Morrisons wants to sell alcohol from its Spurriergate store between 07:00am and 11:00pm each day.

The application will be determined by a Council committee on 9th May.

Details can be found by clicking here

Following an increase in requests for support to the Family Information Service from parents struggling with issues specifically around the teenage years, the Children’s Trust Unit has commissioned five ‘Riding the Storm’ courses for the coming year.

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Residents have two options if they want to show their support for the existing green belt boundaries in the City. The current boundaries are set to be torn up later today when Labour’s “Cabinet” meets to rubber stamp proposals which would see the City enlarged by 25%.

A petition organised by the York Liberal Democrats, supporting the existing green belt boundaries, can be signed by clicking here.

A similar petition is also registered on the Council’s web site and can be accessed by clicking here

Tonight’s meeting (being held in “The Snow Room” – Ground Floor, West Offices, Station Rise, York at 5:30pm) is already shrouded in controversy with several opposition Councillors having apparently been told that they will be prevented from making representations to the meeting.

NB In February 2011 the York Council agreed a Local Plan. The green belt boundaries were subsequently confirmed in the final version which was submitted to central government in the summer of 2011. The plan identified where around 800 new homes could be constructed each year.

The latest Plan, published in April 2013, shows several developments in what has always been regarded as green belt land around the City.

These include new towns at Holme Hill (aka “New Alexandria”) and Clifton Moor together with the development of land which has hitherto been classified as important to preserve the rural setting and outlook of the City.

The plan involves building around 1100 homes each year (compared with current building rates of 300). The latest census figures confirm that the City population, during the height of the economic boom, grew by only around 1% a year.

Objectors are opposing the proposal to increase the size of the City by 22,000 homes over the next 15 years pointing out that, if built, most would be occupied by inward migration.

The Council, have admitted that their growth proposals are likely to see an increase in traffic congestion of around 2.5% pa. Draconian steps to limit car use in and around the City have already been announced.

Existing house values are set to reduce by at least 10% leaving some residents with “negative equity”

Objectors are asking the Council to produce a revised plan which respects the setting, scale and heritage of the City.

York police are appealing for the public’s help to trace Robert John Steele.

Steele, age 28, is wanted after failing to appear at court for his trial in connection with the importation of illegal drugs.

Steele, whose last known address was in the Tang Hall area of York, failed to appear at Plymouth Crown Court on 3 April 2013 and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He is also believed to have connections in the Leeds area.

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York residents have until Wednesday (1 May) to potentially save hundreds of pounds on their gas and electricity bills.

Through the region’s largest ever mass energy switch, residents could save around £115 a year through signing up to the free scheme, which could lower prices and reduce their overall energy costs.

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The York Council is set to agree next week to outsource its warden call and equipment loan services.

The enterprise will be employee owned although the Council will retain a stake. It will be the first of its type in the country.

The Council provides a 24 hour monitoring and response service (Warden Call) to approximately 3,000 customers in York.

The Telecare service has over 1,600 customers who have at least one piece of Telecare equipment installed.

The Community Equipment Loan Store provides 46,046 pieces of equipment to people with mobility problems.

Against the background of increased competition, the Council claims that an employee owned company would be more responsive to customer needs

The new organisation will not be a charity. Hence it will have to charge VAT on its services and will have to pay corporation tax.

The financial forecast shows the new organisation gradually slipping into the red over a 5 year business plan period.

Charges increase by about 5% per year and the assumed growth in the number of customers is out between 5% and 8%.

There are currently around 1200 customers who do not pay for the service because they have limited incomes. The Council’s financial contribution gradually reduces over the 5 year period.

Critically, the new organisation would be competing in the commercial sector.

For example O2’s “Help at Hand” services charges £99 for handset plus £20 a month. But this system gives you GPS tracking, one touch button connecting to a specialised support centre and an automatic sensor if you have a fall.

EU legislation normally requires contracts like these to be let competitively. It seems that the Council does not intend to invite tenders.

It is unclear what will happen to existing customers if the new enterprise fails

All in all, this does look to be a risky strategy for the Council to adopt.

The existing services get very high customer satisfaction ratings so the only reason to fundamentally change the nature of the organisation would be to reduce expenditure.

Customers of the service will rightly be anxious about the quality of service that they can expect over the next few years.

Council officials are recommending that the City invest £1.6 million of taxpayer’s money in a new Leeds City Region development fund.

The fund is being set up to support economic development in the West Riding, York and Harrogate.

It is hoped that the Revolving Investment Fund will have £500 million available to subsidise the Leeds City Region.

Officials say that, “The Fund would be maintained and grown by investing in commercially viable projects and leveraging match-funding, to gain the greatest returns with which to reinvest in further projects”.

The York contribution would come from the £20 million Economic Investment Fund set up by the present York Council.

This fund has been heavily criticised as it increases the debt costs of the Council.

Taxpayers will have to fund the debt in future years.

There is no guarantee under the new arrangements that the City will ever recover its contribution to the new “Revolving Investment Fund”

The donation from York is in addition to the £500,000 slated to be given to the Leeds “Transport Fund”

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York will face off with 5 West Yorkshire authorities when it seeks funding for transport improvements in the City in future.

Labour Councillors are set to cede decision making powers and put around £6 million a year into a transport pot shared with West Yorkshire

In effect, a Leeds City Region Transport Board (Combined Authority) will be able to levy a precept on the City in the same way as currently the Fire and Police authorities do.

It is a big loss of autonomy for the City, with no guarantees that free travel times for pensioners would not be adversely affected or park and ride services – amongst the most successful in the country – scaled back.

The investment package favoured by Labour (see left) does not include any dualling of the northern by pass (A1237).

The section between Wetherby Road and the Haxby Road is estimated to cost £200 million alone (because of the river/railway crossings).

The rationale behind the Council’s decision not to give a high priory to dualling part of the A1237 can be found here

The financial implications for taxpayers are startling.

The report admits,

“There is currently no revenue budget provision for the York contribution to a Transport Fund. The funding requirement ramps up from £452k in 14/15 to £4.070m per year by 2022/23 and would need to be maintained for the following 30 years. The costs …would add to the Council’s budget gap and need to be considered in the context of the budget savings which the Council is already having to identify.

The proposed 40% LTP top-slice will have a significant impact on the ability to deliver smaller scale local schemes in York. The base LTP budget allocated for 2013/14 is £1.63m and £2.32m in 2014/15. A 40% top-slice is therefore likely to amount to around £930k per annum. Depending on future settlements the funding available for smaller local transport schemes could be in the region of £1.4m”.

There would therefore be very little money available for road safety improvements in the City.

We think that the government’s decision to devolve the funding, which is available for major transport schemes, to local authorities is the right one. It should help to demystify the process for establishing priorities.

However, the requirement to find “local money” to supplement the devolved funding has major implications for taxpayers.

It is essential therefore that the City not only gets a fair share of the available funding but also that it is spent wisely.

The Council currently intends to spend the vast majority of the available fund in the City centre.

Once again the sub-urban areas will feel that they are getting a raw deal.

“It’s time to get pedalling or striding out with York’s latest programmes of free group walks and guided cycle rides in York. The walks and cycle rides are led by trained volunteers, are free to everyone and take place all over the city”.

Walking and cycling are free and convenient ways to become more active whilst exploring York and enjoying the outdoors at the same time.

The new programmes, covering April, May and June, are available by clicking here (walks) and here (cycle rides)

Alternatively, leaflets are available from York libraries or by contacting Sarah Prescott, Active Living Officer on 01904 553377 or emailing sarah.prescott@york.gov.uk