Late shoppers Park and Ride services tomorrow (Thursday)

Park and ride buses

Extended Park&Ride (P&R) services on Thursdays and free Boxing Day P&R travel.

A late night shoppers service will operate on all five Park&Ride routes every Thursday, with the last bus leaving the city centre on all routes at around 9.30pm (for exact timings visit http://www.itravelyork.info/).

The first extended service will run from the 28 November to coincide with the biggest Christmas market in York’s calendar – St Nicholas Fayre.

In addition to this, passengers will also be able to take advantage of FREE travel on Boxing Day on the three key P&R routes which will be operating.

Three Park & Ride services will operate on Boxing Day:

◦Askham Bar (white line – route 3) – First bus at 7am from the site, last bus back from Tower Street at 6.45pm

◦Designer Outlet (red line – route 7) – First bus at 7am from the site, last bus back from Rougier Street at 6.42pm

◦Monks Cross (silver line – route 9) – First bus at 7am from the site, last bus back from Rougier Street at 6.43pm

All three services will operate at a 15 minute frequency throughout the day and will be FREE for all passengers (and will stop at all usual stops along the route).

St Nicholas Fayre in York from tomorrow

St Nicholas Fayre

St Nicholas Fayre

The St Nicholas Fayre returns with seasonal sparkle on Thursday 28 November for four days of festive trading.

The Fayre, now in its 22nd year, is a firm favourite in the market calendar and runs until Sunday 1 December.

Snug wooden huts and pretty lights will line Parliament Street and Coppergate with a traditional carousel in St Sampson’s Square.
Stall holders, dressed in Victorian costume, will be offering a huge array of gifts including jewellery, ceramics, seasonal drinks, Whitby jet, wooden gifts, children’s clothes, herbs and oils and decorations for the Christmas period.

Other markets taking place across the city include

  • the Made in Yorkshire art and craft market at the Guildhall,
  • the Medieval Market at Barley Hall and an Arts and
  • Crafts market at St William’s College.

St Nicholas Fayre is open from 28 November to 1 December from 9am until 6pm daily and runs alongside the permanent Newgate Market in the city centre.

For more information on specialist York markets see http://www.yorkfestivals.com/

Council to increase charges by £154,000 with car parking rates still to be announced

The York Council has published a list of proposed increases in the charges that it makes for some services.

Bulky household waste collections will now cost £36.75 for a maximum of 10 items.

Removal of fridges will cost £21.

Wealthy to dominate tennis again?

Wealthy to dominate tennis again?

The increases could further increase the problems with dumping that have been multiplying since the Beckfield Lane recycling centre closed last year.

Room hire at the central Library will cost a whopping £69 an hour while a 30 person capacity room at Acomb Library will cost £52.50 per hour (£34.60 for non profit making organisations).

Tennis will cost £7-40 per hour and bowls £4.20.

A full sized allotment (200 – 450 sq yards) will cost £104 a year with effect from January

There are massive increases in charges for the Guildhall. A Saturday morning hire will cost £225 (currently £170).

Council budget meetings poorly attended

Council budget meetings poorly attended

Hire charges for a small committee room are up by 25% to £25 an hour.

Other charges – including the significant car parking rates which bring in £7.4million a year for the Council – will be decided in January.

There has been no consultation with residents on charges and they are pointedly omitted from the budget discussions taking place around the City.

Not surprisingly, these meetings have been very poorly attended.

A full list of proposed charges can be found here.

York Council loses dozens of complaints

My Council

At least 50 reports about failing public service standards in York have not been actioned by the Council over the last couple of months.

The Council has claimed that reports submitted via the popular “My Council” Mobile app were not processed because they were indecipherable when uploaded to the Council.

Rather than get to the bottom of the problem, the reports were ignored.

Now an administrator for the “My Council” web provider (abavus.co.uk) has stepped in and offered to sort out the difficulties.

More and more people are using web sites like “My Council”, Fix my Street , and Fill that hole” to report issues.

This is to the advantage of Councils because the costs of processing issues electronically are much less than hard copy mail, personal callers or telephone communications.

However this case is likely to damage the credibility of the system in some residents eyes.

The Councils own mobile app (Smarter York) allows only a very small number of issues to be reported and user numbers have been disappointing.

The “Report it” section of the Council web site is cumbersome and has similar limitations.

The Council has been asked to sort out its data interface problems, ensure that reports blocked over the last couple of months are now entered onto its systems and to make efforts to contact those residents who may be unaware that issues that they have reported have not been actioned.

The industry generally needs to do more work on interface issues.

Councils in other parts of the country may be affected by incompatibility issues

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: York Model Engineering Club The Pastures York YO24 2JE

Proposal: Erection of 2no. canopies.

Ref No: 13/02882/FUL

Applicant: Mr Andrew Nuttall Contact Richard Gibbon Consultation Expiry Date 16 December 2013 Case Officer: Heather Fairy (Mon – Wed) Expected Decision Level DEL
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Location: 18 The Pastures York YO24 2JE

Proposal: First floor extension to existing bungalow to create second storey

Ref No: 13/03432/FUL

Applicant: Mrs Jackson Consultation Expiry Date 16 December 2013 Case Officer: Heather Fairy (Mon – Wed) 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.

Lowfields older peoples village gets dementia care specialist

Artists impression of new "care village"

Artists impression of new “care village”

Dementia Care specialist, Dementia Care Matters, is to help provide high quality care to those suffering from the condition in York.

 

Dementia Care Matters will advise the council on the operating model for its two new specialist dementia care Elderly Person’s Homes at Lowfield and Burnholme, as well as supporting and training existing care home staff to ensure they can deliver specialist care in the new homes.
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White Swan refurbishment starts

White Swan Hotel York

White Swan Hotel York

Work to help regenerate a prominent unused building in the city centre has begun, as contractors have started to strip out The White Swan Hotel.

A £450,000 grant from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) Empty Homes 2 programme is helping to create new accommodation including 18 affordable homes plus new ground floor retail units in the city’s central shopping area.

Sainsbury’s has submitted several planning applications to cover the remodelling of the ground floor of the building. They include details of the planned signage, security blinds and an ATM click

Recent research carried out by the North East Civic Trust has identified the potential for hundreds of new homes in unused spaces above shops and offices in central York.

Tees Valley Housing and local affordable housing experts CoHo Ltd are moving forward to identify specific opportunities for new housing in the city centre over the next 18 months, and is asking local landlords and agents to come forward to discuss and realise new schemes.

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