Jewsons have been awarded a 3 year contract to supply building materials to the York Council.
Oliver House – “we want some more information”
The Council has confirmed that a proposal, submitted earlier in the year by the CVS, to lease and improve Oliver House, proved not to be financially viable.
New terms are now being renegotiated with the expectation that a report will be considered at a meeting in December.
The property has been empty for 18 months and sits on a prime site which could generate a major capital receipt for the local taxpayer.
Conversion of residential sites like these to offices is very short-sighted.
The Council would be wiser to sell the site for development as housing and use the receipt to provide offices in a cheaper – possibly sub-urban – location.
This would have the additional advantage of regenerating one of our run down local high streets.
At a recent Council meeting Westfield Cllr Lynn Jeffries posed the following question to the responsible Cabinet member;
Labour force through winter service cuts by just 1 vote
Labour have forced through plans to cut salt bins and gritting routes in York despite opposition from residents, community groups and local councillors.
Ann Reid with local salt bin
Earlier this month, Labour run City of York Council decided to cut two-thirds of salt bins and remove nearly 30 miles of roads from priority gritting routes, including on bus routes. Liberal Democrat Councillors Ann Reid, Nigel Ayre and Keith Aspden ‘called-in’ the decision for further review. However, at a special meeting of York’s Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee last night, Labour used their majority to push through the controversial proposals by 5 votes to 4.
At the meeting, the Lib Dems tabled an alternative set of plans which would have safeguarded salt bins at schools, elderly people’s homes, sheltered housing and community hubs such as local shops and libraries. It also said all bus routes should be on the priority gritting routes; community groups should be consulted before any salt bin is cut; and it called on the Labour Cabinet to review its decision to carry out an online only consultation on the cuts. These alternative plans were defeated by Labour.
Speaking at the meeting Cllr Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Environmental Services, said Labour’s plans were “flawed” and “a substantial number of areas will be left without a regular gritting regime, leading to access problems for public transport and to schools in icy weather”.
She criticised the Labour Cabinet for prioritising schemes such as buying an Arts Barge over delivering frontline services, adding:
“It is a matter of priorities where budgets are spent. It is easy for the Labour administration to blame Government cuts; however, they are still able to find resources for pet projects while street level services like salt bins and gritting, which people pay their council tax for, are cut”.
The proposals have met with fierce opposition from local people with 1,000 residents signing a Lib Dem petition against the cuts. Meanwhile, Kingsway Area Residents’ Association recently said that the plans could see elderly and disabled people trapped in their homes this winter.
It expected that salt bins will start to be removed from the streets of York in the next couple of weeks.
Details of the meeting and decision can be found here: http://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=602&MId=7815
The Lib Dem proposal, tabled by Cllr Carol Runciman and defeated 5 votes to 4, was as follows:
Nick Clegg offers York businesses growth funding
A new round of the Government’s Regional Growth Fund has opened for businesses across the country, and City of York Council is encouraging firms in York to bid for a share of the £300 million cash pot.
Nick Clegg at launch of Regional Growth Fund
The fund, which has already supported almost 300 projects and programmes across the country, is open to bids of £1 million or more for high quality private sector projects and programmes that leverage private sector investment and create sustainable jobs.
Round five of the Regional Growth Fund will close to applications on Monday 9 December, with successful bidders announced in Spring 2014. Bids will need to demonstrate the potential for creating long-term, private-sector led economic growth and employment, and also evidence a significant private sector matched funding contribution.
For further information, or for help with the application process businesses can visit https://www.gov.uk/understanding-the-regional-growth-fund#round-5-now-open-for-bids or contact Andrew Sharp or Charles Storr in City of York Council’s Economic Development Unit on 01904 555834 or 01904 555901.
Holgate children’s centre finally gets new occupier.
A team that supports some of York’s most vulnerable children has moved to new dedicated premises in Nursey Drive in Holgate.
City of York Council’s “Looked After Children Support Team” was formed last year to help support the city’s Looked After Children, their families and carers. The team of 12 specialist support practitioners will move to the site of the old Holgate Family Centre on Nursery Drive at the end of the month.
This is a welcome move by the Council which should, in our view, undertake more devolution to help regenerate sub-urban areas.
The team liaises with partner agencies across the city to coordinate and facilitate contact between Looked After Children and their parents and other relatives, support parenting assessments and re-unification plans, as well as helping Looked After and Adopted Children understand and make sense of their own life histories.
York Council refuses to test market on surplus land sales.
