Agenda and draft minutes

Strensall Ward Committee - Wednesday, 10 April 2013 7.00 pm

Venue: Strensall Village Hall

Contact: Mora Scaife

Items

No.

Item

7.00pm Surgery

A chance to talk to your ward councillors and service providers informally.

Minutes:

Prior to the formal meeting, residents had the opportunity to speak to the Ward Councillors and the Street Environment Officer. In addition, Sarah Bennett was present to consult on the future direction for York’s libraries, Sian Balsom attended to speak to individuals about HealthWatch ahead of the main agenda item, and Richard Holland was available to speak to residents about the proposed Haxby to Clifton Moor cycle route, which was also on the main agenda.

Minutes of the previous meeting

Minutes:

The minutes of the last formal Ward Committee, held on 2^nd July 2012, were agreed and signed by Councillor Wiseman.

Healthwatch

Minutes:

Sian Balsom, HealthWatch Manager, presented an overview of HealthWatch, which had come into operation from 2^nd April 2013. She explained that this was a new government service, which replaced the York Links scheme, and included the monitoring of both health and social care. She advised that HealthWatch aimed to provide a place to share views and concerns, as well as to provide information and support, signposting to other services, rather than duplicating any services already in place. HealthWatch would have the right to enter and view organisations either invited or unannounced, in order to monitor and respond to any concerns raised. Sian also advised that she would sit on the Health and Wellbeing Board, a partnership of key local agencies, focussing on issues at the highest level.

Sian advised that community help was needed, and that she was visiting Ward Committee meetings around the city to ask for volunteers to get involved in the following tasks:

- Attend meetings

- Act as community champions, being the “eyes and ears” in the community and reporting back.

- Setting up drop-in sessions and encouraging the involvement of others in the community.

- Sit on a Readers’ Panel, to consider published information in terms of its useability.

- Form an Executive Board of volunteers, who would be recruited for their specific skill sets.

- To assist with PLACE assessments, both invited and unannounced.

Sian explained that full training and support would be provided to any volunteers, along with expenses. She noted that membership forms were available to complete, and emphasised that filling these in did not equate to a commitment to anything other than receiving information at this point.

Councillor Doughty thanked Sian for her presentation.

Partner Updates

Minutes:

Councillor Doughty presented an update report from the Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team, who were unable to attend the meeting. The following key points were noted:

- There has been a reduction of 31.7% recorded crimes for the period of 1^st April 2012 to 31^st March 2013, compared to the previous year. With the total number of crimes for this period being 224, compared to 328 the previous year.

- Crime has been reduced across most crime types, in particular: theft is down 48.4%; theft from a motor vehicle is down 62.5%; and burglary other (shed/garage) is down 51%.

- The Safer Neighbourhood team has worked hard through the past year to bring the crime figures down, including completing several Crime Prevention Initiatives.

- Residents were urged to log on to the Safer York Partnership website, www.saferyork.org.uk, for further crime prevention advice.

- A Spring Crime Prevention campaign has just finished, to highlight the importance of keeping garden shed and homes secure during the spring/summer months.

- Regular updates are provided by the team to the Neighbourhood Watch Coordinators via RINGMASTER. Any resident who would like more information, or advice on setting up a scheme, should contact PCSO 5637 Hannon on telephone number 101.

- There will be national week of action on Rogue Traders from 22^nd to 25^th April 2013. More information will shortly be displayed on local notice boards by PCSO Hannon.

Local issue updates including:

· The Tannery Site

· Towthorpe Household Waste Recycling Centre and Waste Services

· Haxby to Clifton Shared Use Scheme

Minutes:

5.1 Tannery site development

Councillor Doughty gave an update on the proposed development by David Wilson Homes, noting that discussions had continued since the last formal Ward Committee meeting, at which the planning manager of David Wilson gave a presentation to residents. He advised that consultations had been ongoing between City of York Council, David Wilson Homes, the Parish Council and residents.

The Planning Committee had formally considered the application at a meeting on 21^st March, and had granted permission, on the basis that the remaining issues, such as drainage, were overseen and managed by the planning officer in accordance with the approval of application.

David Wilson Homes had confirmed that following the resolution of these issues, they intended to build quickly, with a likelihood that houses would be ready for occupation by the end of this year.

Councillor Doughty confirmed that a foot and cycle bridge would be built to the left of the existing bridge, at an adequate distance to ensure no risk of vandalism. He also advised that the north side footpath would be extended and landscaped, taking into account the riverside walk. Councillor Doughty advised that there would be sympathetic planting, and the design had been very carefully thought out, in consultation with the Environmental Officer.

