Local charities will have to pay £20 to rent a stall at the fairs organised by the Council this summer.

The fairs are held at Hob Moor, Rowntree, West Bank Park, Hull Road and Acomb Green and are a popular event attended by many local residents.

Although no fees for stall rentals were included when the Labour Cabinet agreed its charges for the forthcoming year last December, it now appears that the Councillor with responsibility for Leisure (Cllr Crisp) secretly agreed to levy the new charge. There is no record of this being considered at a Council Cabinet – or any other – meeting and none of the voluntary organisations affected were consulted.

Commercial organisations will be charged a fee of £40. In total around £4000 will be raised by the Council from the new charges.

About 100 different community groups will be affected by the decision together with about 35 commercial organisations.

Although not likely to have as serious an impact on the voluntary sector as the huge reductions in grant aid announced by the Council last month, the secrecy behind the move is yet another example of the widening gulf between the attitudes of some Labour Councillors and the views of the community as a whole.

The Council has now published a report which shows the scale of cuts to highways maintenance services.

Because it is a 2 year programme some promised resurfacing works will not be carried out until 2013/14. Cherry Lane in Dringhouses, Hempland Lane, St Oswald’s Rd and Peckitt St are some of the roads that will see the work postponed while the budget for Tranby Ave has been reduced from £150,000 to £100,000.

Meanwhile the money available safety works such as anti-skid surface and fencing has been cut by £20,000 and by £10,000 for cycle path maintenance. A total of £100,000 less will be spent on winter maintenance and £146,000 less on gulley cleaning and other drainage works.

Cllr Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Communities and Neighbourhood said “We are now beginning to see the effect of Labour’s budget decisions and residents can expect to see a deterioration in roads and footpaths as maintenance budgets are reduced. Residents often tell us that the condition of footpaths and roads is a top priority for them but unfortunately Labour’s budget decisions will mean less money is spent on this basic service.”

North Yorkshire Police has pledged its support to a European road safety campaign warning against the dangers of not wearing seatbelts.

The initiative which is being coordinated by the European traffic police network TISPOL runs for one week from Monday 12 March 2012 to Sunday 18 March 2012.

Officers will be carrying out checks on the county’s roads throughout the campaign to ensure that motorists and their passengers are belting up.

It is estimated that universal seatbelt use would save 6,000 lives and prevent 380,000 serious injuries a year across Europe.

Officers are urging drivers to support the campaign and take responsibility for their own safety and the safety of their passengers and other road users.

Traffic Constable Paul Moon, of North Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Group, said:
“The benefits of wearing a seatbelt are well documented but unfortunately some people are still failing to wear them when they get behind the wheel .

“The simple fact is that wearing a seatbelt can save your life and I urge all road users to make the effort to use one and ensure that their passengers do the same.

“Over the next week officers will be stopping vehicles to ensure that the occupants are wearing seatbelts and if you aren’t it is likely that you will be fined.”

TISPOL is committed to reducing death, serious injury and crime on Europe’s roads. Its activities are guided by research, intelligence, information and experience, to produce measurable results that contribute to reducing casualties and making roads safer.

York West Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team have been working in conjunction with City of York Council and Safer York Partnership to provide support to elderly and vulnerable victims of burglary.

Following an increase in burglaries in the Acomb area of the city, a clear pattern emerged which identified elderly and vulnerable residents as the main targets. A scheme was set up whereby members of the local policing team visited residents in this area to offer crime prevention advice and reassurance. This was supported by the City of York Council handypersons scheme fitting security equipment funded by Safer York Partnership to secure vulnerable premises and make the properties less accessible to burglars. Equipment supplied through the scheme included internal alarms, security lights and window and door locks.

Sgt Iain Sirrell from the Safer Neighbourhood Team said “This initiative has not only ensured that these premises are now secure from future burglaries, it has also provided essential reassurance and peace of mind to the elderly residents in this area.”

At a time when complaints about dogs fouling public areas are on the increase, the York Council is on the brink of scrapping its dedicated Dog Warden (animal welfare) service.

Instead a very much reduced enforcement service will be provided by street environment officers (who already have more than enough to do).

The move comes in the wake of a decision to reduce the number of “poop scoop” bins in the City by 20%.

