The York Community Fund 2013/14 has been launched by Your Consortium to “help fund high-impact projects by community and voluntary groups across the city”.
The fund “brings together a number of existing funding streams from City of York Council for voluntary sector organisations in the city”, and is administered by Your Consortium, a social enterprise specialising in managing grant programmes.
Just a couple of weeks after announcing that new cycle lockers were to be provided at one of its park and ride sites, the York Council has introduced a new charging regime.
Cycle locker
In the past, commuters who wanted to park and then use a cycle to continue their journey into the City Centre had been able to “rent” a secure locker by providing a £15 key deposit.
A deposit will still be required but in addition a £10 monthly (£100 a year) charge will also be payable.
The Council claims that this will increase the turnover of the lockers.
The Council is also increasing the number of lockers at the sites.
• Rawcliffe Bar – increase from 10 to 20 lockers
• Grimston Bar – increase from 4 to 12 lockers
• Monks Cross – increase from 20 to 30 lockers
• Designer Outlet – provide 10 lockers
In addition to expansion at the existing sites there are proposals to provide 24 lockers at each of the two new Park & Ride sites at Poppleton Bar and Askham Bar. This will provide a total of 120 lockers across the city.
The level of charges will be amongst the highest in the country.
Predictably the decision on introducing the new charges was taken behind closed doors.
No public consultation was undertaken
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Development plans near Acomb/Poppleton
The Labour Council’s new Local Plan proposes the following developments:
* Northminster Business Park (west of Acomb) : Research and Development (R&D), light industrial, and storage and distribution. 60,000sq.m/15ha
* York Business Park (East of Acomb): R&D, light industrial, storage and distribution. 14,270/3.5 ha
* Civil Service sports ground on Boroughbridge Road 308 homes (in addition to the 989 planned for the British Sugar site)
Taken together, these developments are the equivalent of building on an area twice the size of Poppleton.
The effect on local traffic congestion levels will be catastrophic.
Dualling of the A1237 is not planned before 2024 at the earliest.
Would-be glass-engravers or book-binders can snap up the last few places left on City of York Council’s taster workshops to be held at York Explore, from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 May.
The six creative ‘Inspirations’ workshops give a flavour of some of the courses on offer and have been organised as part of Adult Learner’s Week which starts on Monday 20 May.
The taster courses in the Inspirations programme are:
• Let’s start Rag-Rugging
• Bookbinding – Concertina books with a modern twist
• Felt Making, contemporary landscapes
• Glass engraving introduction
• Stained glass, sun catchers
• Chinese brush painting.
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The York Police have revealed that another 101 drivers were caught exceeding the speed limit in the York area last week.
The worst roads were Strensall Road in Huntington and Tadcaster Road in Dringhouses. Most of the drivers wee asked to attend a speed awareness course and escaped further penalty
The information can be downloaded from the Police web site by clicking here
The mobile cameras will be in action over the next week at the following locations
• A64 east-bound, Tadcaster
• A64 west-bound, Tadcaster
• Beckfield Lane, York
• Temple Lane, Copmanthorpe, York
• A1036 Tadcaster Road, York
• Main Street, Askham Richard
• A1237 Monks Cross, York
• B1228 Dunnington Lodge, Elvington, York
• York Road, Haxby, York
• Towthorpe Road, Haxby, York
• Greenshaw Drive, Haxby, York
• Murton Way, Murton, York
• Strensall Road, Huntington, York
• The Village, Stockton-on-Forest, York
• A1036 Malton Road, York
• Skipwith Road, Escrick
• Brayton Lane, Brayton, Selby
• A19 Selby Rd, Whitley
• Millfield Lane, Chappel Haddlesley
• Church Lane, Wheldrake
• Millfield Lane, Poppleton, York
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A brand new visitor attraction is set to open at York Minster on Saturday 25 May 2013, the largest set within a cathedral in the UK. ‘Revealing York Minster’ tells the story of the last 2000 years at the historic site, from the Romans to its modern day custodians.
The contemporary chambers of the Undercroft are built in a space created in emergency excavations during the 1970s which uncovered a hidden history of the site, including the remains of a Roman barracks, an Anglo-Saxon cemetery and the foundations of the Norman Minster – the forerunner of the present cathedral. The new attraction weaves the story revealed by these discoveries into an immersive and interactive journey through two millennia of York’s history, featuring artefacts never before on public display. Visitors will be able to see, touch and hear 2000 years of history.
Labour Councillors will try to justify the changes that they intend to make to local speed limits at a public meeting which will take place at Dringhouses Primary School on Thursday, May 2.
The meeting starts at 7:30pm but there will be an informal opportunity to take to Council representatives earlier in the evening.
This is likely to be the last Ward Committee meeting as the Council have abolished them. Only an annual “forum” meeting will take place in future.
Labour Councillors in other areas have refused to consult residents on the 20 mph speed limit which they hope to implement across the whole of west York, although some door to door consultation may now be undertaken.
Meanwhile residents can sign a petition on the Council’s web site which seeks to “Stop the 20 MPH proposals”.
Click here to access the petition which reads
We the undersigned petition the council to cancel the proposed extension of the 20 MPH speed limit to Woodthorpe, Acomb, Foxwood and surrounding area. At a cost of £600,000 for something that even the police do not want and admit is unenforceable is a total waste of council tax payers money.
Evidence from across Europe where similar schemes have been introduced suggest that reducing the speed limit to 20 MPH has minimal effect on accident rates. It would be better and cheaper to enforce the current 30 MPH limit.
This ePetition runs from 29/04/2013 to 10/06/2013.
Predictably the York Councils Labour Cabinet has tonight agreed to put their appalling “Local Plan” out for public consultation.
Proposals map – click to enlarge
Residents will have a minimal 6 weeks to put forward their views.
The saving grace may well be a Public Inquiry which must take place before any plan can be adopted. It is scheduled to start in 2014.
The next local elections take place in 2015 and a new council would have the opportunity to ditch at least some of the more extreme aspects of the Labour Plans.
The Council has a poor record on public consultation. The Local Plan is so important for the City that each and every household should be given information and the opportunity to influence the final document.
We doubt this will happen.
However Liberal Democrats will be out and about campaigning against the proposals.
The war has only just started.
Under the screen of a ludicrous “Smarter York” title, the York Council intends to reduce the grass cutting frequencies, on public amenity areas and verges, to a minimum.
Depending on the weather, this could mean a reduction from the 14 cuts a year, established by the Council when it was under LibDem control in 2003, to 10 cuts or even less.
Incredibly, a report accepted by the Cabinet Member of Environmental Services (Cllr Leven), says that local residents are going to be asked to take on the maintenance of some local amenity areas.
While no one wants to see grass cut unnecessarily, the pursuit of a £34,000 a year saving in costs seems likely to lead to yet another disproportionate deterioration in the sub-urban landscape.
The decision is likely to prove to be an insurmountable hurdle for the “Britain in Bloom” aspirations of the City.
Perhaps not surprisingly the decision to reduce grass cutting frequencies was taken in a private meeting behind closed doors.
There was no public consultation