Bins to be removed. Click to enlarge

Labour have announced the 22 litter bins that they will be scrapping in the Dringhouses Ward.

It amounts to over a 1/3 of the total provision in the area.

Incredibly they are removing bins from high litter areas such as Tadcaster Road and the Acomb Wood Drive shops forecourt.

Tadcaster Road does particularly badly with 9 bins likely to be removed including 2 which serve the area near Tesco.

The cuts will leave the 10,000 residents in the Dringhouses Ward with a total of just 34 litter bins and 28 “poop scoop” bins.

Council workers start to remove litter bins

Labour have claimed that the scrapped bins duplicate other bins, are unused or are used to dispose of domestic waste.

The decision comes just 2 months after the Beckfield Lane recycling centre was closed.

The future of the free green waste collection is also under review as Labour look for savings to fund their City centre projects.

Overall across the City 350 litter and “poop scoop” bins are to be removed

We say, “These cuts follow the city centre cuts and will leave residents questioning how Labour can find money for free Wi-Fi schemes and a £1 million slush fund for the Council Leader, but can not provide the basic frontline services that residents need. It is typical of this out-of-touch Labour administration that is neglecting the neighbourhoods and residents it claims to support”

Offices to be turned into hotel

Residents have only 2 weeks left in which to make their views known about ambitious plans to turn the existing Council offices – which will be vacated within the next year – into an 88 bedroom hotel and restaurant.

The proposed development comprises the change of use of the existing buildings for a hotel with restaurant, bar, leisure and office uses. Some small areas of the buildings are proposed for demolition with selective new extension works and associated landscaping.

The buildings include the “crescent form array” of property (1 – 9 St Leonard’s Place) on the south side of St Leonard’s Place, which have a Grade II* listing, and 2 and 4 Museum Street, which are Grade II listed. As such, the proposed works are also the subject of a separate application for Listed Building Consent.

Although the appearance of the listed building to the front won’t change much, a planning application by new owners Rusbond does involve extensive internal modifications and an extension.

It is a great shame that the Council has not sorted out the long term future of St Leonards Place, as a decision about restricting traffic could impact on the use made of, not just this imposing building, but also others in the street.

There is talk of removing the bus stops from the frontage.

What is certain is that the car park to the side of the building – which was available for public use in the evening and weekends – will be lost as it will in future be reserved for hotel guest use.

There has been remarkably little publicity about this planning application with the supporting papers revealing initial consultation involved only a handful civic organisations.

Full details of the planning application can be found here. http://tinyurl.com/St-Leonards-Planning

City of York Council will be carrying essential resurfacing works in Haxby this Monday (18th June). Carriageway resurfacing works will take place on The Village (road) Haxby, between and including the junctions with Westfield Road and York Road roundabout. The works will start on Monday 18 June for completion by Friday 29 June. The works will take place weekdays only between 9:15 am and 4pm

City of York Council is responding to requests from parents for more advice and information on topics to do with teenagers.

The councils parenting team will be running two workshops in June and July on ‘Talking to your teen about sex’ and ‘Enjoying your teens.’

Talking to your Kids about Sex. Thursday 21 June 12.30 – 2.30 at Hob Moor Children’s Centre. This workshop is for parents of children of all ages and includes ideas for tackling those difficult questions about sex, where to find resources and to remind parents how all the bits work!

Enjoying your Teens. Friday 13 July 10am – 12noon, Haxby Road Children’s Centre. This workshop is for parents of teens and includes ideas for understanding teenage behaviour and some strategies for dealing with what can sometimes be a bit of a testing time.

Workshops can be repeated in the evening if there is enough interest from parents who cannot attend during the day.

Parents can book a place on a workshop via the council’s Family Information Service on 554444 or fis@york.gov.uk or text direct on 07833 482 284.

To find out more about this, and the range of other programmes available in York for parents of children of all ages, parents can access the Parent’s Zone at www.yor-ok.org.uk

City of York Council is lining up an exciting team of sport taster sessions for all to enjoy at the Olympic Torch celebrations at York Racecourse on 19 June.

The special event will kick off at 2:30pm with a host of interactive sports displays from a wide range of sporting organisations which the public can take part in for free.

Sessions will be on offer from sports bodies including The Yorkshire Cricket Foundation, England Basketball, British Cycling, British Equestrian Foundation, Orienteering – Eborienteers, Climbing Wall and British Gymnastics.

From 5pm an evening of entertainment follows the demonstrations, with performances from Katy B, Twist & Pulse and more.

Sport sessions will be running from 2:30pm to 5pm on 19 June at York Racecourse and free tickets are available from:

• Visit York’s Visitor Information Centre on Museum Street
• York Explore Library Learning Centre at Library Square
• Acomb Explore on Front Street, Acomb
• or Tang Hall Library on Fifth Avenue, Tang Hall.

Despite the confusion in the media, we understand that “walk up” charges will be available for the new competition standard swimming pool when it opens on Hull Road in August.

The organisers tell us that, “The pool is also available on a pay as you go basis with discounts available for concessions and York card holders. These details will be available on the website shortly once confirmed but will range between £3.20-£4.55”.

The Pool will be open for everyone to use and enjoy from 6am-11pm during the week and 6:30am-11pm on weekends.

