Agenda and draft minutes

Information about the Local Plan and York Central Community Forum were available in the drop in.

Cllr Lars Kramm introduced the new Community Involvement Officer for the Micklegate Ward, Neil Gibson. He wished to thank the previous Community Involvement Officer, Joe Ashton, for all of his work on behalf of the residents.

Jon Stonehouse, Director of Children’s Services, introduced the consultation on the provision of school places and sites for play.  He stated that Micklegate is the area with the highest  rate of  growth in pupil numbers inthe city, and as a result there is a need to increase the number of primary school places within the area.  In 2015 various options about adding additional school places were discussed including  to establish an annex of Scarcroft Primary School on the Millthorpe School site.  These options were taken to an informal public consultation process in 2016 and following consultation it was agreed that the preferred option would be to make adjustments to Scarcroft Primary School to allow it to take an additional half form of entry.  An increased number of children coming to Scarcroft will require increased outdoor play space.  Options to resolve this include establishing a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) that could be used by Scarcroft Primary.  The executive report has suggested three potential sites for the MUGA: Millthorpe School, Scarcroft Green and Little Knavesmire.  This is to go to a formal consultation process.  Joe Stonehouse thanked everyone who had put forward views on the matter.  He referred to the current area of Scarcroft Green which had been fenced off for the use of Scarcroft Primary pupils and stated that discussion of how this might be used differently would be included in the evening’s main body of discussion.

A resident stated that the academy was separate from the Local Education Authority and questioned why the council appeared to be favouring the academy over the community.  Joe Stonehouse responded that the LA has a responsibility to analyse future demands for school places, and to work with any school regardless of its status in order to fulfil that duty.

Edwin Thomas introduced himself as the Chair of the South Bank Multi Academy Trust.  He stated that the point of the consultation will be to outline the problem and its potential solutions, to listen to what the residents have to say and to make informed decisions with a very clear idea of what matters to the community.

Edwin Thomas outlined the need for more school places via a graph showing that Scarcroft was currently taking pupils beyond its capacity and that this is going to increase.  An expansion of Scarcroft will accommodate extra pupils and there will inevitably be a problem of providing sufficient outdoorspace for them.  In order to take on an extra 95 pupils by 2022, the Department for Education must consider the school’s plans and assess whether the Trust has done everything they can to satisfy the need for outside space.  Currently the school is well below DfE guidelines for the amount of space required for a one and a half form entry school, being a little over half of what the school should have.  He stated that the suggestion of it being a case of what the school wants against what the residents want is a false  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Cllr Kramm gave an update on the ward budget, stating that grounds maintenance was to be devolved from the central city budget into the wards.  For information on everything relating to green spaces, street cleaning, etc, residents were advised to contact their local councillors.  Community groups have the opportunity to apply for ward grants; residents were advised that grant application forms were available tonight.

Everybody within the ward is due to receive a letter about becoming a member of the Neighbourhood Plan Forum.  Micklegate will be the first urban ward in York to have formed one.  The purpose of this forum is to discuss aspects of the ward, eg: green spaces, transport and planning for the future.  It requires a minimum number of 21 people who feel that they have something to contribute and can act as representative of the ward.  The first meeting will be in September, when the forum is formed.

Selection of Micklegate Planning Panel

The Micklegate Planning Panel meets regularly to discuss planning applications.  The panel is there to be involved very early on in the planning process and to be aware of which planning applications are happening in the area.  No formal expertise is required and training will be provided.  Commitment depends upon the amount of planning applications, and it is a very good opportunity to see what is going on at a local level.  Residents were advised to contact their Community Involvement Officer for information about joining the panel.  It was advised that the current list of panel members requires updating.

York Central Community Forum

It was announced that a major development will be coming up for York Central affecting this ward.  The first level of consultation will be discussed within a Community Forum and representation is currently being sought from residents.  Residents were advised that applications for the community forum were also available tonight in the library.  The deadline for applications is the 15^th August 2016.

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