Local Lib Dems have vowed to fight to protect leisure facilities in York, after it emerged the Labour group were considering the closure of the city’s largest swimming pool.

Last week local Labour Leader James Alexander said the pool was too expensive to run and highlighted claims that the city was oversupplied with swimming facilities.

This is not the first time that Labour have looked at closing Yearsley pool. In 2002 the Labour group proposed closure and the pool was only saved after Liberal Democrats campaigned to keep it open and won the subsequent election in 2003.

Yearsley is the only long course pool in the city and so is a unique attraction for the increasing number of fitness swimmers. Closing Yearsley and replacing it with smaller pools would mean the city would be without a pool that meets the needs of those people who swim for fitness.

In contrast to Labour’s failure to invest anything in the city’s pools during their time in power, the Liberal Democrats have invested £11m over the last 8 years and have secured more than £7m more through innovative partnerships like the one with the University of York that will deliver the new sports village pool.

Part of that £11m of investment has seen more than £1m spent on improving Yearsley Pool. These improvements have been welcomed by residents and the refurbished pool is now attracting record numbers of visitors. The number of visitors to Yearsley pool has risen by 40% since 2005

It is now becoming clear that no service in the city is safe from Labour, libraries and swimming pools are already under threat and those are only the ones we know about. Labour should be honest with the public about the full scale of their proposed cuts.

We will shortly be arranging a petition to help fight the closure of Yearsley and will post details here as soon as I have them. 

The City of York Council website has regular updates on gritting and snow clearance so you can see what is being done to keep the city’s roads and footpaths safe and clear. Visit the website here to find out more 

The latest information on school closures is available here

There is also information and advice on clearing snow yourself outside your property here

The locations of all the local salt bins are posted below.

Salt bins are inspected regularly, but if you find that your bin needs refilling, please phone (01904) 551551.

Your Liberal Democrat Focus team are supporting the ‘Wear it Pink’ campaign, and we will be ‘Wearing Pink’ on October 29th. If you would like to be involved follow this link or click on the banner below.

Why take part in wear it pink?
When you wear it pink you’re part of something amazing – finding a cure for breast cancer, by funding some of the world’s most promising and innovative research projects. The money you have raised in the past has helped to fund projects like Dr Ingunn Holen’s award-winning research, which found that if two drugs were given in a particular order at specific intervals, breast tumours were almost completely destroyed. This discovery could ultimately lead to improved chances of survival for thousands of women undergoing treatment.

Why is Breast Cancer Campaign’s work important?
Breast cancer research has made considerable progress over the past two decades and vital work is still underway. Past research has resulted in improvements in quality of life and survival. However, one woman in nine in the UK will be diagnosed during her lifetime. Each research project funded by the charity brings us a step closer to beating breast cancer.

Where does my wear it pink donation go?
Breast Cancer Campaign uses all wear it pink donations to fund innovative, world-class research throughout the UK and Ireland to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure.The charity currently supports around 106 projects worth £16.3 million in 38 centres across the UK and Ireland.

Plans to build a house on land near the junction of Tadcaster Road and Old Moor Lane have drawn objections from residents in nearby Aldersyde Court.

Following discussions with residents about their concerns, I have written to City of York Council to formally object to the plans.

This is a revised plan for this development as a previous application was rejected earlier this year. Many residents objected to the original application and their concerns haven’t been addressed by this new application.

My main concern is about the impact the development will have on the residents of ground floor flats in Aldersyde Court.

The proximity of the proposed development to Aldersyde Court means that many of the people in the ground floor flats see a great deal of their light blocked out by development.

The layout of the flats means that the living areas are largely to the side of the building where the new development is proposed and so residents would be losing their light and view from rooms in which they spend a great deal of their time. I believe this would have a disproportionately large effect on the lives of the residents of those flats.

There are also some concerns about the impact this development will have on the drainage of the area, as well as issues regarding access. Overall, I think these proposal will have too much of a negative impact on local residents and should therefore be refused.