It seems that the Council will go ahead with its threat to reduce the number of litter bins in the City Centre. The are over 100 litter bins in use at present, each costing about £80. They are to be replaced with a small number of “big belly” bins costing around £3000 each.

53 convention bins will be replaced by just 13 of the green monsters.

A recent trial of one of the bins in Acomb proved disastrous with litter levels increasing everywhere.

One advantage of the big bins is that they can automatically report that they are full. However – as we have seen with the flawed roll out of the Iphone “app” for reporting fly tipping & graffiti – unless resources are available to deal promptly with reports then a problem can actually be made worse by change.

The huge “big belly” bins are visually intrusive and their roll out would conflict with the Councils stated aim of reducing street clutter. More seriously though, high levels of litter could damage the City’s image and deter tourists.

There is a place for the use of large bins. The supplying company offers models which allow for recyclable materials to be segregated. We can see that the careful distribution of this type of bin could be helpful in a busy City Centre.
……. but the widespread deployment of appropriately sized, conveniently located, litter bins should remain a high priority for a City which is so dependant on income from tourism.

The Council has recently acquired a poor reputation for taking impulsive decisions without thinking through the costs or long terms consequences of their actions.

We’ll be watching the decision meeting which is taking place on 15th May to see whether the “whole life” costs of the change are revealed

York’s streets are alive with entertainment!

York’s very first festival celebrating street performance, Buskival, is launched today by City of York Council. This new event is sponsored by city centre retailer, HomeSense and will take place on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 June between 11am and 4pm at 12 different city centre locations, including outside quality homeware for less retailer, HomeSense, at Foss Islands Road.

York has had a long association with street entertainers and this festival will celebrate the sometimes wacky but wonderful tradition by showcasing the successful busking scheme operated by City of York Council. A trail of busking pitches will be created around York during the Diamond Jubilee weekend, which will form an easy path for members of the public to enjoy.

With over 50 buskers, entertainers and magicians there will be something for everyone to enjoy. To add to the occasion and put the festival into Buskival, some award winning street performers have also been specially invited to perform during the weekend.

As part of the two-day festival there will be a competition for members of the public to choose their favourite amateur busker. The winning artist will win £200 and there will also be runner-up prizes for second and third place.

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The Council has decided to amend its policy to allow Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks to be undertaken for hackney carriage and private hire driver licence applicants, and on existing drivers when CRB renewals are undertaken. The current policy is for applicants to undertake a Standard CRB check.

The follows a recent legislative change by the Home Office to permit local authorities to request Enhanced Checks, announced on 29 February 2012 taking effect from 26 March 2012. (The Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) (Amendment) Regulations 2012).

As part of the licensing process Licensing Authorities have to be satisfied the hackney carriage and private hire driver licence applicants are fit and proper persons before issuing a licence. CRB renewals are carried out on existing drivers to satisfy the Licensing Authority that they are still a fit and proper person to hold a driver licence. By law, the Licensing Authority shall not licence a driver unless they are satisfied of this.

A CRB check on a driver is regarded by the Council as an important safety measure for all drivers.

Stars set to shine at evening celebration to welcome Olympic Flame

Katy B will be lighting up the Coca Cola stage with former Blue Peter presenter Andy Akinwolere at York Racecourse on 19 June as the climax act for the evening celebration of the Olympic Torch coming to York, it has been announced today (3 May 2012).

Besides Katy B who has released a single with Mark Ronson to mark the Olympic celebrations, the party on York’s Knavesmire will also feature a session with local African drumming groups Umbu and Calabash and also the sensational gospel sounds of the University of York’s choir Zamar.

The celebration will be open to all, unticketed and people who want to join the celebration and throw themselves into the sporting spirit are invited to tell City of York Council that they’re coming to the party by simply clicking onto www.york.gov.uk//yorkgold2012 and following the link.

For the Tadcaster Road torch route. See: http://tinyurl.com/19th-June-torch

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The York Council are reporting, in a “Health and Wellbeing in York: Joint Strategic Needs Assessment”, that York residents are living longer.

” City of York Council, the Primary Care Trust and partners have worked together to produce a report to help inform the future direction of health and wellbeing in the city. As part of the government’s far-reaching health reforms, local authorities will take on more responsibility for public health from April 2013.

The report called the Health and Wellbeing in York: Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2012 (JSNA) brings together information on current and future health and wellbeing needs. It builds on two previous reports and will be used to help make decisions regarding future strategies and plans.

