Agenda and minutes

 Drop-in surgery, 6.30pm

The drop-in surgery gives you the opportunity to talk to your councillors, street environment officer, safer neighbourhood team, neighbourhood management officer and visiting

speakers in an informal setting.

Cllr Paul Doughty

Cllr Sian Wiseman

Rebecca Harrison,CYC Development Officer

Gail Goodall, CYC Assistant Development Officer

Dean Sharp, CYC Sports Officer

Fiona Barker, CYC Active Living Officer

Neil Gulliver, CYC Everybody Active Participation Co-ordinator

PCSO Tom Laurie

PCSO Jimmy Hannon

Rachel Totton, volunteer, Older Citizen’s Advocacy

Helen Ridge, CYC Arts and Events Manager

Sharron Hutchinson, CYC Locality Manager, York North

Ted Schofield, CYC Neighbourhood Management Support Officer

Cindy Benton,CYC Neighbourhood Manager

The above council officers, councillors and members of the public attended the drop-in surgery, to talk about The Local Development Framework, Older Citizen’s Advocacy and sport and exercise in York.  Coffee, tea and biscuits were served.

 Main meeting, 7.00pm

Councillor Paul Doughty welcomed everyone to the meeting and the minutes of the last meeting were approved.

 Come along to find out more about the schemes

on the ballot list. If you have made one of the suggestions on the list, come along to tell people more about it.

Cllr Paul Doughty

You should have had a Your Ward through your letterbox (these are now coming  every six months rather than quarterly) asking for your preferences concerning Local Improvement Schemes.  Please return these preferences by 4 November.

The scheme to provide a Bus Shelter close to the Village Hall has been shelved; this is because after local consultation there was little support for it.  Traffic speeding through the village has been identified as a problem and we are looking into the possibility of providing a warning system.

Residents and council officers spoke individually on particular schemes to encourage support

Scheme 2 – resurfacing Chip Shop Alley

Scheme 5 – a grant to St Mary’s Church to provide a Teens and Positive Parenting programme

Scheme 1 – a contribution to the River Foss Society to replace the footbridge, and Scheme 9, a grant to provide information boards.

Scheme 15 – a grant to Street Sport to provide 10 multi sport sessions

Scheme 22 – a grant to provide a watering system for Strensall Bowling Club.

Schemes 20 and 21 – grants for the Hurst Hall Stars project and the Hurst Hall Community Play programme

Scheme 17 – a grant to Kidz Klub York to help establish a youth club.

Scheme 4 – a grant to the Earswick Village Hall Group to provide new chairs

Scheme 19 – a grant to Young People’s Services to provide a range of youth services

Scheme 10 – a grant to Earswick Scented Garden to provide shaded seating

Cllr Sian Wiseman pointed out that there was a watering system at Earswick Scented Garden (which used to be a bowls club) which Strensall Bowls Club might be interested in acquiring.

 Your local police team will give an update on issues

in your ward and answer any questions you have.

PCSO Tom Laurie

We are now six months into the new system of policing and all is going well.  We are now based at Clifton Moor rather than Fulford, and we have a new beat manager, PC Lailah Nijailah.

Burglaries seem to have slowed down and earlier increase was from a very low base – so overall crime in the area is low.  There are no pressing issues; PCSO Tom Hannon has launched a new Rural Farm Watch in the area.

York Community Watch will be re-launched at 7pm at the Guildhall, Wednesday 12 October 2011.

PCSO Tom Laurie offered to answer questions, but there were none.

Your street environment Iain Dunn will talk about the work he does in the ward.

Street Environment Officer Iain Dunn

There has been a lot of enforcement going on across York concerning littering and fly-tipping; you can now get fined for littering, and the six Street Environment Officers between them have issued 96 tickets over the last year – these result in a fine.

I have been attending Parish Council meetings and walkabouts and have become aware of a lot of issues in this way.  We do have a small budget for improvements to the area, which is usually spent on painting or restoring street signs – but we are open to suggestions, so please contact me if you have ideas about how to use it.

Keep Britain Tidy has launched a new three year initiative, Love Where You Live, which is encouraging people to look after their own areas, with some help and support.

Are there any questions?

Q – a lot of straw was dropped recently on Strensall Road, which has collected around gutters and traffic islands.  I would pick it up but it is dangerous to do so as it is in the road.