The worrying trend, where the York Council fails to put surplus assets (mainly land and property) on the open market, looks set to continue.
There were a lot of raised eyebrows last year when the Council chose to sell land at Hungate for a knock down price. They claimed that this was necessary in order to attract Hiscox insurers to the City.
The trend continued earlier this year when they decided to deal direct with a leaseholder in Redness Street while the adjacent landowner is being given first refusal of the vacated St Anthony’s House office site.
Now we understand that Oliver House may also be sold (or leased) in December without ever reaching the open market.
The Councillor responsible for these decisions was questioned at the Council meeting recently.
Oliver House
He accepted that professional valuations placed on Council assets in the past had substantially under-estimated their real value. This had become apparent on properties such as the Bonding Warehouse and the Edmund Wilson pool site when open market bids greatly exceeded expectations.
However he wouldn’t give an assurance that open market bids would be invited for all upcoming property sales.
The question asked was:
Question: In the light of the new buoyancy in the York development market place, will the Cabinet Member agree that all sales of Council property and land will be subject to a competitive process which maximises the receipt that is available for the taxpayer?”
Cllr Williams responded, “Of course the default position should be to go to the open market. However, there will always be some situations where it makes financial and economic sense not to stick to that default position and not to have a competitive process. This should be if it is felt that one organisation has a special interest in a site and would pay a premium above the going market rate to obtain the site. An example of this would be a sitting leaseholder who wishes to buy the freehold. To have a blanket policy would simply expose the council to potentially not maximising the use of assets.”
Councils have a legal duty to get the best value that they can in their financial dealings.
If they don’t then the District Auditor can be asked to investigate.
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
Dringhouses and Woodthorpe
Location: 4 Olivias Court Nelsons Lane York YO24 1HD
Proposal: Single storey front extension
Ref No: 13/03241/FUL
Applicant: Mr Fraser Brown Contact Miss Kate Fewson Consultation Expiry Date 11 November 2013Case 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.
NB. The Council now no longer routinely consults neighbours by letter when an application is received.
Ten tips for staying safe on line
click to enter
Salt bin petition tops 1000 signatures ahead of tonights crunch meeting.
Yorkshire and Humber MEP Rebecca Taylor has backed calls to reverse cuts to salt bins and gritting routes in York after 1,000 residents signed a petition against the proposals.
Rebecca, Keith and residents
The Labour run City of York Council plans to cut two-thirds of salt bins and remove nearly 30 miles of roads from priority gritting routes, including on bus routes.
Lib Dem Councillors Ann Reid, Nigel Ayre and Keith Aspden have ‘called-in’ the decision for further review and the proposals are now set to be reconsidered at a special meeting of York’s Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee later today.
The plans have met with fierce opposition from residents and Kingsway Area Residents’ Association recently said that the cuts could see elderly and disabled people trapped in their homes this winter.
Speaking on a visit to Fulford at the weekend Rebecca Taylor, Lib Dem MEP for Yorkshire & the Humber, commented:
“The fact that 1,000 residents have signed the Lib Dem petition shows the strength of local opposition to Labour’s plans. The Council needs to consider the impact the cuts will have on elderly and vulnerable in places like here in Fulford. I would urge the Labour Council to listen to local residents and reconsider their plans to cut salt bins and gritting routes in York”.
Councillor Keith Aspden, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on City of York Council, commented:
“Local residents in Fulford and Heslington tell me they want the Labour Council to focus on delivering basic frontline services like gritting and salt bins. This is also what the Lib Dem Group has consistently called for including in our motion at last week’s Full Council. However, while Labour is finding money to buy an Arts Barge and increase the pay of senior staff they are still cutting basic services for taxpayers”.
The Lib Dem petition against the plans. It can still be found here: http://yorklibdems.org.uk/en/petition/save-our-salt
Labour add £1 million to York’s annual debt repayment levels in just 24 months
The Council has admitted that increased borrowing means that Council taxpayers are now paying £1m a year more in debt charges than in 2011.
Kings Square work
Most has been used to bolster what the Council describes as its Economic Development Fund.
£18 million has been committed to this fund already which is being used to pay for projects such as:
• Refurbishment of Kings Square
• Acquisition of an “Arts Barge”
• Tour de France start
• Newgate market refurbishment
• New City centre bus stops
Of the annual additional payments around £0.5 million goes on interest charges while £0.5 makes staged repayments of the principal.
It will take over 20 years to fully repay the borrowing