England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales will be represented by teams composed of stars from sport and TV undertaking a 1,000 mile challenge – each team running the final mile through the city of York finishing at the Eye of York for an overnight stay.

As part of Sports Relief 2012, four national teams will start the race simultaneously from their home cities of Cardiff, Dublin, Edinburgh and London and will head off clockwise around the UK and Ireland via the other four capital cities as they battle to be the First Nation Home.

Participants include top TV presenters and celebrities Gethin Jones, celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin, presenters Andrea MacLean, Phil Spencer and Craig Doyle, actress and model Gemma Atkinson, Olympians Sonia O’Sullivan, Iwan Thomas and Chris Boardman, Dame Ellen MacArthur and rugby stars Thom Evans, Josh Lewsey and star of Big Brother, Gareth Thomas. Scotland arrive on 10th, Ireland 13th, Wales 15th and England 16th March. Join the Civic Party and give them a good Yorkshire welcome!

Teams wil be expected to finish at the Eye of York at 6pm (any alterations to times will be posted on www.yorkfestivals.com) on Sat 10, Tues 13, Thurs 15 and Fri 16 March.

Last year Oakgate (Monks Cross) Ltd submitted plans for a new Community Stadium and enabling retail development at Monks Cross.

Since the planning application was submitted, they’ve made a few changes to the proposals. The most prominent of these is the removal of the development site to the south of the spine road and the addition of all-weather pitches for community use, which was something that was raised by the Council.

Other amendments include increasing the areas of landscaping and reducing the car parking numbers on site to 1,340.

An exhibition of the revised proposals is taking place at the De Grey Rooms, next to the Theatre Royal in St Leonard’s Place, York City Centre on Saturday 3rd March, between 10am and 5pm. Plans and images will be on display and members of the development team will be there to answer any questions.

Window posters have been printed (see right).

Volunteers will be out at the recycling centre on Saturday (and maybe Sunday) collecting signatures on the petition.

Another 3000 leaflets are being delivered to residents in the Acomb and Foxwood areas over the weekend.

The petition should appear on the Council web site shortly for anyone who wants to “sign” electronically.

The campaign now has its own Facebook site http://www.facebook.com/SaveBeckfieldLanetipYork

The intention is to present the petition to the Council meeting on 29th March.

Further details and blank petition forms are available from Reuban Mayne on York 781589

City of York Council is launching the first ever Children’s Book Awards to find York’s favourite children’s picture book and story book of all time.

The council is inviting all children aged 14 years and younger to take part and have their say on what their favourite book is.

A special event to launch the awards will be taking place on 3 March at Explore York Library learning Centre, with well-known children’s author Andy Newbound. The event will take place between 2pm – 3.30pm with lots of activities for children on offer.

Children will be able to nominate their favourite book via the council’s website at www.york.gov.uk/libraries from Saturday 3 March, or they will be able to vote by asking for a form in one of 14 libraries across the city

Nominations will close on Friday 27 April and a shortlist of the five favourite books in each category will be announced in June. Lots of copies of the shortlisted books will be available and children will be encouraged to read and vote for their favourite. Voting closes on 16 September, the same day as the Summer Reading Challenge.

A grand ceremony is set to take place on Sunday 28 October, where prizes will be awarded.

116 residents had signed the “Save the Guildhall” petition when the deadline passed on 24th February.

This makes it the 4 largest ever “on line” petition registered on the Councils web site.

The petition read, “We the undersigned petition the council to ensure that The Guildhall and Mansion House continue to be at the heart of civic and cultural activities in the City, that no attempt be made to downgrade the role, function or public accessibility of the buildings and that any proposals to change the ownership or lease arrangements on any part of the site be subject to full public consultation”.

The petition will now be considered as and when the Councils ruling Labour “cabinet” choose meet to discuss the future of the Guildhall.

A new petition, asking for the Beckfield Lane recycling centre to remain open at least until a replacement has been provided, should be available on the Council’s web site shortly.

Bus usage in York

Bus passenger numbers have increased by 9% in the third quarter of the financial year compared to the same period last year (4,086,429 compared to 3,757,029 in 2010/11). As a result, it is now expected that passenger numbers will meet the annual target of 15 million.

Park & Ride passenger numbers have also increased.

The figures bring into question the Councils decision to spend over £200,000 redesigning the bus network. They plan to “franchise” services in the City. This means that the Council would specify routes, frequencies and fare levels on services against which the bus companies would submit tenders. It is a proposal which could be unaffordable in the new economic climate.

NB. The number of people using car parks in York is also forecast to increase by 3% this year. From April to November this year 1,098,883 people used car parks.

The Council have announced that they are making £750,000 available for a rugby training and reserve team pitch as part of the £19.2 million Community Stadium project at Monks Cross.

Both the Acorn Rugby Club – located on Thanet Road – and the York College are understood to be amongst 4 organisations which have expressed an interest in providing a site for the pitch. (which will not be located at Monks Cross). The University and the York City AFC training fields on Wigginton Road are the other possible locations.

The Council report on the business case for the new community stadium is now available on their web site.
Labour Councillors are considering borrowing (another) £3 million to revamp the “Waterworld” pool and fitness centre which is understood to be losing money. It is unclear how they propose to repay this loan, given that, last week, additional borrowing of £20 million was arranged to support other capital spending items over the next 5 years.

Thanet Road rugby pitches

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 29 February and Tuesday 6 March 2012. (York area only. Full list on Police web site)

•A64 east-bound carriageway Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•Strensall Road, Huntington, York
•A1237 Monks Cross, York
•The Village, Stockton-on-the-Forest, York
•A1036 Malton Road, York
•York Road, Haxby, York
•A64 west-bound carriageway, Bowbridge Farm, Tadcaster
•Broadway, Fulford, York
•Murton Way, Muton, York
•Fordlands Road, Fulford, York

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.

The Council’s cabinet is to receive a report next week which effectively signals the end of public participation in “Ward Committee” meetings. It follows on from a savage budget cut to neighbourhood funding.

The budget for Ward Committee neighbourhood improvement schemes for 2011/12 was £646,000.

The Labour Council budget agreed last week reduced this to £224,000. A cut of 65%.

Now Labour are proposing to divide this money into 3 “pots” with only £75k available for schemes voted a priority by local residents.

Thus, pro rata, a Ward like Dringhouses which has had an annual budget for improvements of around £50,000 a year will find that reduced to about £6,000. This is what residents have voted on each autumn with eh available funds over subscribed usually by a factor of 4. It has been used in the past to address security concerns, provide better fencing, clean up derelict areas, improve play facilities, address parking problems etc.

There will be similar sums “ringfenced” for grants to organisations operating exclusively within a particular ward plus some for cross city voluntary groups. However the amounts likely to be available are derisory.

As with most of the Labour budget, we believe that York residents simply don’t realise yet what is going to hit them.

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The number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance in York has increased. This is inline with an increase for the region as a whole. A council report confirms:
• Male Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants (3.3%) remain higher than females (1.5%)
• The rate of females claiming JSA is increasing faster than males, but still remains one of the lowest in the region.
• The total number of benefits claimants has decreased in 2011 by 4%, from 12,350 in 2010 to 11,900 now.

5.7% of young people are now classified as “not in education, employment or training” (NEET). That is just less than in North Yorkshire as a whole. It means that the City has one of the lowest youth unemployment levels in the country.

Average weekly pay for city residents is £492.30 for 2011, which is above the regional average. York is still below the national average but the gap has narrowed (now 2.2% below compared with 4.2% in 2010).

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