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Residents are working on an ambitious project to establish more bird boxes in the area.

They’ll be welcoming the Lord Mayor to an event which has been scheduled to take place at the Foxwood Community Centre on Wednesday 31st October.

All are welcome

After running for a year, the online service to bid for homes for social rent across North Yorkshire is launching a consultation on Monday 10 September on what should be reviewed and considered in the policy.

Called the North Yorkshire Home Choice Sub Regional Partnership, the scheme allows eligible people who are on council waiting lists, to join a register and bid for council and partner housing association homes across the region at www.northyorkshirehomechoice.org.uk Continue reading →

City of York Council has teamed up with Sport England and Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) to offer free business support and advice for local Sport and Activity clubs at the Just 30 Fair.

The Club Leaders Learning Bus will be parked at Rowntree Park on Saturday 15 September from 12 noon until 5pm, as part of the Fair’s sport and activity celebrations. The bus is a great opportunity for club leaders to hop aboard, talk to Sport England and business experts PwC, to get free advice on how to manage and develop their organisation. Continue reading →

Confusion surrounds Labour’s plans to scrap free garden waste collections after a proposed consultation on the changes was delayed.

In July Liberal Democrats revealed that Labour run City of York Council was considering introducing a “subscription-based service” and seasonal garden waste collections in a bid to make budget savings. Under Labour’s timetable consultation with residents was due to take place in August with a decision being taken by the Cabinet Member in September. However, just days after the plans were revealed Cllr Sandy Fraser, then Cabinet Member for Environment Services, resigned and so far no consultation on green bins has happened.

Fresh doubts about the plans emerged last week after it was revealed that the Council missed recycling targets for the April to June period, and the percentage of waste sent to landfill sites was higher than anticipated leading to additional landfill tax for the authority. In April Labour controversially closed the Beckfield Lane Household Waste and Recycling Centre.

Councillor Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Environmental Services, commented:

“There appears to be increasing confusion over the plans. Proposed savings in the department were agreed by Labour in February, but no precise details were given. In July plans to reduce or charge for the garden waste service began to emerge and a consultation timetable was agreed. Then the Cabinet Member resigned and now the timetable has been scrapped. It is a mess.

“Labour did not consider how unpopular the plans would be or that any budget savings achieved could be cancelled out by a fall in recycling rates, an increase in waste being landfilled, and an ensuing rise in the landfill tax the Council pays. Recycling and landfill targets are already being missed after the closure of Beckfield Lane and the Council is paying more landfill tax because of this. Ending free green bin collections will only compound the problem.

“It appears that officers need extra time to find solutions to get Labour out of this financial and public relations hole.”

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Additional parking restrictions are being introduced on Holgate Road.

They are intended to improve sight lines for those using the pedestrian crossing near the railway bridge.

Changes to parking arrangements in the Westfield area are also planned. They include additional restrictions on Grange Lane (see http://stevegalloway.mycouncillor.org.uk/2012/09/06/council-back-track-on-grange-lane-parking-restrictions/)

A film made by Khaoz Media, a youth-led voluntary community media project coordinated by City of York Council, has been nominated for an international award.

The short documentary has been put forward for an International Citizen Media Award and was created as part of Khaoz Media’s Accessible Broadcasting Community Project (ABC). The film details the ABC project through interviews with participants and includes examples of the audio-visual content produced in its workshops. Continue reading →

This weekend (8-9 September) will see the streets of York city centre come alive with dance tunes as the Annual Festival of Traditional Dance makes a welcome return.

Now in its 25th year and forming part of the York 800 celebrations, the festival will fill open spaces such as Parliament Street – including the new performance area – St Sampson’s Square and Kings Square. Over 200 dancers from Yorkshire to Sussex will be bringing their colourful costumes, music and dance styles to celebrate dancing in their regional traditions.

Watch performances from over a dozen dance troupes from the face-painted Flash Company from Otley, the Britannia Coconut Dancers from Bacup on their first visit to York and the host company, York’s very own Ebor Morris dancers. They’ll be bringing dances from the British border country and the America’s Appalachian mountains, as well as Longsword dances and the 200-year-old step clog tradition.

