The latest concert by The Micklegate Singers celebrates love in all its variety, with a programme of 20th and 21st century music including Paul Mealor’s anthem for the Royal Wedding. The concert also features stunning pieces by Swingle, Whitacre, Grainger and Buchenberg, folk tunes and even Gregorian chants.

Tickets are £10 or £6 for concessions and can be bought on the door or in advance from the Minster Box Office.

Held in the gorgeous Chapter House of York Minster, it promises to be a romantic, atmospheric evening for both visitors to York and lovers of choral music.

Prices Adults: £10 Concessions: £6 Contact Joanne Wozencroft Tel: 07786183601

236 residents have now signed the Beckfield Lane Recycling Centre Epetition on the Councils web site.

That is the largest ever number of supporters for a petition collected in this way.

Over 2600 have also signed the paper petition which is being handed in to the Council tonight.

Thanks to everyone for their support.

http://tinyurl.com/Save-the-recycling-centre

click to enlarge

Following problems with controlling the Councils budget, the delivery of replacement wheeled bins was suspended a few months ago. The Council has now issued the following statement which indicates that replacements will start to be delivered at the beginning of the new financial year.

“Bin and recycling container orders
Over winter we were unable to deliver some of the recycling containers and wheeled bins that residents requested.
If you ordered a container between 9 December 2011 and 31 March 2012, and have not yet received it, you will receive your replacement bins/recycling containers after 2 April.
Please note that we received a large number of requests during this time, so we expect to complete all of these outstanding deliveries by 8 June.

When will I receive my container?
We will work through the outstanding requests in areas as shown in the table below. We have a dedicated vehicle and crew delivering containers during this time.
If you requested a container between 9 December and 31 March please check which area you live in. We will deliver in that area during the 2 weeks shown
If you don’t receive your container(s) in the first week we will deliver it in the second week
This is the most efficient way of working through all outstanding requests and making sure everyone gets their container(s) as soon as possible.
Please note that we will be delivering containers Monday to Friday during the weeks listed in the table.
We are unable to answer individual enquiries about when containers will be delivered, but will work as quickly as possible to deliver your container(s).
Please let us know if you no longer need a container which has been requested.
Thank you for your continued patience with this.
If you order a new/replacement container after 2 April we will make every effort to deliver this before your next scheduled collection date”.

However residents living in terraced properties still won’t be getting their free delivery of refuse sacks. Many are signing the on line petition asking for the service to be reinstated.

http://tinyurl.com/Save-our-sacks-York

Others have vowed to request the provision of a wheeled bin. If a lot of residents do this – and they are entitled to the free provision of a waste container – then the council budget is likely to drift into a crisis again.

Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for City Strategy, Cllr Keith Hyman has today criticised City of York Council’s Labour Cabinet recent decision to make the 22 FTR conductors redundant as a result of the decision to replace the FTR ‘superbuses’ with more single and double-deckers.

Cllr Hyman said “Although the FTR buses divided opinion in York, I don’t think anybody thought the conductors were doing a bad job. Many residents have told me that in their experience the conductors were courteous, helpful and prevented rowdy behaviour at the back of buses. James Alexander talks a lot about employment in York but this decision shows that he prefers a cheap headline to safeguarding the jobs of hard-working local people.”

The Liberal Democrat Group is now calling on Cllr James Alexander, York’s Labour Leader to keep conductors on double-deckers using his £1 million delivery and innovation fund.

The Queen will be visiting York on Thursday 5th April. Extreme delays are forecast, in the City centre and near Micklegate, from 10:00am onwards. Early journeys are advised.

First buses will be operating a revised service level over the Easter Period:

Good Friday, 6th April – A Sunday service will operate on main network services. Park and Ride services 2, 3, 7, 8 & 9 will operate a Monday-Friday timetable.

Easter Saturday, 7th April – Normal Saturday service

Easter Sunday, 8th April – Normal Sunday service

Easter Monday, 9th April – A Sunday service will operate on main network services. Park and Ride services 2, 3, 7, 8 & 9 will operate a Monday-Friday timetable.

Tuesday 10th April – Normal service resumes

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 28 March and Tuesday 3 April 2012.

•B1257 Newgate Bank, Hawnby
•A19 Crathorne
•A170 Scawton Moor
•Station Road, Thirsk
•B6271 Great Langton
•B1264 Low Worsall
•Guisborough Road, Great Ayton
•B1257 Great Broughton
•Northallerton Road, Brompton,
•Station Road, Thirsk,
•B6271, Great Langton,
•A61, Carlton Road, Carlton Miniott
•A6108, North Stainley
•A629, Low Bradley
•A65, Settle by-pass
•A62, west-bound, Crosshills
•A629, Skipton by-pass
•A59, Beamsley Hill
•A56, Thornton-in-Craven
•A65 Clapham
•A65 Settle by-pass
•A65, Hellifield
•A65 Coniston Cold

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.

Labour Councillors may refuse to debate on Thursday a motion put forward by Liberal Democrat councillors to reconsider the Council’s plan to close Beckfield Lane Recycling Centre.

The motion was proposed to be discussed at the Full Council Meeting this Thursday 29th March, but the ruling group have informed Liberal Democrats that this will not be discussed and it could stand referred initially for consideration by the “Cabinet”.

Labour argue that extra financial information is needed to make a decision, something that Cllr Reid disputes.

Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Dringhouses and Woodthorpe, said that Labour didn’t want a debate to happen. She argues that Labour know they are on the wrong side of public opinion and would prefer that their feet weren’t held to the fire.

