Ashley Mason who is one of the residents who are organising the petition aimed at continuing the distribution of refuse sacks

Residents living in the South Bank and Clifton parts of the City have launched a campaign aimed at persuading the Council to continue issuing refuse sacks to those living in terraced houses and flats. Labour Councillors are currently planning to discontinue the service at the end of the month.

The petition reads:
“We request the York Council to continue to issue refuse bags free of charge to those households in the City who are unable to accommodate other types of waste container”.

In support of the petition residents say; “For many years the Council has issued a supply of biodegradable refuse sacks to properties such as terraced houses and flats where the provision and storage of wheeled bins – which are provided free of charge to other households in the City – is impractical. The sacks ensure that refuse is stored and presented for collection in a tidy and sanitary way. The Council has announced – without any consultation with residents – that it will cease the distribution of the sacks shortly. This means that residents will have to buy their own. There is a concern that refuse will be presented in unsuitable containers increasing the risk of spillage and vulnerability to attacks by rodents and other animals. The new policy would discriminate against those residents living in areas of terraced housing. The petition seeks a review of the Councils policy”.

The petition can be “signed” on the Councils web site at http://www.york.gov.uk/ “Have your say” ePetitions.

Meanwhile volunteers have collected a further 200 signatures on the “Save the Beckfield Lane recycling centre” petition. They had a stall on Front Street on Wednesday. This petition can also be “signed” on the Councils web site where it has already secured the support of 128 visitors.

York Register Office, 56 Bootham, York YO30 7DA

City of York Council’s Register Office will be offering a new ‘all in one’ service next month to make it easier for new parents to register the birth of their baby.

There are lots of things that need to be done when a baby is born, so from the beginning of April (Monday 2) the first phase of “Tell Us Once” will be launched, which will save parents time and money notifying departments of the birth.

Previously, parents have been required to contact various government departments and local council services individually about the birth.

The new service does this for parents – for free – and from April the new service will notify the following automatically:
• Department of Work and Pensions
• Jobcentre Plus
• Housing Benefit Office
• Council Tax Benefits Office
• Library Services
• Children’s Services (Family Information Services)
• HM Revenue and Customs
• Child Benefit
• Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit

The second phase will launch in late spring and will provide a similar service for bereaved relatives when registering a death.

York Register Office, 56 Bootham, York YO30 7DA
tel: 01904 654477
fax: 01904 638090
email: registrar
@york.gov.uk
Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm; Saturday 10am to 3pm. Emergency contact: 07786 747859 Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays (not Christmas Day) 10am to 11am

A local house builder (Taylor Wimpey) has announced that the Coalition Governments “new buy” mortgage guarantee scheme will be available on it’s Tadcaster Road “Revival” housing development.

The development has properties ranging from flats at £108,000 to 5 bedroomed homes costing nearly £400,000.

The key features of the government scheme include:
 Up to a 95% mortgage
 You will only need a minimum 5% deposit to buy a new home
 The scheme is available across all Taylor Wimpey developments in England
 NewBuy is open to first time buyers and existing home owners

See Taylor Wimpey’s web site for more details http://www.taylorwimpey.co.uk/newhomes

Over 700 residents have now signed the petition.

Volunteers will be out on Front Street today (Wednesday) collecting more signatures

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads in the York area between Wednesday 14 March 2012 and Tuesday 20 March 2012.

•A64 east-bound carriageway Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A1237 Monks Cross, York
•B1222 Naburn lane, York
•B1228 Main Street, Elvington, York
•B1228 Dunnington Lodge, Elvington, York
•A64 west-bound carriageway, Bowbridge Farm, Tadcaster
•Northfield Farm, Cobcroft Lane, Cridling Stubbs
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.

Missing light in Middlethorpe

Councillor Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Neighbourhoods, has urged the City of York Council’s Labour Cabinet to bring forward plans to replace streetlights which had been cut down. The call comes with the news that the replacements are hoped to be in place by the end of the summer.

This means some residents will have gone nearly six months without streetlights before seeing any action.

The Council has only outlined the plans, and Councillor Reid says the lack of detail leaves too many questions from residents unanswered.

She said “At the time when Labour cut down the lampposts without a plan to replace them, Liberal Democrats called for action to be taken as soon as possible. Finally, a plan has emerged, but the lack of detail will leave residents in the dark for even longer.”