The festival steps out on Saturday, starting at 10.30am when the dancers will process from the Guildhall to Parliament Street before performing for everyone to enjoy across the city centre. The event will culminate in a spectacular showcase on St Sampson’s Square between 2.30pm and 3.30pm when all the dance troupes will perform for the Lord Mayor.

The dance will continue on Sunday at King’s Square between 10.30am and 13.30pm.

In another “behind closed doors” decision, the Council has decided to transfer all aspects of the design, building, management and maintenance of the new Community Stadium (Monks Cross) to a private contractor.

It is unclear who will undertake this contract although, in the past, the operators of the existing facility have expressed an interest in managing any new stadium.

The Council has now said that “a number of options have been considered and the preferred procurement option of Design Build Operate and Maintain (DBOM) provides the best opportunities for; (i) cost effective delivery of the overall project, (ii) achieving effective risk transfer and (iii) maximising commercial innovation”.

No consultation on the proposal took place before the meeting and it remains very unclear whether lumping all aspects of the community stadium project into one contract will optimise value for money for taxpayers.

This is now a big issue as Labour plan to contribute an additional £4 million of taxpayers money into the project – in addition to the value of the site. The latest decision could mean that there will be a reduced chance of that funding being recovered from rental income as was the original intention.

The Council will have to write up a very detailed – and financially watertight – tender specification before procurement starts. Taxpayers will expect this documentation to be published before the project goes to tender.

There is also mystery surrounding the Councils intentions for the management of its other leisure facilities such as the Yearsley Swimming pool and the “Energise” sports centre on Cornlands Road.

Labour have threatened to outsource the management of these facilities in one large contract in the past but now seem reluctant to confirm what they expect to happen and when.

Back by popular demand, the Festival of Cycling will once again be held in Rowntree Park this weekend (8-9 September).

Organisers are hoping for good weather so that everyone will be able to enjoy the ever-popular cycling ‘have-a-go’ sessions as well as watching daredevil cycling stunt shows from The Clan on Saturday and Savage Skills on Sunday. For thrill seekers the AirBag will be there too so BMX officianados can try their skills.

iTravel York aims to encourage and promote all forms of sustainable travel so at this year’s Festival of Cycling there will be information on walking, bus travel, journey planning, and car sharing. Also on show will be electric vehicles from Toyota, Mia and Smart .

The last two Festivals of Cycling were run as part of the Cycling City initiative to encourage more people to consider cycling as an everyday form of transport in and around York. The event is now part of iTravel York, an initiative funded from central governments’ Local Sustainable Transport Fund to encourage non-congesting modes of travel, to improve air quality and to help boost the local economy. Also appearing on Sunday will be the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Extrication team with a display of how a car crash victim is cut free from a vehicle wreck.

All kinds of pedal powered cycles from the everyday two wheeler to the highly unusual and specialised three and four wheelers, as well as mega bikes seating up to 8 people will be available for all ages and abilities to try out.

There will also be trade stands with many of the well known cycle shops in York being represented – there may be some Festival of Cycling special offers to take advantage of so it will be well worth a visit if a bicycle is on someone’s wish list! All in all the event promises to be a great, fun, family occasion.

The festival will run 10am-5pm on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September and admission is free. For more details go to: www.yorkfestivalofcycling.org.uk and follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/YorkFestivalOfCycling

The Police will be carrying out mobile safety camera enforcement on the following roads between Wednesday 5 and Tuesday 11 September 2012.

•A64, east-bound Bowbridge Farm, Tadcaster
•A64, west-bound Bowbridge Farm, Tadcaster
•Millfield Lane, Poppleton, York
•Beckfield Lane, Acomb, York
•Green Lane, Acomb, York
•A64, east-bound Bowbridge Farm, Tadcaster
•A64, west-bound Bowbridge Farm, Tadcaster
•Temple Lane, Copmanthorpe, York
•A1036, Tadcaster Road, Acomb, York
•A64, between Whitwell Hill and Barton Hill
•A64, between Barton-le-Willows and Jinnah
•A64, between Barton Hill and Whitwell Hill
Continue reading →