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Councillor Leven has now given a absolute commitment that all works connected with the Poppleton Bar park and ride site – plus associated works on the A1237 and the A59 will be completed by 31st July.
In an answer published to a question tabled at the last Council meeting he says,the contractors are scheduled to leave site by the end of the month.
The premature opening of the Poppleton Bar site has also been under fire although the numbers using the service are claimed to be similar to the figures at other Park and Ride sites immediately after their introduction.
| Month 1 trip numbers | Month 13 trip numbers | Month 25 trip numbers | |
| Grimston Bar (1994): | 3,889 | 14,525 | 21,891 |
| Designer Outlet (2000): | 9,606 | 18,495 | 21,524 |
| Monks Cross (2004) | 13,550 | 35,429 | 43,797 |
| Poppleton Bar (2014) | 9,148 (8/6/14 – 1/7/14) |
From opening, the number of cars parked at the new Poppleton Park & Ride site is between 70 – 100.
On a Saturday this increases to 200.
With many of the electric buses running empty, the Council has been criticised for unnecessarily increasing CO2 emissions.
In response to a written question the responsible cabinet member has revealed that the provision of an on site wind turbine was aborted at the last minute. He claimed,
“the electric buses charge overnight at the First Depot in York. The electricity grid is off-peak at this time and of lower carbon intensity. There was a wind turbine in the design for Poppleton Bar however the supplier went out of business a month before installation. Officers are currently exploring alternative suppliers of renewable generation equipment for Poppleton Bar which could supply sufficient power for the on-site Rapid chargers which boost the range of the electric buses”.
Labour Councillors have claimed that the decision to open the Poppleton Park and Ride site was taken by “officers” implying that they had no influence over the blunder.
Despite this 3 Labour Councillors were featured in a media photograph which covered the sites official opening.
Sky ride participant forgets York pothole menace
Last years event was not without incident so hopefully lessons will have been learned fro 2014.
Sky Ride York is set to be a brilliant day out. There will be music and entertainment, competitions and above all, a great traffic-free route to ride around the centre of York. It doesn’t matter how old you are, how old your bike is, or how fast you ride – at Sky Ride York there’s something for everyone.
Sky Ride ambassador Sir Chris Hoy said: “We want more people to enjoy riding a bike – that’s why Sky and British Cycling have teamed up to bring you Sky Ride. We’ve made it easier than ever to get out on your bike and spend quality time with your family and friends.
“Sky Rides close towns and cities for big bike events so you can ride safely on traffic-free streets, with a huge festival atmosphere and loads to do both on and off the bike. They are great fun and a great way to get on your bike.”
Everyone who registers their free place online will receive a Sky Ride lanyard that unlocks a fantastic bundle of on-the-day benefits and goodies. What’s more, the first 1,000 people to register at goskyride.com/York will also receive a limited edition Sky Ride gift on arrival at the event.
(more…)
At the end of March a Government Traffic Adjudicator ruled that the council had “no power” to issue fines on Lendal Bridge or Coppergate. Since then, York Council has been contesting the Adjudicator’s ruling on both the schemes.
However, last week the council said it was dropping the Lendal Bridge appeal and only continuing with the Coppergate challenge.
The Lib Dems can now reveal that so far the council has spent £11,330 on the legal battle, with the figure set to continue to rise as the Coppergate row rolls on.
The latest timetable for the construction of the new community stadium at Huntington confirms that it is running over 2 years behind the timetable set by the new Labour council when it was elected in 2011.
The previous LibDem administration had identified a way of funding the £14 million project and it had been expected that construction would take place alongside the new John Lewis store which opened on 10th April 2014. That part of the project had been delayed by 6 months following the discovery of Great Crested Newts on the site.
The Councils timetable showed a completion date of June 2014 just early enough to allow the football club to move from Bootham Crescent this year and well before the start of the rugby season.
Council papers now reveal that final tender papers are only due to be received this month and that the Labour Cabinet is therefore unlikely to award a contract before its meeting on 2nd September 2014.
It could then be 4 months before a planning application is submitted. Although the principle of the stadium use has already been established, there is likely to be a 3 month delay before the proposal reaches the Planning committee in March.
March 2015 (just 2 months before the next Council elections) was the absolute firm date given by the present Council Leader for a start on site – but that new looks increasingly unlikely.
