Additional waste collections in York from next week

City of York Council is reminding residents that there will be an additional rubbish collection the week before Christmas.

Un-emptied bins in Foxwood 2012

Un-emptied bins in Foxwood 2012

To prevent a build up of rubbish all households will receive a collection next week (w/c 15 December). Households will also receive an extra rubbish collection after Christmas.

Recycling and rubbish collections will not take place the week of Christmas from 22 December to 26 December.

All households which are due rubbish or recycling collection on Thursday 1 January will receive a rubbish collection on Saturday 3 January instead, but there will be no recycling collections on this day.

City centre properties serviced by St Nicks recycling team will not receive collections on 25 and 26 December or 1 January. All properties will receive detailed festive collection information in early December.

Residents are asked to ensure their bins or boxes are presented by 7am on the day of their collection. Collections times can vary over the Christmas period and we are unable to return for rubbish or recycling that is not put out by this time.

To look up collection dates or receive a collection calendar please visit www.york.gov.uk/refuselookup or call 01904 551551.

For more information on waste and recycling visit please visit www.york.gov.uk/waste .Or follow on @CYCWaste on Twitter or ‘like’ CYCWaste on Facebook.

Local Plan meeting agenda published

The Council has published a further report on the number of new homes that it believes should be built in the City over the next 20 years.

The report fails completely to offer any possibility of reaching a consensus, driven, as it is, by the now discredited “Big City” strategy devised by the last Labour administration.

Council officials need to get back to basics. History is fact and an average of around 600 additional homes is what has been produced in the City over the last few decades.

Births, deaths and house building click to enlarge

Births, deaths and house building click to enlarge

In the last two years the housing waiting list in the City has fallen from a peak of 4692 to 1344. That is the backlog in demand that needs to be accommodated and, with nearly 5000 outstanding planning permissions available in the city, volume requirements (but not necessary affordability) can be addressed.

Natural population growth (births minus deaths) have averaged around 1000 a year producing an internal demand for less than 500 additional homes each year.

As was explained a coupe of days ago, there are a vast range of opinions on what may happen over the next two decades.

It is however highly unlikely that we will see high levels of sustained economic growth over the longer term. There will be peaks and troughs

Hence a figure of between 600 and 650 additional homes per year – on average – is a reasonable and justifiable aspiration.

The sooner York Council officials recognise this and get on with planning on that basis the sooner York’s Local Plan can achieve widespread support.

York Council heading for £1.3 million overspend?

A report being considered next week suggests that the York Council could over spend its budget this year by £1.3 million.

Coppergate - York Council failure, to win appeal against unlawful fines issue, could plunge it into a financial crisis

Coppergate – York Council failure, to win appeal against unlawful fines issue, could plunge it into a financial crisis

The – much delayed – half year report does not include any deficit which may arise from outstanding issues on the Coppergate/Lendal bridge fine refund policy.

Other areas of concern identified in the report include

  • Waste There is a forecast overspend of £98k due to lower than budgeted income from commercial waste, £100k shortfall in income from garden waste subscription, £100k due to the forecast shortfall in dividend from Yorwaste and £233k pressure at Household Waste and Recycling Centres primarily due to lower than expected income from charges
  • Car Parking There is a continued shortfall from parking income (£408k) and “ongoing monitoring will be required to assess the impact of the current parking initiatives, including the charges for Minster Badges, the free parking introduced in late June and pay-on-exit at Marygate”.
  • Social Care There is a significant projected overspend of £864k within the Elderly Persons Homes budgets.

A separate report identifies problems with the Councils capital investment programme.

Failure to move ahead with the reuse of the Guildhall means that £350,000 of “critical” repairs will now be needed.

And a major problem is arising with the Councils existing Elderly Persons Homes. These were supposed to have closed by now having been replaced by the new care village at Lowfields. But that project is 3 years behind schedule and the existing buildings will need to be patched up at a cost of £500,000!

The report ominously warns “existing EPH’s are currently in need of renovation, some aspects of which are threatening their ability to pass Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection”.

Social care direct payments changes in York

City of York Council’s Cabinet will consider plans for how customers paying for adult social care will be charged under the new Care Act 2014 legislation at a meeting later this month (16 December).Social care

The Care Act is the biggest change to how social care is delivered for over 60 years, and will lead to significant changes for the council, partner organisations and providers (including the voluntary sector), service users and carers. The changes will be implemented in two phases – April 2015 and April 2016.

The Care Act brings together best practice around personalisation and makes people’s rights to direct payments and a personal budget statutory, provisions that are already available in most local authorities, including York.

