Council officials are recommending that the City invest £1.6 million of taxpayer’s money in a new Leeds City Region development fund.

The fund is being set up to support economic development in the West Riding, York and Harrogate.

It is hoped that the Revolving Investment Fund will have £500 million available to subsidise the Leeds City Region.

Officials say that, “The Fund would be maintained and grown by investing in commercially viable projects and leveraging match-funding, to gain the greatest returns with which to reinvest in further projects”.

The York contribution would come from the £20 million Economic Investment Fund set up by the present York Council.

This fund has been heavily criticised as it increases the debt costs of the Council.

Taxpayers will have to fund the debt in future years.

There is no guarantee under the new arrangements that the City will ever recover its contribution to the new “Revolving Investment Fund”

The donation from York is in addition to the £500,000 slated to be given to the Leeds “Transport Fund”

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York will face off with 5 West Yorkshire authorities when it seeks funding for transport improvements in the City in future.

Labour Councillors are set to cede decision making powers and put around £6 million a year into a transport pot shared with West Yorkshire

In effect, a Leeds City Region Transport Board (Combined Authority) will be able to levy a precept on the City in the same way as currently the Fire and Police authorities do.

It is a big loss of autonomy for the City, with no guarantees that free travel times for pensioners would not be adversely affected or park and ride services – amongst the most successful in the country – scaled back.

The investment package favoured by Labour (see left) does not include any dualling of the northern by pass (A1237).

The section between Wetherby Road and the Haxby Road is estimated to cost £200 million alone (because of the river/railway crossings).

The rationale behind the Council’s decision not to give a high priory to dualling part of the A1237 can be found here

The financial implications for taxpayers are startling.

The report admits,

“There is currently no revenue budget provision for the York contribution to a Transport Fund. The funding requirement ramps up from £452k in 14/15 to £4.070m per year by 2022/23 and would need to be maintained for the following 30 years. The costs …would add to the Council’s budget gap and need to be considered in the context of the budget savings which the Council is already having to identify.

The proposed 40% LTP top-slice will have a significant impact on the ability to deliver smaller scale local schemes in York. The base LTP budget allocated for 2013/14 is £1.63m and £2.32m in 2014/15. A 40% top-slice is therefore likely to amount to around £930k per annum. Depending on future settlements the funding available for smaller local transport schemes could be in the region of £1.4m”.

There would therefore be very little money available for road safety improvements in the City.

We think that the government’s decision to devolve the funding, which is available for major transport schemes, to local authorities is the right one. It should help to demystify the process for establishing priorities.

However, the requirement to find “local money” to supplement the devolved funding has major implications for taxpayers.

It is essential therefore that the City not only gets a fair share of the available funding but also that it is spent wisely.

The Council currently intends to spend the vast majority of the available fund in the City centre.

Once again the sub-urban areas will feel that they are getting a raw deal.

“It’s time to get pedalling or striding out with York’s latest programmes of free group walks and guided cycle rides in York. The walks and cycle rides are led by trained volunteers, are free to everyone and take place all over the city”.

Walking and cycling are free and convenient ways to become more active whilst exploring York and enjoying the outdoors at the same time.

The new programmes, covering April, May and June, are available by clicking here (walks) and here (cycle rides)

Alternatively, leaflets are available from York libraries or by contacting Sarah Prescott, Active Living Officer on 01904 553377 or emailing sarah.prescott@york.gov.uk

Residents in Rawcliffe and Clifton Wards could shortly have a knock on the door as Council staff seek to persuade them to change the way that they travel around the City

From May, travel advisers will be on hand to provide” tailored travel advice”

The advisers will provide information such as bus and cycle maps, and offer personal ‘challenges’ for individuals to try out a new form of sustainable transport.

Participants will also receive incentives such as a pedometer, free bus taster ticket or a bike health check to help them on their way.

Households will receive an introductory postcard in the next few weeks about the advisers identities, uniforms and what the free service involves.

The exercise will roll-out to other wards including Huntington, Haxby, Earswick and New Earswick in 2014.

The project sounds a little patronising to us and, as is now usual with the Council, it is unclear how the success of the venture will be judged.

The coalition government has allocated £4.6 million to ease transport problems in the City

For more information visit www.itravelyork.info/

City of York Council will be carrying out essential carriageway resurfacing works on Greengales Lane, Wheldrake and Corban Lane, Skelton throughout the week of 29 April.

City of York Council will be carrying out essential carriageway resurfacing works on Greengales Lane, Wheldrake and Corban Lane, Skelton throughout the week of 29 April.

The works will both start on Monday 29 April and will last approximately a week, with work taking place between the hours of 8am-5pm Monday-Friday.

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Reducing the volume of traffic on the Lendal bridge/St Leonards Place route is a commendable objective.

The Council’s proposal to ban cars from the route (between 10:30am and 5:00pm) is badly timed and ill considered.

