“Save our bins” petition launched

Residents have launched a petition calling on the York Council to reverse its proposal to reduce refuse bin collection frequencies and scrap the £35 green bin emptying charge.

click to download

click to download

The petition also asks the Council to abandon its plan – agreed at its budget meeting on 26th February – to introduce a £35 a year charge for emptying green bins. The charge has been heavily criticised as a new “stealth” tax – the equivalent of a 4% increase in Council Tax levels for most residents.

The Labour run authority introduced a £35 fee for emptying second, and subsequent, green bins last year.

The new tax will apply to all green bins and will hit the least well off hardest (as the charge will not be offset by increased benefit payments).

Residents fear that the charge will lead to more hedgerow dumping.

The risk will be increased by the move to 3 or 4 weekly grey bin emptying.

Dumping has already become an increasing problem on the west of the City since Labour’s controversial decision to close the civic amenity recycling centre on Beckfield Lane a couple of years ago.

Dringhouses Councillor Ann Reid is backing the petition.

“Many public service cuts are being hidden from residents by dubbing them part of a “rewiring” exercise.

This title means nothing to most people.

A consultation in February was a shambles with leaflets advertising activities being delivered after the event had finished.  A bogus list of choices failed to specifically ask for resident’s views on bin charging and reduced emptying frequencies.

Residents need to make their views known now.

A new Council will be elected on May 7th. It will have an early opportunity  to reverse the damaging decisions that have been taken over recent weeks”

The petition also asks the Council to provide more litter bins and to give a higher priority to keeping highways and hedgerows free from litter and dumped items.

A copy of the petition can be down loaded by clicking here

The petition can be signed “on line” here

Latest Planning application Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Ward

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:       31 Ryecroft Avenue York YO24 2SD

Proposal:       First floor side extension

Ref No: 15/00319/FUL

Applicant:      Mr Gareth Wigdahl   Contact Mr John Dougal  Consultation Expiry Date        30 March 2015 Case Officer:   Elizabeth Potter        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/

The Council now no longer routinely consults neighbours by letter when an application is received.

More litter bins axed in York

Street cleansing standards take another hit

The York Council is to remove more litter bins from the City’s streets. It is claiming that the installation of “smart” compaction bins in the City centre and Acomb Front Street has been a “success” and is now aiming to replace old style bins on a one for two basis.

Compactor bin jammed with rubbish

Compactor bin jammed with rubbish

One of the Foxwood Lane bins which will be axed

One of the Foxwood Lane bins which will be axed

The smart bins compact rubbish using solar power and are supposed to alert the Council electronically when they are full.

They have had a mixed reaction from residents and traders.

The locations where only one bin will be provided in future include:

  • Copmanthorpe – near chipshop
    • Foxwood Lane – corner near shops
    • Tadcaster Road – opposite chipshop
Another of the bins that will be removed

Another of the bins that will be removed

  • St Aubyn’s Place
  • Badger Hill – near shops
  • Tang Hall Ln – shops
  • Marygate – entrance to Museum Gardens
  • Union Terrace Coach/car park

    Litter accumulating behind a junction box. An increasingly familiar site in sub-urban York

    Litter accumulating behind a junction box. An increasingly familiar sight in sub-urban York

  • Haxby – the village – near shops
  • City Centre – Newgate Market
  • City Centre – Spurriergate – near junc with High Ousegate
  • City Centre – Kings Sq
  • Broadway – Shops
  • Blossom Street O/S Odean

Meanwhile complaints about litter drift are increasing and a petition asking for more litter bins to be provide is being drawn up

Street drinking and green waste collection petitions to be considered by Council

The Council has announced the dates on which two petitions from residents will be considered.

A petition asking for action to control street drinking in The Groves area is slated for consideration on  17th March

A petition opposing the reduction on winter green bin emptying frequencies will be considered on 18th March

Meanwhile opposition to Labour’s plans to reduce grey bin emptying frequencies to 3 or 4 weekly is growing.

Many residents have also emailed us to say that they fear that the £35 a year charge that Labour have agreed for emptying any green bin, will lead to more hedgerow dumping.

 

Markets moved from Parliament Street permanently

The York Council is seeking to ban market traders from Parliament Street.

Parliament Street was the traditional home of the York market for many years before  it was moved into Newgate. It was refurbished and relaunched as the Shambles market last year.

York Food and Drink Festival

 

Speciality farmers and continental markets continued to be held on Parliament Street and were generally a welcome addition to the street scene.

Now they are to be shunted into a limited space within the Shambles market.

A report to a council committee taking place on Tuesday says 

“The proposals include the refurbished marketplace being the focal point for markets and the sole city centre location where markets will be held – with the exception of St Nicholas Fair – and will accommodate all themed markets.

They also address the need to provide a diverse range of goods while welcoming casual traders, service standards and positively promoting the market.

To support traders in their planning and marketing, the report proposes that from 1 September 2015, traders will have the choice of taking either a four-week or a six-month licence which will be granted for specified days and commodities”.

We have previously recorded that we think the Council missed an opportunity when it invested over £1.6 million in the market refurbishment. There was a chance to reinvigorate Parliament Street while moving -and enlarging – the cycle park  which could have occupied part of the Newgate site.