It was noted that there would be traffic issues as a result of the development, but potentially a lot less than with the previous application for an industrial development on the same site.

Councillors assured residents that extensive work had gone into ensuring the majority of concerns which had been raised, were covered and dealt with, before the application was approved.

5.2 Towthorpe Waste Recycling Centre and Waste Services

Councillor Doughty updated residents on a number of cost-saving measures being introduced by the City of York Council as follows:

- Towthorpe Waste Recycling Centre will be closed on Wednesdays, resulting in an estimated annual saving of £11,000. It was noted that this decision had been ratified, but that a start date had not been confirmed.

- Charges would be introduced for the disposal of asbestos, gas bottles and other hazardous waste at Hazel Court.

- There would be changes to the permit scheme for larger vehicles and trailers.

- It had been agreed that there would be no universal charge for the collection of green bin waste. However, there will be no green bin collection from November to March inclusive, effective immediately.

- A proposal has also been made to introduce a charge of £35 for those households which have more than one green bin, though no details of this are available as yet.

5.3 Haxby to Clifton Moor Shared Use Scheme

Richard Holland, Transport Planner at City of York Council, attended the meeting to speak to residents about the proposed cycle route from Haxby to Clifton Moor. He explained that this was currently at consultation stage, following a successful bid by CYC to the Department for Transport, which had resulted in a grant of £750,000 towards its development. ... view the full minutes text for item 5.

Ward Budget 2013-14

Minutes:

Councillor Wiseman confirmed the budget for 2013/14 of £3,260. She advised that grant application forms were available for any community group wishing to submit a bid. It was noted, however, that this budget would need to be allocated fairly between groups in Strensall, Towthorpe, Earswick and Stockton on Forest.

Councillor Wiseman asked that community groups be realistic with their applications, and to bear in mind that the previous financial year, most bids awarded had been under £500. It was suggested that funding or part-funding could be awarded for specific schemes and projects, and that groups might wish to consider joining with other organisations in the community.

Councillor Wiseman noted that consideration of all grant applications was done in consultation with Parish Council representatives, in an effort to ensure the process was a fair and democratic as possible

Residents asked if there was a time limit for applications, and were advised there was no formal deadline, but that it would be advisable to submit applications as early as possible. Councillor Wiseman noted that applications would be considered at Ward Team Meetings throughout the year, as and when they were received.

Have Your Say

Minutes:

Residents were encouraged to raise any issues or concerns they had in respect of the ward, and the following points were raised:

Q A resident enquired about a rumour that had been heard of a development further out of the village, on the site of the existing allotments.

A Councillors confirmed that there were none which were known of, as that was greenbelt land.

Q Residents asked if there was any information about the fences which had been erected along the border of the existing caravan site.

A It was confirmed that an application had been submitted to increase the number of touring caravans, and that this would be heard by the Planning Committee on 11^th April. It was noted that this increase would be restricted to the summer months only, and that there would be no permission for additional caravans in winter.

It was further confirmed that an additional application had been put in to provide caravan valeting, caravan storage and to erect a log cabin for a warden.

Q Residents asked whether there was a specific reason for leaving such a long gap in the collection of green bins over the winter months.

A Councillor Doughty advised the decision had been made for financial reasons, with a total estimated saving of £360,000 over two years for all the proposed changes to waste services. He further noted that a significant amount of these savings was based on the expected income from charges to households with additional green bins.

Q Residents asked if the council had a record of those households with more than one green bin.

A This was confirmed. It was noted that residents could request the return of any additional bins by contacting Waste Management Services. Councillor Doughty agreed to provide contact details to any resident who needed them.

Q Concerns were raised about an increase in flytipping, particularly in where the responsibility for cleaning this up would lie, if occurring on Parish Council leased land. It was agreed this could potentially become a major issue.

A Councillor Doughty agreed that this would need to be monitored carefully. He requested that residents include him in any correspondence with the council on this issue.

Q A resident asked what the charge would be for households with more than one additional green bin.

A It was advised that the assumption would be a charge of £35 per additional bin.

Q Residents asked if the staff at the Towthorpe site were supposed to offer help to anyone struggling with unloading their cars, or if they were only there to supervise.

A Councillor Doughty confirmed that residents should ask for help if this was not immediately forthcoming, and asked that any future issues be reported to him. He further noted that he had observed them helping other members of the public, and agreed that he would be disappointed if they gave a negative reaction on being asked for help.

Q Residents enquired as to whether there had been ... view the full minutes text for item 7.