The report reveals that there will be an increase in the number of vehicles using other bridges
A1237 22%
Clifton 8%
Ouse 17%
Skeldergate 14%
A64 5%

Although the traffic management model, which cost the Council tens of thousands of pounds to purchase, could provide the information, the report singularly fails to indicate the additional delays that there will be on these routes.

Nor does it tabulate the additional emissions which will be generated by longer journey lengths. Several of the alternative routes already have air quality problems.

Both have an economic consequence.

The start date is several months before capacity improvements on the A1237 (and obvious alternative route) are completed. The A59 junction bottleneck won’t get its enlarged roundabout until Spring 2014 (at the earliest).

So what’s the hurry?

The idea of restricting access to York City centre bridges is not new.

Some 25 years ago the bridge was closed to traffic to allow essential maintenance work to be completed. Grid lock did not result and the environment for pedestrians was improved.

But the traffic did not magically disappear. Drivers from west York were left with a long detour to reach the York hospital. Residents living in places like Haxby and Huntington faced equally long detours to reach the railway station.

Some did choose other modes of transport. There was a modest increase in bus usage and those cycling. But others simply put off journeys, selected out of City centre shopping options or cancelled leisure trips altogether.

Fast forward to 2003 when a debate about reducing traffic on the same corridor was initiated. There was huge opposition with (ironically) Labour Councillors claiming that any restrictions would being traffic chaos to the Bootham/Kingsway West/Crichton Avenue area.

It was agreed then that any major change would have to await improvements to the A1237.

The Council plans to use number plate recognition technology to enforce the ban, They hope eventually to extend the hours to 7:00am – 7:00pm

The world has moved on over the last 20 years.

Traffic levels are already much higher than they were when Lendal Bridge was last closed.

Congestion levels on some alternative access routes such as Gillygate are already high. There are no options to provide bus priority measures on some arterial links. Public transport in the evening rush hour will suffer.

So what should the Council do.

1. Consult with residents and businesses before implementing any changes

2. Establish objective criteria on which to base any judgement of the success of any trial

3. Start small. Introduce a change for the period 10:30am and to 4:00pm(avoiding the busiest times of the day)

4. Make it a 3 month trial

5. Coincide the start of any trial with the introduction of the new A59 park and ride site (and congestion reducing measures on the A1237)

Some residents have started a petition opposing the closure plan.

Labour Councillors will meet on Tuesday 7th May to discuss a proposal to build 11 flats on the garage area at Chaloners Road.

The Council will need to apply for planning permission (to themselves!) for the proposals. If granted, then work on site could start in June 2014 with completion in June 2015

There are similar proposals for Newbury Avenue (9 flats) and Hewley Avenue (6 flats).

Other homes will be built at sites at Fenwick Street(9 flats), the former recycling depot at Beckfield Lane (27 houses and flats) and York Road, Haxby (4 houses).

In total between 60 and 70 Council homes will be constructed.

Ironically none of the sites were identified for housing in the Local Plan published by the Council only 10 days ago!!

With secure parking space at a premium in the area, the Council have yet to indicate where they think that the displaced vehicles will go.

We understand that the Council has only written to the residents who currently rent the garages in the last few days.

No consultation with the local community or residents association was undertaken by the Council.

All in all a pretty shabby way of treating a local community in our view.

A quicker way of providing more homes to rent quickly, would have been for the Council to purchase empty property on the open market. Alternatively they could have done a deal with one of the house builders who already have planning permission to build homes at places like the Terry’s, Nestle South, Germany Beck and the old Sugar Works on Boroughbridge Road. Such an approach would have the advantage of “kick starting” housing developments that are effectively “stalled”.

The report to the “Cabinet” can be read by clicking here.

Site plan click here

Residents can submit by Email comments on any agenda item. Residents can also register to speak at the meeting (but must do so in advance)

Representations can also be made via local ward Councillors.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Nigel Ayre is calling for answers over proposals to construct wind turbines across York.

Some of the turbines are set to be constructed on land to the west of Woodthorpe, Westfield and Acomb

Details of the scheme have emerged as part of Labour run City of York Council’s Local Plan. The proposals, which were announced earlier this month, would also see 22,000 new houses built in York over the next 15 years.

After questions from Lib Dem Councillors, it can now be revealed that locations across York have been earmarked as potential sites for ‘Renewable Electricity Generation’.

An area outside the outer ring-road, has been highlighted as being potentially suitable for commercial wind development with council maps plotting large (2.5MW) and medium (1.5MW) scale wind turbines in the area.

Large turbines are typically 75 to 100 metres tall.

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Two 15-year-old boys have been arrested in connection with an attempted robbery at a convenience store in York.

The incident happened at the Premier Stop Gap on Beckfield Lane at about 7.05pm on Thursday 25 April 2013.

Two youths wearing face coverings entered the shop and demanded cash from staff members

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