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There may be less than £5000 to spend on improvements in the Dringhouses Ward over the next financial year according to figures obtained from the Council.

The current years budget was around £40,000.

Although a small “pot” is being retained for local voluntary groups -and there is a promise of an allocation of £19k for “needy areas” – it is clear that the crime prevention, parking and play provision programmes will now go “on the shelf” until after the next Council elections in 2015.

Chancery Rise possible access route. Click to enlarge

A Council working group is discussing today what the new road layouts may be as a result of the redevelopment of the land behind the station (York central) and the former British Sugar site on Boroughbridge Road.

Most interest is likely to be generated by the illustrations indicating how the area around the station might look if the Queen Street bridge is demolished (see right).

However, the report also names Chancery Rise (the former access to the carriage works) as the potential major access to York Central. The route would run parallel to Wilton Rise and could affect the Cleveland Street playground.

This route would be the cheapest to build at an estimated cost of £9.1 million.

Other alternatives near the Holgate Business Park are still being evaluated. These options would also have some amenity impact on adjacent residential properties on Renshaw Gardens, and require re-provision of existing open space.

It is likely that a second access would be provided from Water End near the Millennium Green. This is likely to be towards the end of the development period .

Some other local access routes into the site from Leeman Road are also now planned.

The Council report is weak on indicative costs. There is no split between the assumptions being made on developer ( S106) contributions and public sector liabilities.

There is also a need for clarity on proposed access arrangements through the Marble Arch Bridge. There are massive implications on the rest of the City’s road network and these need to be modelled as soon as possible.

Residents will expect (and need) informed consultation with choices. There is a major possibility of confrontation with some Leeman Road/Holgate Road residents if they are not given more information quickly and in an accessible format (the Council report contained 450 pages with other supporting papers only being available on the web).

There is also a need to address issues like the provision of off site parking (for York Central residents) at – for example – the park and ride site

This development is currently effectively on the shelf because of its costs. It will go ahead at some stage – the only issue is “when”. The time available needs to be spent separating the “nice to have” (demolishing Queens Street Bridge?) from the “essential” (the bridge access from Boroughbridge Road), if an early start is to be brokered.

Liberal Democrats on the City of York Council have announced that they have called in the Cabinet report which lays out the plans for the future structure of Ward committees. The report, which had been set to go before the Labour Cabinet on Tuesday 4th March, will now be subject to further scrutiny before being considered.

The plans lay out ideas to make fundamental changes the current system in which Councillors and council officers hold meetings in local areas so that residents can have their say on schemes in local schemes. Critics of the Labour Cabinet’s plans argue that the changes suggested will have a negative effect on Councillors’ links with their local communities.

Councillor Carol Runciman, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, said “The plans Labour have put forward are unclear, rushed and poorly thought out. They come on the back of huge cuts to Ward Committee funding for local projects, meaning that the result of the changes suggested would be poorer relations with local communities and a reduction in services for local residents.”

She went on to highlight the rushed nature of the process. This has resulted in the plans being brought forward without consultation with local councillors. She said “It appears that instead of Labour coming up with a carefully thought out plan, they voted to cut the budget by 65% and are now trying to pull together a system which will fit what is left.”

Cllr Runciman added “We presented an alternative budget which would have reversed the cut to Ward Committee funding. Liberal Democrats believe the council should not be in this position, but now that we are, we need to make sure that the system created is the best possible one for the people of York. A rushed approach like this is not the way to achieve that.”

Heavy rain restricted the numbers of signatures that volunteers were able to collect outside the centre today.

They hope to be back next Sunday.

If you can help with the petition please ring Reuban on 781589

City of York Council and Yorwaste have teamed up to give local residents free compost this spring and summer.

Green fingered gardeners will be able to collect their free compost from Yorwaste’s Harewood Whin site, on Tinker Lane, off Wetherby Road on:

• Sunday 4 March
• Sunday 1 April
• Sunday 6 May
• Sunday 3 June
• Sunday 8 July
• Sunday 5 August
• Sunday 2 September
• Sunday 7 October

The compost will be available from 9.30am until 2.30pm each day and residents are asked to bring a shovel and bags or containers to take the compost home in.

