Council to increase charges by £154,000 with car parking rates still to be announced

The York Council has published a list of proposed increases in the charges that it makes for some services.

Bulky household waste collections will now cost £36.75 for a maximum of 10 items.

Removal of fridges will cost £21.

Wealthy to dominate tennis again?

Wealthy to dominate tennis again?

The increases could further increase the problems with dumping that have been multiplying since the Beckfield Lane recycling centre closed last year.

Room hire at the central Library will cost a whopping £69 an hour while a 30 person capacity room at Acomb Library will cost £52.50 per hour (£34.60 for non profit making organisations).

Tennis will cost £7-40 per hour and bowls £4.20.

A full sized allotment (200 – 450 sq yards) will cost £104 a year with effect from January

There are massive increases in charges for the Guildhall. A Saturday morning hire will cost £225 (currently £170).

Council budget meetings poorly attended

Council budget meetings poorly attended

Hire charges for a small committee room are up by 25% to £25 an hour.

Other charges – including the significant car parking rates which bring in £7.4million a year for the Council – will be decided in January.

There has been no consultation with residents on charges and they are pointedly omitted from the budget discussions taking place around the City.

Not surprisingly, these meetings have been very poorly attended.

A full list of proposed charges can be found here.

York Council loses dozens of complaints

My Council

At least 50 reports about failing public service standards in York have not been actioned by the Council over the last couple of months.

The Council has claimed that reports submitted via the popular “My Council” Mobile app were not processed because they were indecipherable when uploaded to the Council.

Rather than get to the bottom of the problem, the reports were ignored.

Now an administrator for the “My Council” web provider (abavus.co.uk) has stepped in and offered to sort out the difficulties.

More and more people are using web sites like “My Council”, Fix my Street , and Fill that hole” to report issues.

This is to the advantage of Councils because the costs of processing issues electronically are much less than hard copy mail, personal callers or telephone communications.

However this case is likely to damage the credibility of the system in some residents eyes.

The Councils own mobile app (Smarter York) allows only a very small number of issues to be reported and user numbers have been disappointing.

The “Report it” section of the Council web site is cumbersome and has similar limitations.

The Council has been asked to sort out its data interface problems, ensure that reports blocked over the last couple of months are now entered onto its systems and to make efforts to contact those residents who may be unaware that issues that they have reported have not been actioned.

The industry generally needs to do more work on interface issues.

Councils in other parts of the country may be affected by incompatibility issues

Latest planning application Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Ward

Below are the latest planning applications received by the York Council for the Dringhouses and Woodthorpe ward.

Full details can be found by clicking the application reference
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Location: York Model Engineering Club The Pastures York YO24 2JE

Proposal: Erection of 2no. canopies.

Ref No: 13/02882/FUL

Applicant: Mr Andrew Nuttall Contact Richard Gibbon Consultation Expiry Date 16 December 2013 Case Officer: Heather Fairy (Mon – Wed) Expected Decision Level DEL
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Location: 18 The Pastures York YO24 2JE

Proposal: First floor extension to existing bungalow to create second storey

Ref No: 13/03432/FUL

Applicant: Mrs Jackson Consultation Expiry Date 16 December 2013 Case Officer: Heather Fairy (Mon – Wed) Expected Decision Level DEL

Representations can be made in favour of, or in objection to, any application via the Planning on line web site. http://planningaccess.york.gov.uk/online-applications/

NB. The Council now no longer routinely consults neighbours by letter when an application is received.

Lowfields older peoples village gets dementia care specialist

Artists impression of new "care village"

Artists impression of new “care village”

Dementia Care specialist, Dementia Care Matters, is to help provide high quality care to those suffering from the condition in York.

 

Dementia Care Matters will advise the council on the operating model for its two new specialist dementia care Elderly Person’s Homes at Lowfield and Burnholme, as well as supporting and training existing care home staff to ensure they can deliver specialist care in the new homes.
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White Swan refurbishment starts

White Swan Hotel York

White Swan Hotel York

Work to help regenerate a prominent unused building in the city centre has begun, as contractors have started to strip out The White Swan Hotel.

A £450,000 grant from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) Empty Homes 2 programme is helping to create new accommodation including 18 affordable homes plus new ground floor retail units in the city’s central shopping area.

Sainsbury’s has submitted several planning applications to cover the remodelling of the ground floor of the building. They include details of the planned signage, security blinds and an ATM click

Recent research carried out by the North East Civic Trust has identified the potential for hundreds of new homes in unused spaces above shops and offices in central York.

Tees Valley Housing and local affordable housing experts CoHo Ltd are moving forward to identify specific opportunities for new housing in the city centre over the next 18 months, and is asking local landlords and agents to come forward to discuss and realise new schemes.

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Tang Hall community centre funding probe – Moor Lane Youth Club threatened

Residents in the Tang Hall area are asking why a £10,000 grant made last year for the improvement of the Tang Hall Community Centre has not been spent?

The money was part of the very much reduced budget now made available to Ward Committees.

It was to have been spent on remodelling the Centre, making it potentially easier to generate additional income.

The Centre is one of 4 in the City which are under threat of closure following the decision of the Council to stop its annual support grants.

Tang Hall CC, was at the centre of a controversy earlier in the year, when all the key posts on the management committee were taken over by local Labour Councillors.

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LibDem Councillor Ann Reid outside Moor Lane Youth Centre

LibDem Councillor Ann Reid outside Moor Lane Youth Centre

We also understand that the Council is considering closing down the Moor Lane youth centre in Dringhouses.

The well established and popular centre serves the whole of the west of York and is one of very few purpose designed facilities aimed at young people in the City’s suburbs.

Alexander resigns from City centre role.

York City centre "to let"

York City centre “to let”

The Councils Leader is standing down from the chair of the City Team York group which was established in response to the national effort to improve the fortunes of the high street.

The move follows months of protests from City centre traders who have seen shopper numbers fall in the wake of the new traffic restrictions and huge increases in car parking charges introduced by the Labour led Council.

Launched in August last year, the group is made up of retailers, the city council and a range of professional and businesses organisations from across the city centre with a remit to improve business growth, resilience and economic vitality.

It replaced a City centre traders group which had worked closely with the Council for many years with the introduction of a cheap “shoppers car park” on Fossbank one of its achievements.

An advert of a new private sector chair has been published.

Closing date for applications is 31st December 2013 and full details for any business person who would be interested in applying for this voluntary post may be found here: http://www.yorkmeansbusiness.co.uk/updates/city-team-york-chair.aspx