Construction work will take two years, so there is now doubt about whether the stadium will be ready for the start of the 2016 football season.
The delays also impact on the running of other major leisure facilities in the City – such as Energise – which the Council wants to include in an all encompassing management contract.
It looks like Labour are considering introducing more charges for waste collection and disposal.
Residents criticised Labours decision to introduce charges for second (and subsequent) green bin collections this year.
Mixed messages from Labour
This came hard on the heels of some new charges at civic amenity sites (and the closure of the Beckfield Lane facility)
It now seem that the Council is set on considering other charges which may include:
In other parts of the country Labour have been campaigning against green waste charges ironically using a “one nation” slogan (left)
A background paper can be read by clicking here
It will take the review committee several months to report so it is unlikely that any additional charges could be introduced before next Mays Council elections.
A report to a Council meeting next week, from the Safer York Partnership, confirms that there have been 24 deaths by drowning in York’s’ rivers over the last 15 years.
There were more deaths in the river Foss (14) than the river Ouse (10)
Of 6 deaths in the Ouse in the City centre area, 4 have been treated as accidental.
The report comes at a time when many young people are risking their lives by jumping off City centre bridges (see above).
The report says,
“Between 1999 and April 2014 there have been 24 deaths connected to rivers within the York district. Of the 24 deaths that have occurred 10 of them went into the River Ouse in York and 14 of them went into the River Foss in York.
Of these 10 deaths connected to the River Ouse, 4 of them did not enter the river in the City Centre and 6 of them did enter the river in the City Centre.
Of these 6 deaths that were within the city centre connected to the River Ouse; 2 are believed to have entered the river accidentally; 2 are believed to have committed suicide and 2 climbed barriers to jump in and drowned accidentally.
Between May 2013 and April 2014 there were approximately 35 other reported incidents to North Yorkshire Police that were connected to the river that involved some from of possible harm.
This figure is likely to be an underestimate due to difficulties in data retrieval and classification. The following are known about these incidents;
”
The Council has now published an outline of how it intends to recover from the Social Care budget deficit discovered by Auditors. The Auditors identified a budget pressure of £2.5 on this year’s budget together with outstanding actins needed to secure budgeted savings of £1.4 million.
In a separate report the Auditors they say
“Our view is that financial management and commissioning in the adult social care service needs to improve and this service has not responded quickly and effectively enough to the challenges that it faces.
If the underlying financial pressures are not robustly addressed and actions to secure significant future base budget reductions are not effective, there is a risk that the Council will not be in a position to deliver the best possible value for money in adult social care services.
Of critical importance to the delivery of sustained improvement is a review of existing contracts and a new commissioning approach that secures the required services at an affordable price”.
The crisis had led to the demotion of the Cabinet member, who had responsibility for the department, earlier in the year with several senior staff following her out of the door last month.
A summary of the action that the Council intends to take can be read here
10 substantial issues, raised by the Auditors, are addressed. They include:
Council Leader with Cllr Simpson Laing (right) a few weeks before she was sacked from her Social care post
Challenged on the problems at the last Council meeting, the Leader declined to say why he had not taken action last year to address the emerging issues.
Council officials has earlier declined to say why one of the saving projects – the opening of a new “super care village” at Lowfields – was running 3 years behind schedule.
Knavesmire Manor Hotel
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: Knavesmire Manor Hotel 302 Tadcaster Road York YO24 1HE
Proposal: Change of use from hotel (use class C1) to residential dwelling (use class C3) and demolition works including removal of rear extension and external fire escape
Ref No: 14/01407/FUL
Applicant: The Knavesmire Venture LLP Contact Mr Ian Atkinson Consultation Expiry Date 11 August 2014 Case Officer: Clare Davies Expected Decision Level DEL
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Location: Tesco Supermarket Askham Bar Tadcaster Road Dringhouses York
Proposal: New restaurant area to ground floor with associated external seating and access
Ref No: 14/01578/FUL
Applicant: Tesco Stores Ltd Contact Matthew Stevenson Consultation Expiry Date 11 August 2014 Case Officer: Heather Fairy (Mon – Wed) Expected Decision Level DEL
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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.
Published Monday, 21st July 2014
City of York Council is hosting its first ever week-long celebration of sports for people with disabilities to meet the growing take-up of sport and opportunities for disabled people in York.