Labour planning new Hazel Court waste site charges

Reliable sources in West Offices have confirmed that Labour intend to impose new charges – for non recyclable rubbish -taken to sites like Hazel Court.

Bed dumped in field off Askham Lane

Bed dumped in field off Askham Lane

At the moment residents can take items to the “tip” free of charge.

The proposed charge – unlikely to be admitted by Labour until the Westfield by election is out of the way – follow on from the closure of the Beckfield Lane household waste recycling site and an 13% increase in the cost of having up to 10 bulky items removed by the Council.

Bulky waste removal now costs £36.75p

Second green waste bins are now charged for and Labour are understood to be on the on the brink of introducing charges for emptying all green bins

The consequences of these misguided polices are clear to see with fly tipping an increasing problem across the City (see photo)

First announce changes to local bus services

Most services affected including numbers 4, 12, 13/13A and a new 14 service

Bus terminus to be moved from Front Street to reduce traffic congestion. Bus will wait on Acomb Green

Bus terminus to be moved from Front Street to reduce traffic congestion. Bus will wait on Acomb Green

First say the changes are being made to improve the reliability and punctuality of services

The 5 service will now terminate at Acomb Green rather than Front Street (to reduce congestion problems)

New timetables are available here.

Details below
(more…)

20’s plenty campaign – private correspondence revealed by Council

Copies of Emails between Councillors and officials in York – exchanged in the run up to the launch of the wide area 20 mph speed limits in west York – have been published by the Council.20 mph sign

The exchange of Emails  can be viewed by clicking here

The project cost £600,000 to implement

The correspondence includes a request from Cllr Anna Semlyen for the use of a police radar speed gun (!)

This was the same Labour Councillor who argued that 20 mph speed limits should be introduced without consultation with residents.

Subsequently, as we now know, the new limits have had no effect on traffic speeds.

Dog fouling enforcement getting low priority from York Council?

…..York council only issues 3 penalty notices during last 3 years.dog_warden

Residents responding to our door to door survey told us that they were concerned about the amount of dog fouling in their area.

Overall 35% of respondents said it was an issue in their street.

Now a Freedom of information request has revealed that very little is being done by the Council to enforce dog fouling laws. The number of dog fouling fixed penalty notices issued have been:

2009 – 2010 2 issued

2010 – 2011 0 issued

2011 – 2012 0 issued

2012 – 2013 1 issued

2013 – 2014 2 issued

 

This seems very low to us.

There is a case for bringing back the dedicated dog warden service.

Council still spending £30,000 a year on empty elderly persons home

Call to reallocate money to save mid day meals for elderly

Oliver House York

Oliver House – the former old people’s home in Bishophill – is still standing empty.

It has now been empty for 30 months following the closure of the home in April 2012.

A sale would mean that, not only will the Council no longer be responsible for the £30,000 annual maintenance and rates costs, but a substantial capital receipt of over £500,000 could be expected.

In December 2013, the Council finally decided to put the property on the market. With the recession easing it was expected that the prime site would quickly be snapped up by housing developers.

However we understand that it could be another month before offers are finally invited.

Meanwhile the Councils decision to cease the mid day meal services for residents living in some of its sheltered housing units continues to attract criticism.

The council says that it needs to save £50,000 a year on the service.

It seems that it has a ready solution to its budget problems.

However, prompt action is now needed.

York Council tenants show concerns in secret report

Only 49% now satisfied with tenants choice modernisation work

Behind closed doors logo

The annual report into satisfaction with York Council services has shown some growing concerns amongst York Council tenants.

The report was considered at yet another behind closed doors meeting last week. It pointedly makes no comment about Council house sales or the fact that – for the first time in many years – during 2013/14 sales exceeded the number of new affordable properties added to the rent pool.

While on most activities performance has been consistent over the years there are areas of growing concern.

  • Tenant’s choice satisfaction with modernisation work was down from 76% to only 49%.
  • Only 44% of tenants who complained said that they were satisfied with the final outcome
  • Satisfaction with the Council “listening to tenant’s views and acting on them” fell from 67% in 2012 to 62% last year
Garage areas neglected

Garage areas neglected

The biggest concern remains the condition of local estates with tenants increasingly critical of the appearance and state of repair of local neighbourhood and communal areas.