Cllr Reid said “When Labour were elected they pledged to make the council more accountable to local people. However, during the saga over Union Terrace and now the proposed closure of Beckfield Lane, Labour have completely ignored public opinion.

“A petition against the sale of the recycling centre has reached over 2000 signatures and is still growing. The people of York do not want to see the centre closed.”

“Local people want to see the Labour cabinet held to account over this decision, and Labour are refusing to let us make that case. This is shameful politicking.”

Labour argue that the decision needs to be referred to Cabinet in order to get a better understanding of the costs involved in potentially keeping the site open. Councillor Reid says this is simply not the case.
She said “The Labour cabinet say they need to get information of how much the site would cost to keep open before this is discussed. Are they suggesting they made the initial decision to close the site without having this information to hand? Labour don’t want this discussion because the public don’t agree with them. It is that simple.”

A Council debate is inevitable sooner or later now that over 2000 residents have signed the “Save Beckfield Lane recycling centre” petition.

The Councils constitution requires a public debate on any petition passing the 1000 signature threshold

Supporters are also adding their names to the electronic petition which can be accessed here on the Councils web site:

http://tinyurl.com/Save-the-recycling-centre

With 2 weeks to run, it already has the third largest number of supporters for a petition of this sort ever recorded.

The Council – apparently without any sense of irony – have issued the following media statement:

“Spring is upon us and this means longer opening hours at City of York Council’s Household Waste Recycling centres.

From April 1 the sites will stay open later, to allow residents to use the lighter evenings to dispose of large amounts of recycling, garden waste and other rubbish.

The sites provide a wide range of recycling facilities for household materials including all types of electricals, old textiles, shoes, clothing, wood, metal, garden waste, cardboard as well as plastic bottles, glass, cans and paper. Full details of what you can recycle at each site is available at www.york.gov.uk/waste

Opening times from 1 April until 30 September are as follows:

• Hazel Court: Monday to Saturday 8.30am to 7.00pm, Sundays 8.30am to 4.00pm
• Towthorpe/Strensall:- daily 8.30am to 7.00pm
• Beckfield Lane: Monday to Friday 5.00pm to 7.00pm, Saturday and Sunday: 10.00am to 2.00pm. (1st April – 16th April only!!!!)
• All sites will be open as usual on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday”.

Meanwhile a total of 2189 residents have now signed the petition asking for the Beckfield Lane tip to remain open. These include 143 from residents living in the Dringhouses Ward.
The 2 Labour Councillors representing Dringhouses have yet to declare whether they will support keeping Beckfield Lane open.

They will have an opportunity to do so at the Council meeting which is taking place on Thursday when Ann Reid will be proposing that the recycling centre continues in operation.

NB. The next distribution of free compost will take place at Yorwaste’s Harewood Whin site, on Tinker Lane, off Wetherby Road on:

• 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

York police are appealing for information and witnesses following a robbery at the Cooperative store on Moorcroft Road, Woodthorpe.

At approximately 9.30pm on Friday 23 March 2012, three men wearing balaclavas entered the store and threatened two shop assistants with a small metal bar.

They forced the staff to hand over several coloured cash bags containing coins ranging from 5p to £1.

One member of staff was hit with the metal bar but was not seriously injured.

It is believed that a number of people were stood outside a nearby food takeaway at the time of the incident, police would like these people to contact them.

The bags would have been heavy to carry and are coloured red, green, pink, yellow and grey. Anyone who finds any discarded bags or has seen anyone with them is also asked to contact the police.

Investigating Officer DC Mo Mohammed, of York CID, said: “I am appealing for members of the public who were in the Moorcroft Road area on Friday night between 9.15pm and 9.45pm to get in touch. They may not have witnessed the incident but may have vital information which could help the investigation. ”

The suspects are described as white men, all aged in their mid-twenties. The first man was wearing a black, North Face coat, light grey Adidas tracksuit trousers and black gloves.

The second man was wearing a light grey zip-up hoodie with matching tracksuit trousers and black gloves.

The third suspect was wearing a black Nike top with the Nike logo across the front, black trousers and black gloves.

Police have carried out door-to-door enquires and local searches in the area as well as examining CCTV footage.

Any witnesses or anyone with any information is asked to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select option 2 and ask for York CID.

Alternatively, you can pass information anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

The Coalition government has announced the third big slice of funding for York’s ailing transport system in less than a year. Hard on the heels of a £20 million grant for 2 new park and ride sites, plus around £4 million for a sustainable transport initiative, the government has agreed to put £2.9 million into improving public transport systems. These are huge sums of money at a time when the economy is still weak and the Council needs to ensure that the investment is prudently managed and that residents are fully consulted about the proposed use of the funds.

The move means that York can now expect to get the cashless “smartcard” payment system that was trialled in South Yorkshire 3 years ago. We have no doubt that – everything else being equal – the convenience of this system would boost bus usage in the City.

What is markedly less convincing is the Councils intention to borrow £1.6 million which it will spend smartening up City Centre bus stops. The taxpayer simply can’t afford this kind of expenditure at a time when key public services are being cut. The 56% reduction in highways maintenance, which will be bad news for pedestrians and cyclists, has still not been adequately justified by the Council leadership.

Residents are also angry about the way that road works on Blossom Street have increased some bus journey times by as much as 1 hour. As usual the Council – and particularly the lethargic Labour Councillors representing affected wards – failed to manage this contract effectively and with minimal disruption.

News that the 20 conductors – who were used on the number 4 bus service – have now been sacked by First means that this service will be subject to further delays as drivers struggle to issue tickets on what is the busiest route on the York bus network. Services should have been left as they were until the smartcard had been introduced and a modern, low emission, bus procured for use on the route.