There are four main sections: a snapshot of who lives in York, a look at “wellbeing” in its widest sense, lifestyles and a profile of health in the city.

The JSNA report shows that population is projected to continue increasing. The proportion of the population over the age of 65 years is expected to increase dramatically between now and 2029. Life expectancy has been rising; death rates from cancer have been falling and York scores better than the England average for many health indicators. Work in these areas needs to continue to maintain these successes.

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Councils are facing a backlash from residents over moves to charge for green waste collection.

Over the past year, more and more local authorities have started charging for green waste collections in order to help plug holes in their budgets

In York, Labour have included a cut of £250,000 over the next 2 years in the costs of collecting green waste. The green bins have been popular in York with most residents in sub urban areas routinely using the service.

The cuts could be made either by discontinuing the service all together (and perhaps providing composting bins to residents) or by charging for the bins as Labour & Conservative Councils are doing elsewhere in the Country (see below).

Either way, when added to the rearrangement of collection rounds (different types of waste will in future be collected on different days of the week) and the closure of Household Waste Sites, it means significant change for many York residents.

If the Council are to go ahead with such a proposal then they should be consulting residents now, not leaving it to the last minute as happened with the Beckfield Lane issue.

Residents in Newcastle, Melton in Leicestershire and Bracknell Forest in Berkshire are the latest to come out against the charges, which they claim are equivalent to a stealth tax.

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Despite a 56% cut in the budget to resurface roads and footpaths representations by Ann Reid means that work has started on resurfacing the footpaths in Glenridding.

Next will be Acomb Wood Drive where the resurfacing of its whole length starts on 7th May (see right). The work consists of excavating the current surfacing and replacing with two new layers of tarmac.

The Contractor carrying out the work will be City of York Council’s Highways department which will be working between 8.00am and 4.00pm Monday to Friday.

The only other streets to benefit this year are footpaths in Wordsworth Crescent and Middlethorpe Grove (from the junction with Tadcaster Rd to Hunters Way).

The resurfacing of Cherry Lane and Deepdale is not expected to start until 2013/14.

North Yorkshire Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 2 May and Tuesday 8 May 2012.

•A64 east-bound carriageway Bowbridge Farm Tadcaster
•A64 west-bound carriageway, Bowbridge Farm, Tadcaster
•Broadway, Fulford, York
•Murton Way, Muton, York
•Fordlands Road, Fulford, York
•A1237 Monks Cross, York
•B1222 Naburn lane, York
•B1228 Main Street, Elvington, York
•B1228 Dunnington Lodge, Elvington, York
•A64 Malton by-pass Malton east and westbound
•A64 Seamer by-pass, Scarborough
•A64 Seamer Road, Scarborough
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NHS 111 is a new telephone based service for patients that will be available throughout the country no later than 1st April 2013.

Plans are in place to ensure that NHS 111 will be available in North Yorkshire and York, along with other areas of the country, no later than 1 April 2013.

The service is being introduced to support access to urgent and emergency healthcare and ensure patients are seen by a service most appropriate for their needs.

It will replace the existing NHS Direct telephone number.

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The fallout from the closure of the Beckfield Lane Waste and Recycling Centre continues as the Liberal Democrats question information given by Labour Cabinet Member, Dafydd Williams.

At last week’s Extraordinary Council, Labour justified the unpopular axing of Beckfield Lane by arguing it was earmarked for closure because it was less accessible than the two other sites in York, Towthorpe and Hazel Court.

Coun Williams, Labour Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhood Services, lauded the accessibility of the Towthorpe site by claiming that it only had steps leading to one skip, the landfill skip. In fact as pictures below show, there are steps leading to other skips at the site including for wood and garden waste. Liberal Democrat Councillors are today demanding that Coun Williams clarifies and if necessary withdraws his remarks.

Coun Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Communities and Neighbourhood, commented:

“It is clear that the Labour Cabinet Member gave misleading and inaccurate information during the debate on the closure of the Beckfield Lane site. A key pillar of Labour’s argument was that Beckfield should close because it was not accessible due to steps leading to the skips. Coun Williams compared it to the other sites in York and claimed Towthorpe was accessible and should stay open because there were only steps to one skip at the site. This simply isn’t true and undermines Labour’s argument for closure.

“I am writing to Coun Williams to ask him to clarify and if necessary withdrawal his remarks; however, there is a wider point. If a Cabinet Member has misled, deliberately or not, councillors during a debate should the subsequent vote stand? Clearly, Labour members voted through this proposal based on false information.”