Some important changes in Phase 1 of the Act include;

  • · A national minimum eligibility criteria for service users and carers.
  • · The right to an assessment, support plan and personal budget regardless of personal financial circumstances.
  • · Carers are placed on an equal footing with those for whom they care for and can access an assessment against the eligibility criteria to identify what needs the person may have and what outcomes they are looking to achieve. The purpose of the assessment will support the determination of whether needs are eligible for care and support from the local authority.

Important changes in Phase 2 from April 2016 include-
(more…)

Future of York Guildhall

The future of the Guildhall and nearby buildings was last discussed in July 2013.

In a controversial decision the Labour Cabinet decided to allocate £400,000 towards developing a business case to create a “Digital Media Centre” on land to the side of the old Guildhall building.

The report at the time relied heavily on plans to get Lottery funding for the project. Such funding has never materialised and now a Council report to be considered next week reveals the costs and obstacles to the plans.

Proposed layout click for floor plan details

Proposed layout click for floor plan details

The Council has published details of how a new Guildhall might be reconfigured (right).

Apart from the small matter of hijacking the historic public building for use by a special interest group, an additional floor could be added to the south annex to form a restaurant and bar.

Just what that part of York doesn’t need!

There are no guarantees of continued casual access to the Guildhall which is an important part of the City’s heritage and tourist offer.

However it is the “business case” which will raise most eyebrows.

There isn’t one!

As previously reported, the council is being recommended to invest £9.2 million in the development. The capital costs break down like this:

Capital costs. click to enlarge

Capital costs. click to enlarge

Although the Council claims that £4.6 million could be repaid from rental income, no projected revenue budget has been provided.

There is no indication of the potential rental prices and no anchor tenants have been identified.

The complex wouldn’t even open until 2018.

All in all, the way that this has developed looks very similar to the muddled thinking that linked – in Council official’s minds – the need to lose the costs of running swimming pools by aggregating them into the Community Stadium contract.

The result was 2 years of delays, while a £12 million fully funded plan for a stadium ballooned into a £38 million – high risk – mega scheme, producing an additional £8 million bill for taxpayers.

York simply can’t afford this reckless approach to its economy or to the prioritisation of its limited resources.

The scheme should be scrapped before good money joins the hundreds of thousands of pounds already wasted.

Instead the Council should look to sell on the non listed parts of the site to the private sector and negotiate a zero risk option for taxpayers.

That might involve some provision for digital arts but it might also mean residential units in what is a prime site or failing that some retail/hotel use (or a combination of all of these).

The resultant capital receipt could then be used to maintain the Guildhall Listed buildings to a good standard, to ensure its continuing role as the civic centre of the City and provide a fulcrum point valued by all residents not just the techno elite.

York Council set to increase charges by 3 times inflation rate from Jan 1st

Labour have published a list of the increases in charges that they intend to make from the end of the month.

Bulky waste removal charges increase to £40.

Bulky waste removal charges increase to £40.

Most are around 5% (compared to the current inflation rate of 1.3%)

But there are some huge increases included.

The Burton Stone Community Centre hire charges are set to increase by 25% (main Hall). There will be a suspicion that this increase is a further attempt to drive out users who have already petitioned against the Councils plans for the centre.

Bulky household waste collection charges will get a 9% hike. It will cost £40 to get rid of up to 10 bulky items. Again this may be connected with Labours plans to charge for green bin emptying and to reduce the frequency of bin collections.

A full list can be seen by clicking here. No consultations on the proposals have taken place and the Council’s papers don’t include any indication of the number of users which each service has.

The council claims that the price increase will raise additional income of £146k in 2015/16. This is mainly from Bereavement Services (£88k) and Registrars (£25k).

Labour will consider further increases in prices in January when car parking, care services and planning charges will be amongst those under consideration.

Increased charges. Click for full list

Increased charges. Click for full list

“Spend, spend, spend”

The election of a new Leader doesn’t seem to have brought much realism to the York Council Labour Group.

True new Leader Williams is sacking 2 members of the Cabinet – which will operate with 6 members in future – in a gesture towards financial prudence. At the same time he is trying to “bounce” residents and opposition Councillors into accepting a £9.2 million scheme aimed at providing new offices, a riverside walkway and a restaurant on a site adjacent to the Guildhall site.

Williams slipped out the announcement to the local newspaper 24 hours before the agenda documents for a hastily convened special Cabinet meeting (scheduled to take place on 16th December) are due to be published.

York Guildhall

York Guildhall

It means that residents can’t even view the business case for the project at the moment.

…and there will be minimal time for consultation before the Cabinet signs off £500,000 in expenditure on design work for what it describes as a “digital media centre”.

We’ll reserve comment on the project until the full business case has been published, but if it is as lacking in detail as similar proposals – to invest £8 million in replacing the Waterworld swimming pool and £10 million on a bridge into the York central site – then we will know that the new Council is as financially imprudent, as the Alexander regime was reckless.