The admission charges are comparable with the Energise pool on Cornlands Road where the charges are Adult (with YorkCard) £3.65, Adult (standard) £4.55.

A walk through video of the new pool can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/York-pool-video

The Sports Village web site can be found here: http://www.york-sport.com/york_sport_village.php

The Sports Village results from an agreement, signed in 2010, between the York Council and the University of York, which incorporated public access conditions.

Outside air pump

Tenants of the first City of York Council homes to be fitted with sustainable energy heating systems are ready to cut their carbon footprint – and their fuel bills.

Seven homes at Wenlock Gardens, Wheldrake, have had air source heat pumps installed to provide central heating. The pumps work by absorbing heat from the air – even when the temperature is as low as -15° C – which is used to heat radiators and hot water.

The new heating systems will maintain an even temperature in the home, and by using heat from the air the seven heat pumps are expected to save over 700 tonnes of carbon over the next 25 years and the tenants should save on their money on their fuel bills. The homes have also been fitted with double glazed windows as well as cavity wall and loft insulation to minimise heat loss in winter and keep the homes cooler in summer.

City of York Council paid for the heat pumps using the Renewable Heat Premium Payment grant from the Energy Saving Trust and the installation was managed in partnership with Yorkshire Energy Partnership and Community Energy Solutions.

Besides making these home improvements, council partner York Energy Partnership is also offering free loft and cavity wall insulation to all York householders through the city’s Wrapping up York scheme. For details call York Energy Partnership on 01904 55 44 06.

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 13 June and Tuesday 19 June 2012.

•A64 east-bound Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•York Road, Haxby, York ( Cycle Shop )
•York Road, Haxby, York
•A1237 Monks Cross, York
•A64 Malton by-pass east and west-bound
•A64 Seamer by-pass Scarborough
•A64 Seamer Road, Scarborough
•A64 Between Whitwell Hill and Barton Hill
•A64 Between Barton-le-Willows and Jinnah
•A64 Between Barton Hill and Whitwell Hill
•A171 Jugger Howe opposite Springhill Farm (more…)

Olympic torch route in York click to enlarge

Tickets for the Olmpic entertainment event on 19th June are going well. They are available now from the Acomb Explore Library.

Meanwhile the Council has announced that it will be giving the Olympic Torch a ringing welcome to York with almost a dozen welcoming bands, choirs, peals of bells – church and bicycle – and even a few Vikings, before the Scots Guards’ band of pipes and drums see it off to Thirsk aboard the Scots Guardsman locomotive.

To entertain the waiting crowds and help build the atmosphere, the entertainment will start outside York College where the first Torchbearer will begin the York relay at 5.23pm on 19 June. Along its route, the Torch will be serenaded by choirs including the York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir, and a special performance by visiting choral groups from Australia and the USA.

The council’s York Arts Academy Band, local scout bands and a number of Shepherds’ Brass Bands will play, as will the Railway Institute’s Brass Band which has ‘The Grand Old Duke of York’ a favourite in its repertory. And greetings will be roared at the Flame from Clifford’s Tower by a group of Vikings.

Ringing a welcome through the city will be St Wilfrid’s peal from 4.45pm followed by York Minster’s carillon of 35 bells run after Evensong from 6pm on 19 June – listen out for the theme tune of ‘Chariots of Fire’ from Hugh Hudson’s 1981 film. Bicycle bells will be rung by some 100 young cyclists and parents on their specially-decorated bikes as the Torch passes Knavesmire Primary School on Campleshon Road.
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Jubilee Quilt - 125 years old

The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles, based at the Quilt Museum and Gallery in York, is planning an exciting city-wide exhibition of quilts in public spaces around the city – ‘Quilt City’ – as part of the York 800 celebrations.

The exhibition will be supported by The National Lottery through Arts Council England and City of York Council. It will run from 14 September until 16 November 2012. ‘Quilt City’ will show a wide range of original and contemporary York-themed quilts, which are unique works of textile art, in locations around the city centre.

As part of this innovative project, two contemporary quilt makers have been commissioned to make new work for the exhibition. Linda Barlow and Alicia Merrett will both produce quilts exploring contemporary and historical York.

Alicia Merrett is based in Somerset and has won the Quilters’ Guild Trophy for best use of colour in show twice. For this commission Alicia will produce a colourful quilt map influenced by John Speed’s 17th Century map of York. Alicia has said that her quilted map will “describe the main features of the city that survive today, and show the beginnings of what is now a great and flourishing city. It will celebrate the permanence of the main features of York”.

Linda Barlow, based in Shropshire, makes pictorial quilts creating images and scenes based upon substantial research. Linda has been commissioned to make quilt work in the UK and the USA winning many awards. For ‘Quilt City’, Linda will work with images and ideas based on her experiences of visiting the city.

Guild President, Tina McEwen said “The Guild is excited about commissioning two leading quilters to make work especially for the Quilt City exhibition.

The exhibition take the best of contemporary quilting to a wide audience in all sorts of locations across the city and introduce the art of quilting to people who people who have never seen contemporary textile art. We hope that many people will also visit our Museum at Peasholme Green as a result.”

For more information about the exhibition visit The Quilters’ Guild website: www.quiltersguild.org.uk