“Labour are implying that this is a new investment. In fact, the money is simply being taken from other areas in the Neighbourhoods budget. They are simply robbing Peter to pay Paul. This means residents will see a decline in services elsewhere to pay for Labour’s mistake in cutting down the streetlights.”
Cllr Reid went on to attack the proposed system for prioritising action saying “The cabinet has said that individual wards will be ranked on a priority basis, but we don’t know what this system will be based on. I do hope that this system is made clear and transparent to the public. It needs to be based on hard evidence, not on which wards the Labour cabinet chooses to help first.”

“Streetlights are a vital service. They deter crime and help to keep our roads safe. For local people to be without them for such a long time is unacceptable. This is a problem that needs to be fixed as soon as possible.”

With controversy still raging over Labours decision to remove 600 street lights from the City, questions now being asked about the costs and benefits of some of the replacement units.

One type being trialled extensively across the country is the LED light. The unit costs about £700 plus disconnection/reconnection charges. It has lower maintenance costs. The manufacturer’s claim it will last for 60,000 hours compared to the 18,000 hour life of the more common sodium unit.

It is more efficient using about 25% less electricity; which also means lower CO2 emissions.

It was these figures that led the former LibDem led Council to introduce a lighting modernisation programme which will pay for itself (through lower maintenance and energy costs) in less than 3 years.

However, such savings are put at risk if units like this one in Acomb are allowed to burn during the day time.

Long delays have been reported on the number 4 bus route following the withdrawal of the ftr bus.

The replacement double deckers are one man operated meaning that loading times have more than doubled. Long queues have formed at some bus stops. The situation in the evening rush hour is likely to be chaotic.

No proper provision for the disabled has been made, capacity for push chairs has been reduced and, of course, many elderly people are unable to access the upper floor of double deckers.

It signals the end of a progressive public transport policy in the City. If the council had persuaded First to provide modern replacement vehicles with smart card readers then the inevitable criticism of the backward leap might have been mitigated.

As it is, once again Dringhouses is bearing the brunt of Labours unnecessary cuts to local public services.

Climate Week is a supercharged national campaign to inspire action on climate change. It culminates in thousands of events and activities, planned by organisations from every part of society. Last year in York public talks, public events, school competitions and a big Climate Week marquee were just some of the great actions that went on to celebrate Climate Week.

As a city, York is committed to tackling climate change, and to significantly reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2020. In order to achieve this many projects are underway, however, we need everyone in York to play a role in helping to meet this target. Climate Week is a great way to get involved.

Get involved

You can help accelerate action on tackling climate change by getting involved. The week will see loads of fascinating, educational and fun events and activities to inspire you to take action – and show you how you can save money in the process! So take part in climate action and become a SAVER!

Cutting down carbon means cutting down cost

The really good thing is that most of the things we can do are both good for the planet and the pocket.

Taking just a few practical actions in your home, businesses or when you are travelling about York can help to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change.

For example, the average household can cut its annual fuel bills by up to £200 every year simply by using energy efficiently and effectively.

For more details on Climate Week please contact jacqueline.warren@york.gov.uk or telephone 01904 551666.

As previously reported, the Council is taking £1 million from the road and footpath resurfacing budget to pay for the replacement of the lighting columns that were removed last year. The decision to fell nearly 600 lampposts, without making budget provision for the replacement, has been heavily criticised by residents.

Now it seems that a replacement programme will get underway in April although it is unclear whether the procedural difficulties, which often lead to a big delay in getting power reconnected, have been overcome.

For example, new lampposts were installed in part of Front Street 2 months ago but they are still not working.

The Council report talks of “testing and replacing” a proportion of concrete lampposts which are a feature of many residential estates. Thus it appears that the Council has learned its lesson and is returning to a phased programme of “test & modernise” which should mean that we are unlikely to see massive gaps in the lighting network appearing again.

In a media release, the Council claims that the replacement programme is the biggest since “Victorian times”, conveniently forgetting that the conversion of lighting columns from gas to electricity in the 1930’s a was a much bigger programme (although the major cost then was in cabling works as many of the gas columns were simply modernised to take the new power source)

The “spin” continues with a claim that “in order to preserve York’s unique character the Reinvigorate (sic) board will meet shortly to discuss and agree the best approach for the types and styles of streetlights to be used in the city centre and the other 34 conservation areas across the city. The lights in conservation area locations will be replaced within the scheduled time and are estimated to start in June or July”.

Given that the lampposts in the Acomb Front Street Conservation Area have already been installed, this may just be a piece of window dressing, although QUANGOs like these are notoriously insensitive to the cost pressures faced by taxpayers.

The Council should detail the costs of the different types of lamppost available and take into account the views of affected residents and businesses.