York Taxpayers – and their children – could be paying over £2 million a year just servicing the debts on these “vanity” projects.

£30,000 to do a job part time?

Meanwhile the new Labour Leader is likely to be asked to make clear his intentions about how much time he could be expected to spend on York Council work if he were to become the its Leader on Thursday.

A full time £30,000 a year salary has been attached to the post since local government reorganisation in 1997.

The expectation is that the Council Leader will be putting in around 50 hours of work each week,

Some of the holders of the post have worked longer hours. ……but Cllr Williams has, so far, declined to confirm that he will be giving up his (day) job with Yorkshire Water.

Failure to do so would be to short change York Council taxpayers (or Yorkshire Water customers).

So he needs to make his intentions clear before Councillors are ask to endorse his nomination.

Latest Planning applications 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:       13 White House Drive York YO24 1ED

Proposal:       Two storey side extension and single storey front and rear extension

Ref No: 14/02518/FUL

Applicant:      Mr David Morgan Contact Mr Andy Sykes   Consultation Expiry Date        29 December 2014 Case Officer:   Carolyn Howarth Expected Decision Level DEL

———————-

Location:       6 Lycett Road York YO24 1NB

Proposal:       Single storey side and rear extensions

Ref No: 14/02695/FUL

Applicant:      Mr Russell Bately       Contact Ms Charlotte Harrison   Consultation Expiry Date        29 December 2014 Case Officer:   Paul Edwards    Expected Decision Level DEL

———————

Location:       37 Dringthorpe Road York YO24 1NF

Proposal:       Single storey rear extension

Ref No: 14/02748/FUL

Applicant:      Mr Peter Hart   Consultation Expiry Date        29 December 2014 Case Officer:   Carolyn Howarth Expected Decision Level DEL

————————

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/

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

Local Plan – more realistic housing figures emerging?

Fig 1 Economic growth forecasts click to view

Fig 1 Economic growth forecasts click to view

Those York Councillors who attended a briefing session last week on the Local Plan will have found out little new.

The disconnect between Labour’s, highly optimistic, economic growth assumptions and population projections remain, although figures provided by specialist consultants are beginning to paint a more realistic picture.

A study by Oxford economists suggest that as many as 13,000 new jobs could be created in the City over the next 15 years. However, about half of these will simply replace jobs which are being lost.

Fig 2 Population growth click to view

Fig 2 Population growth click to view

The same team says that there could be an additional 24,300 people wanting to live in York by 2030. This would generate a demand for about 450 additional homes per year (see figs 1 and 2 right).

The Council has finally admitted that 75% of the projected population growth can be attributed to immigration, rather than “providing affordable homes for York families” – the claim used by Labour to justify their “Big City” growth plans in the past.

Fig 3 Summary click to enlarge

Fig 3 Summary click to enlarge

In summary (fig 3) the consultants conclude that the York economy should grow by around 2.8% on average each year.

The Local Plan agreed in February 2011 had agreed that around 550 additional homes were needed in the City each year.

Population projections vary enormously depending on when the calculation has been undertaken (see below)

Changing population projections

Changing population projections

A second set of Consultants (ARUP) conceded that a straight projection of the 2011 estimates would produce an annual requirement for 638 homes pa.

They suggest that this should be increased to 838 to reflect an “assumed higher economic growth rate post 2021”.

It is this argument, about the level of economic growth that the City could sustain, that is likely to be the key area of debate as the Council moves forward to decide how many – and where – additional homes should be built.

If the lower figures are used then – taking into account an allowance for the large number of windfall opportunities which occur in York – it should be possible to produce a Plan which respects the City’s green field setting.

The other question which needs to be addressed honestly is whether the homes will actually be built?

Housing demand is increasing again following 5 years when house prices in the City have been stable. Over 5000 outstanding planning permissions currently exist but – partly as a result of the recession – house building levels have been sluggish (fig 4)

Fig 4 Housing completions in York click to enlarge

Fig 4 Housing completions in York click to enlarge

Some changes are likely with central government acting to remove the requirement for affordable housing quotas on developments of under 10 homes.

Council Housing

A review of the Councils policy on purchasing properties to rent on the open market is also overdue now with the recently announced 6 new (2 bedroomed) Council homes – scheduled to be built on a site on Pottery Lane* – apparently likely to cost over £170,000 each when site values are included.

There are dozens of modern 2 bedroomed property available on the open market for lower prices.

*Residents can view the plans for the Pottery Lane development on Thursday 11 December at St Wulstan’s Church, Fossway from 4pm – 6:30pm.

NB. The latest Council house waiting list figure for York show that it has reduced to 1348.