Other areas – such as Duncombe Place and Acomb Front Street – could have been the new home for special events and markets.

Now that opportunity seems to have been lost for ever.

 

Council Tax bills on their way

Following approval by City of York Council’s Full Council to set its Budget for 2015/16, the authority is now issuing council tax information to over 86,000 households in the city with details of their new payments for the year from April.

Council tax payers can also sign up to receive their council tax bills by email. The fast, free, environmentally-friendly and secure service is available online at www.york.gov.uk in the Do it Online area. The service gives them instant and 24/7 access to their bill and they will be sent an email notification when their new bill is ready.

The Council has for the first time in 4 years accepted a government subsidy which means that Council Tax bills have been frozen

To sign up for e-billing, all residents have to do is have their last council tax bill to hand and go to the council’s website:

  • Scroll to Do it Online
  • Select Apply for it
  • Scroll to Council Tax
  • Select Council Tax e-billing – then follow the instructions from there.

As soon as their bill is available they will be sent an email notification and will be able to view their account securely online at any time and download and print the bill if needed. Each person named on the bill can arrange to receive their own e-copy.

City of York Council has a net revenue budget of £119.6million, funded by Council tax income of £72.8million, government grant of £21.0million, Retained Business Rates of £24.1million. A one off income of £1.8million has also been identified from a surplus Collection fund of Council Tax and council reserves.

The budget – voted through by Labour with Green party support – includes highly controversial proposals such as the introduction a £35 pa charge for emptying (all) green bins, a reduction in grey bin emptying frequency to once every 3 or 4 weeks and an end to support for local Community Centres.

The price that Green Councillors  secured in return for their votes was a 10p per hour increase in car parking charges.

The budget is likely to be reviewed in June following the Council collections when Labour are expected to lose many of their existing Councillors.

York has the 14th lowest band D council tax, the 3rd lowest spend per head of population of any unitary council in England and the 8th lowest government funding per head in the country.

Some children’s bus fares to double in York

Behind closed doors decision hits number 20 bus service.

Behind closed doors logo

Two decisions were taken last week which affect bus services contracted by the Council with Arriva/Transdev in York.

There was no prior consultation with local Councillors or residents before the decisions were published.

The first change will see child fares on the 627/637/647 services increased so that they are “in line with those charged on other local bus services”. The services provide links to Fulford, Archbishop Holgate and Manor schools (from Acomb).

Currently children using these routes pay £1 return. This would be doubled to £2 (saving the Council  £19,711)

 The increase will be implemented from 1st September 2015.

The Council has promised to “ work with the contracting bus operator (Arriva) to explore opportunities for term pass discounts”

The number 20 bus service which links Tesco, Gale Lane and  Front Street with Poppleton, Wigginton and the University will run less frequently.

“Instead of an hourly ‘clock-face’ timetable, additional running time will be built in to the timetable meaning certain departures will be 70 or 75 minutes apart.

Most buses will run from Heslington Hall via University Road and Melrosegate (currently buses run from Heslington Hall via Field Lane, Osbaldwick village, Alcuin Avenue and Melrosegate). School-time journeys will still be routed via Osbaldwick as they carry a number of children from the village to and from Huntington and Joseph Rowntree schools“.

All buses will divert to call at Vangarde Shopping Park (John Lewis etc), providing a new transport link for staff and shoppers. “Providing this link may allow CYC to use some of the Vangarde Section 106 developer funding to offset a proportion of the contract price”.

The proposal will remove the section of route through Heslington East and Osbaldwick except for at school times. The Councils says that, “whilst some Osbaldwick resident are using the service (around 15 passengers per day on average), alternative bus links are available”.

Police concered about Land Rover thefts in York area

Police are urging owners of Land Rover Defenders to be on their guard against vehicle thieves, particularly in rural areas.

Land Rover Defender (file image)

The warning comes after a number of thefts and attempted thefts involving the vehicles in North Yorkshire.

·         An attempted theft of a Land Rover was reported in Gargrave, overnight 26 / 27 February. The vehicle was found down the street, having been stopped by an immobiliser.

·         A twin cab green Land Rover, registration number YC62 WTG, was stolen from Ickornshaw, near Cowling, in the early hours of 23 February. Anyone with information on its whereabouts should call 101 and ask for PC James Dykes, quoting reference number 12150029982.

·         There have also been attempted thefts just over the border in other police force areas.

Police are appealing to owners to be vigilant around keeping these types of vehicles as safe and secure as possible, and are also asking members of the public to report any suspicious activity involving Land Rovers.

PC Clare Mayes, of Thirsk and Easingwold Police, said: “I am urging Land Rover owners to be on their guard, and ensure they have adequate security measures in place – and of course this advice applies to any make of vehicle.

“Land Rovers should always be locked and alarmed. Park in a locked garage or other locked secure area, or in a well-lit open space or where there is passive lighting. Don’t leave keys in the ignition or near the front door at home.

“Consider also fitting a transponder-based security marking system and tracker device, and etching all windows with your vehicle identification number. In addition, if your Land Rover is over ten years old, fit an alarm and either fit an immobiliser or use a steering wheel lock.”