Street Environment Officer Iain Dunn – contact the hotspots team who will come and pick up things like this – please do not take any risks picking up litter in a dangerous situation.

Q – part of Riverside Walk is often very badly littered; this is a walkway often used by children.  What can be done about this?

Street Environment Officer Iain Dunn – ring 551551 and the call will be logged and the matter attended to.

Q – do you work with schools?  A great deal of litter is dropped by children.

Street Environment Officer Iain Dunn – yes, we have produced an educational DVD “Don’t be a Minger”, and also work with Crucial Crew.  Education is a large part of my job.  Under 16 year-olds can be given a notice for littering though they cannot be charged.

Q – according to the recent “Yorkshire in Bloom” competition, our roundabouts were considered “poor”.  Who is responsible for them?

Street Environment Officer Iain Dunn – some businesses do sponsor them.

Street Environment Officer Iain Dunn mentioned that he has some litter-picker tools to give away.

 An officer from the council’s Strategic Planning and Transport department will explain how the development of housing may

happen in the area.

Rebecca Harrison introduced the Local Development Framework Core Strategy with the aid of a powerpoint presentation.  She ended by saying that the Strategy was out for consultation until 7 November, so any comments should be submitted before that date.

Rebecca Harrison (RH) and Gail Goodall (GG) then answered questions from the public.

Q – Is the Tannery to be developed as a large brownfield site?

RH – we are aware of the site, and it has been promoted as a housing site through the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA).  We are also aware of the site’s constraints, including the bridge.

Q – Strensall has been designated a “large village”.  Are there any safeguards to possible developments?  Transport is also an issue in the village.

GG –The priority for Strensall will be brownfield sites and infill plots. Bear in mind that a new development could help improve local services such as drainage.

RH – there will be a permanent Green Belt put in place for the next 20 years.  A Green Belt is an area where there are the most stringent planning restrictions; a Green Field site is simply an area that has not been previously developed.

Q – what are the “small infill plots” that might be developed in Strensall?

RH – No fixed definition of ‘small’ – this is determined on a site by site basis. These have not been defined, but they would have to be within the village boundary.

Q – what is a Rural Exception site?

GG –A rural exception site is used to provide 100% affordable housing in perpetuity, in areas where market housing would normally be inappropriate, and where the normal house building rate is very low.

Q – is there one in Strensall?

Cllr Wiseman – yes, one has been identified.

GG – Strensall has undertaken a Housing Needs Survey to inform local provision.

Q – York has developed a good deal to the north.  What is to be done about the volume of traffic going through the village, which can be as slow as 3 mph?  We were also promised a means of crossing the ring road.

RH – The Core Strategy sets out the Council’s priorities for Transport. Dualling the ring road would be extremely expensive, but as an improvement to traffic flow, extra lanes are being created at the junctions. Other improvements include new park and ride sites, bus priority measures and investing in the cycle network.

There was a query about the village design statement, which GG clarified in the Strategy.

Q – Strensall is desperate for affordable housing.

GG – the document looks at this.  25% would ideally be provided as affordable on brownfield sites, along with rural exception sites.

Q – given the cost of restoring the land at the Tannery, would not developers not be put off and rather develop on greenfield sites?

RH –The LDF requires brownfield sites to be developed first and it would be for the developer to demonstrate that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

 Your chance to ask questions about local issues and concerns not

covered by the agenda.

A resident spoke about heavy vehicles travelling through the village, often very early in the morning, and was concerned about the dangers this posed and the village being used as access to the city.  Could a weight restriction be imposed on the bridge?

Cllr Sian Wiseman replied this possibility  had been looked into.

Cllr Paul Doughty replied that it might be possible to see what businesses these heavy vehicles related to.

A resident spoke about Oxmoor Lane – a number of cars went off the road last winter during icy weather.  A 40mph sign has been put up, but traffic comes in fast from Flaxton, and this is exacerbated by water turning to ice on the road.

Cllr Sian Wiseman replied that the speed sign and the bus sign would be moved.  She agreed the section road by the golf course was very dangerous and was looking into imposing speed restrictions.

A resident asked if a cycle route into the city centre would be provided?

Cllr Sian Wiseman replied that a feasibility study had been carried out (with ward funding) and a cycle track would cost about £1,000,000.  She is continuing to look for funding for this project.

It was suggested by residents that Shepherds and the Joseph Rowntree Trust should be applied to for funds for the cycle route.