Craig Capper, Harewood Whin Site Manager, Yorwaste, said: “Last year the Giveaways were really successful and residents took around 2,320 tonnes of compost. We hope that this year, we will give away even more.”

For further information residents can visit www.york.gov.uk/waste

Andrew Waller and Richard Hill collecting signatures on the Beckfield Lane petition today.

About half a dozen residents were outside the Beckfield Lane recycling centre today collecting signatures on the “Save Beckfield Lane Recycling Centre” petition.

Around 100 signatures were collected in the first hour with many users taking forms away to collect more support.

Volunteers are required to help collect signatures at the centre on Sunday. Ring Andrew on 337757 or Reuban on 781589 if you can help or if you would like a poster or car sticker to display.

A leading children’s charity has hailed City of York Council’s library services for being a ‘good place for all young people to come’.

The Children’s Society has praised the council after an assessment was carried out by disabled young people who visited Acomb Explore Library Learning Centre last November.

In feedback provided to Acomb Explore, the young people unanimously agreed in their report that the Explore Centre “provides a wide range of inclusive activities, it is fully accessible and the staff have a good attitude”.

Lynda Corker, programme manager of The Children’s Society in York said: “The award isn’t just about ramps for wheelchairs and accessible toilets, important as they are, but also looks at the attitude of staff and their commitment to ensuring disabled people receive a warm welcome and support when it is needed.”

The ‘Good Place To Come’ Award is granted by disabled young people from The Children’s Society’s PACT project in York who aim to help places become more inclusive to disabled people.

The Acomb Explore Library was built by the last Liberal Democrat Council. Further examples followed including a massive refurbishment of the Central Library

Liberal Democrat Group Leader Carol Runciman has urged the Labour Cabinet to release secret briefing papers about the Community Stadium project to the public. The call comes amid fears that important information about the scheme will only be discussed behind closed doors by Council leaders.

The Community Stadium project is set to come before the Cabinet on Tuesday 6th March. However, large parts of the council papers have been made confidential including key details regarding how the project will be financed.

Councillor Carol Runciman said “The plans for the Community Stadium, which the Liberal Democrats initiated when in office, are something we back and we are pleased that the matter has now progressed to cabinet. However, hiding vital details from the public is not the proper way for the council to operate.”

The news of the withholding of significant data comes in the context of a stream of stories highlighting Labour’s unwillingness to be open with the public about decision-making. The Liberal Democrats have most recently been demanding that Labour change their plans to remove the publicly-held decision making sessions for Cabinet members.

Cllr Runciman pointed out that Liberal Democrat made sure when in office that they minimised the ‘confidential’ elements of any council reports, so that the actions being taken were clear to the public. She said “When Liberal Democrats ran the council, we always made sure officers released as much information as was possible to the public, but in this case, it appears that Labour are trying to cover everything up. There are nearly 100 pages of information which Labour has refused to release.”

The Lib Dem Leader said that the Community Stadium was too significant a project to not disclose this information to residents. She said “The Community Stadium is an important project for the future of York. It is wrong that the cabinet has not made all of the relevant information available to the public. We are urging the Labour cabinet to release as much paperwork as possible and not keep the majority of it hidden, so that the basis of the decisions being made is clear to all of York’s residents.”

England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales will be represented by teams composed of stars from sport and TV undertaking a 1,000 mile challenge – each team running the final mile through the city of York finishing at the Eye of York for an overnight stay.

As part of Sports Relief 2012, four national teams will start the race simultaneously from their home cities of Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh and London and will head off clockwise around the UK and Ireland via the other four capital cities as they battle to be the First Nation Home.

Participants include top TV presenters and celebrities Gethin Jones, celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin, presenters Andrea MacLean, Phil Spencer and Craig Doyle, actress and model Gemma Atkinson, Olympians Sonia O’Sullivan, Iwan Thomas and Chris Boardman, Dame Ellen MacArthur and rugby stars Thom Evans, Josh Lewsey and star of Big Brother, Gareth Thomas. Scotland arrive on 10th, Ireland 13th, Wales 15th and England 16th March. Join the Civic Party and give them a good Yorkshire welcome!

Teams wil be expected to finish at the Eye of York at 6pm (any alterations to times will be posted on www.yorkfestivals.com) on Sat 10, Tues 13, Thurs 15 and Fri 16 March.