It is another short sighted measure by a Labour administration at the Council which has muddled priorities. Basic services like this are simply more important that setting up multi million pound “innovation” funds.

Currently the dog wardens investigate complaints about irresponsible dog owners who fail to clear up after their dog. Owners who fail to do so face prosecution or the issue of a £50 fixed penalty notice. The Dog Warden can be contacted on their hotline on York 551530 email: animal.health@york.gov.uk (including missing dogs or attacks by dogs)

Stray dogs can be reported on York 552299.

Further information can be found on the Councils web site at http://www.york.gov.uk/environment/Animal_welfare/Dog_warden_service/Dog_warden/

To mark the London 2012 Games, City of York Council is inviting local sports clubs and fitness organisations to take part in an exciting programme of events to be held across the city this summer.

York’s celebrations for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics will kick off on 19 June when the Olympic Torch Relay passes though York. The relay will mark the beginning of a series of Sports Club Open Days followed by Celebrating Ability Day at Energise on 24 August, the Just 30 Fair on 15 September and ending with the Eng-AGE 50+ games on 1 October.

The clubs can sign up to help welcome the Olympic Torch Relay to York by celebrating along its route, or they can hold a stall and give taster sessions at the Just 30 Fair, or they can take part in the Eng-AGE 50+ Games.

All the events are free to participate in and the council can support clubs with the organisation, promotion and hosting of some of the events.

Any sports or fitness organisation wanting to become part of York Gold 2012 should contact Neil Gulliver on 01904 553377 or email neil.gulliver@york.gov.uk

More information
Minster http://www.yorkminster.org/calendar/ tel. 0844 939 0015
York Theatre Royal info@yorktheatreroyal.co.uk tel (01904) 623568
York Barbican http://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk tel. 0844 854 2757
Grand Opera House www.grandoperahouseyork.org.uk tel. 0844 847 2322
Visit York http://www.visityork.org/ tel. 01904 550099
Yortime www.yortime.org.uk

A new study has confirmed that fewer homes need to be built in the York area over the next few years than previously forecast. In 2010 consultants GVA were commissioned to undertake a new Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) on behalf of the North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Partnership.
It provides and assessment of recent and current trends in housing supply and demand and helps in understanding the broad impact of economic and demographic trends and the various factors which drive the demand or need of different households for different types of housing.

The new study suggests that the City will need between 686 and 800 new homes each year.

This is less than the Council has included in its Local Development Plan and will help to sustain the argument, likely to be put at the public examination of the plan later in the year, that the City does not need to reserve large parts of green belt land for potential development.

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following (York area) roads between Wednesday 7 March and Tuesday 13 March 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
•Broadway, Fulford, York
•Murton Way,Murton, York
•Fordlands Road, Fulford, York
•A64 Malton by-pass Malton east and westbound
•A64 between Whitwell Hill and Barton Hill
•A64 between Barton-le-Willows and Jinnah

The mobile safety cameras will be in operation at the above sites at various times during the dates stated. Cameras will not be in use on the above routes all day, every day.

City of York Council will carry out footway alterations and carriageway reconstruction and resurfacing works from the junction of Coppergate to the access road to the Principal Courts/Castle Museum from 12 March for approximately two weeks.

Preparatory work involving footway widening for new bus stops between Lower Friargate and Cumberland Street and opposite the Magistrates Courts is ongoing at present. This work is being carried out under temporary traffic signals.

The carriageway resurfacing works are programmed to start on the 12 March, working from 7am to 11pm. To carry out the carriageway works safely, a 24-hour one-way lane closure will be necessary for the whole period of the works to prevent traffic entering the City from the Tower Street/Skeldergate Bridge end. At the citybound point of closure, a signed diversion route will operate via Skeldergate Bridge, Nunnery Lane, Station Road, Rougier Street and Low Ousegate to the Coppergate end point of closure.

Anyone needing vehicular access to Clifford Street/Tower Street from adjacent side streets or properties, will need to follow the one-way outbound traffic flow.

Bus stops will be relocated during the times of the works and notices will be posted to redirect passengers to the nearest available bus stop.

The Contractor carrying out the work will be City of York Council Highways.

For more information about bus diversions, please see the council’s website at www.york.gov.uk/transport/Public_transport/buses/Clifford_Street/