre on 01904 551551 from 8.30am to 7pm on weekdays”.