Garage areas are poorly maintained, many verges are damaged and gutters are overgrown with weeds.

The Council is apparently going to appoint a private contractor to clean the communal areas of flats leaving the estate workers to concentrate on litter removal and general maintenance. Tenant satisfaction with garden care (also contracted to the private sector) has attracted many complaints this year.

However, overall, there was some good news for the Council with 87% saying they were satisfied with the service provide down only 1% from the previous year,

York house building lags behind rest of country

Despite the economic recovery, York lagged behind the rest of the country in the number of new homes completed last year.Behind closed doors logo

A report published after a “behind closed doors” meeting held last week revealed that only 50 affordable homes were built in the City last year.

This is down from the 282 built during the last year of the Liberal Democrat led Council administration in 2010/2011.

It compares to the annual target of 790 new homes adopted by Labour Councillors following a “strategic market assessment”.

On average, 150 affordable homes had been built annually during the pervious 5 years.

Alarmingly the number of new affordable homes being added by the Council is now less than the number of Council houses being sold under “Right to Buy” legislation

Year

 RTB Applications RTB Sales

11/12

 20 6
12/13 88

23
13/14 77

53

The Council has failed to invest the income from RTB sales effectively

The Council has also failed to use its substantial £12.86 million housing surplus to buy empty homes on the open market, and resolutely refuses to use the “New Homes Bonus” (money provided by the government to recognise house building success) on affordable homes.

Small wonder that Labour did not want these figures to be debated in public.

The only crumb of comfort was that – in line with the rest of the country – the total number of planning applications for new homes rose from 370 units in 2012 to 1578 last year, although a significant proportion of these were for specialist student flats.

Moor Lane car park surplus to requirements

The Moor Lane car park – formerly used by Park and Ride services and which has been largely abandoned for the last 4 months – has now officially been declared surplus to requirements Behind closed doors logo

At a behind closed doors decision session yesterday it was agreed that the site would be disposed of.

To whom it may be sold and when remains to be seen. The site is zoned for housing in Labour’s latest Local Plan.

Ann Reid says,

“It is time that the Council made a decision on the future of the old Park and Ride car park on Moor Lane.  

There has been minimal use as a Pay and Display car park and although the College has used it over the summer I don’t believe that is sustainable over the longer term.  

The car park is also looking very shabby with no one taking responsibility for litter clearance or street sweeping.  

The sooner a decision is made the better.  

Any change of use will be subject to the normal planning process with the residents having the opportunity to comment on any proposals“.

 

Windermere Footway Reconstruction

 The City of York Council will start work week commencing 29th September 2014 to reconstruct the footway shown on the plan right.

This scheme is programmed to take 3 weeks, weather permitting.

The work consists of excavating the current tarmac surfacing, re-grading the stone foundation and relaying a new layer of tarmac.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

Selected road kerbs are to be replaced and a tactile crossing is to be installed across the junction with Bramble Dene.

The Contractor carrying out the work will be City of York Council’s Highways department who are responsible for safety and for providing access while the work is ongoing.

The contractor will be working between 8.00am and 4.00pm Monday to Friday.

Skips on Saturday

The skips below are funded by your local residents association using their Estate Improvement Grant. The skips are removed once they are full so please make sure you arrive in good time if you intend to make use of them.

1. Please remember to take your waste to the site only on the dates advertised

2. If the skip is full or not on the site, please do not leave your waste. This is classed as fly tipping and is illegal

3. Bulky items including furniture, fridges and freezers are not accepted. To arrange disposal of Bulky items including furniture, fridges and freezers are not accepted. To arrange disposal of one of these items please ring York (01904) 551551.

 

20 September 2014
Thoresby Road 10:30am

04 October 2014
Cornlands Road 12:30pm
Dringfield Close 8:30am
Ganton Place 10:30 AM

11 October 2014
Ostman Road 10:30am
Community House Bramham Road 8:30am

18 October 2014
Bramham Road/Grange Lane

12:30pm