Agenda and minutes

The surgery will give you the opportunity to talk to Cllr Neil Barnes, Cllr Fiona Fitzpatrick, your ward team and visiting speakers informally before the meeting.

Started 6.30pm

Councillors Neil Barnes and Fiona Fitzpatrick

PC Paul Fenwick

PCSO Kate Wylie

PCSO Les Place

Marie Birbeck – Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

Richard Crossley – Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust

Mike Britland - community development co-ordinator for the University of York Students’ Union

Carolyn Perry, Neighbourhood Management Officer

Ted Schofield, Neighbourhood Support Officer

Ivana Jakubkova, Manager of the St Nicholas Fields Environmental Centre

The above attended the surgery to discuss local issues with members of the public. 

Welcome and minutes.

Cllr Fitzpatrick welcomed everyone to the meeting.

She thanked Cllr Barnes for his work in her absence due to ill health.

Cllr Fitzpatrick said that again there had been problems with the delivery of Your Ward, the most recent edition of which was included in Your Voice.

Minutes of the last meeting were approved.

Cllr Fitzpatrick spoke briefly about the issue of Houses of Multiple Occupation, which was discussed at the last meeting.  She said the council is in the process of a planning consultation, and the next stage is to carry out a questionnaire consultation across the city.  The questionnaire will include the issue of whether all new HMOs will be registered, and what percentage of housing in the city should be allowed to become HMOs.

John Cossham was invited by the chair to speak about the Hull Road Planning Panel – he urged people to join.  The Planning Panel meets at Tang Hall Library and considers all planning applications in the ward, passing their comments on to the council.

Ivana Jakubkova, St Nicholas’ Fields Centre Manager, will give a presentation on ways to live a more sustainable lifestyle and how St Nick’s can help you make these changes.

Ivana Jakubkova gave a presentation entitled Minimising negative impact on the environment, and talked about the work of York Environment Centre at St Nicholas Fields.

The following points were noted:

Energy use at the centre is limited as much as possible – by using low-energy laptops, for example.  Electricity is generated by photovoltaic panels and a wind turbine.

The centre runs a recycling kerbside collection scheme in the city centre, using an electric vehicle and load-bearing tricycles.

A series of workshops funded by ward committees is running to encourage people to grow their own food and compost their organic waste, including a “Love Food, Hate Waste” session. The centre gardens showcase different ways of maximising yield of vegetables from small areas including permaculture and “Square foot gardening”.

The centre holds regular Give or Take Days for people to bring and swap unwanted items.  The next one will be on Saturday 9 June 2012. At the 2010 Give or Take Day, half a ton of potential waste passed through the doors and was thus saved from landfill. 

There are many apple and other fruit trees growing in St Nicholas Fields nature reserve, which won a Community Green Flag Award in 2010 and 2011. Ivana showed slides of “Apple Day”, showing many community activities to celebrate apples; apple-bobbing and the longest peel competition, for example.

Your local police team will give an update on issues in the ward.

PC Paul Fenwick spoke about police issues in the ward.

It was reported that the most recent crime figures (October 2011) had shown a 17% drop.  Hull Road is suffering less than other areas of the city from burglary and cycle theft, most of which is opportunist.  Residents were reminded to keep doors and windows locked, and individual security advice was offered on request.

Cllr Fitzpatrick thanked the police for doing an excellent job in the ward, and mentioned that she and Cllr Barnes had been out on patrol recently with them.  She also thanked John Horsley for his voluntary work.

A member of the public pointed out that a house in Hull Road had been empty for several months and was not vandalised or broken into – a sign of the low level of crime in the area.

There followed some discussion on houses to let.  There was general agreement that To Let signs are up for too long and an eyesore.  It was pointed out that this is because landlords want students to sign up for accommodation very early in the year.  Mike Britland said that the university did not want students signing up for accommodation before Easter, as students found themselves tied into agreements which they often wanted to change later in the year.  Cllr Barnes said that there were more bedrooms  to let than students to occupy them, and thus there was strong competition amongst landlords.  Mike Britland said that there would soon be a compulsory accreditation scheme for HMOs, and restrictions on signage could form part of that scheme.

Concern was raised by a resident regarding inconsiderate parking and a request was made that the double yellow lines on Hull Road be extended near Nicholas Street to make it impossible for traffic to block the entry to Hull Road.

Maria Birbeck, from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, will talk about the new project in Hull Road Park.

Marie Birbeck talked about the work of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

The following points were noted:

The Trust, based in York,  is now 65 years old and looking outside nature reserves to ways of fostering wildlife generally and other projects, such as growing vegetables.

The Trust is creating ten community-led food growing spaces in conjunction with the council, one within Hull Road Park (a large overgrown bed between the tennis courts and bowling green is in the process of being cleared and turned over to vegetable growing). Links are being made with the  Chill Out Zone, Tang Hall Community Centre, Badger Hill Primary and Applefields Schools, amongst others.

As part of a programme of events, seed planting in February and scarecrow-making are planned.

The Trust is looking for volunteers as well as involving local groups and schools.  Lots of free training will be provided.  Inclusivity is a part of the project.

A member of the public who works with the group Edible York offered to work with the Trust, and (contrary to other people’s opinions) said in his experience, vandalism was not a problem with community projects like this.

Mike Britland, Community Development Co-ordinator for the University of York Students’ Union, would like to explore opportunities for student involvement in the ward. 

Mike Britland, York University Student’s Development Co-ordinator, spoke about students’ involvement in the ward. 

He started in this post in December last year and is keen to make contact with the community, local groups and organisations.

All Further Education colleges in York are now working together to create a Community Strategy, addressing difficult issues such as the noise created by students, the mess and waste often associated with them, and complaints about bad driving and parking.

A request was made for opportunities for students and communities to meet to discuss how to improve relations.  Representatives of the Hull Road Planning Panel and Badger Hill Residents’ Association both welcomed this approach, and a People and Planning Meeting which students could attend was suggested.

A Neighbourhood Wardens scheme amongst students is being proposed, and would like community groups to help prepare a Welcome Pack for students. 

A request was made for community groups to help prepare/inform a welcome pack for students.

Richard Crossley, a Community Engagement Consultant from Joseph Rowntree Housing Unit, will talk about future community engagement in Derwenthorpe.

Richard Crossley, from Rowntree Housing Trust, spoke about the housing expansion in Derwenthorpe, which has a theme of Sustainability.

Comparisons were drawn with New Earswick, started in 1904.  However, unlike New Earswick, this development is surrounded by established housing.  The development seeks to link up with these areas in a beneficial way. 

The development will be in four phases, totalling overall 540 new houses.  60% of these will be for sale, 15% in shared ownership and 25% social housing.  These will be mixed together, not separated into different sectors. 

Heating for the houses will be produced by a biomass boiler in the centre, fed with wood pellets brought in by lorry.

The following questions were raised:

Would there be a new school on the site?

Response was given that there would not, and Derwent School would absorb most of the new pupils.

Would there be more shops?

Response was given that these had not been planned but there was some capacity for shops.

Would there be a bus service?

Response was given that bus routes had not been decided yet, but money would be available for community projects, such as a car sharing club.

Residents were encouraged to look at the site, particularly at the show homes on Temple Avenue.

Update on the current local improvement schemes.

The following points were noted:

The scheme to install bollards in Millfield Lane and Lilac Avenue is progressing.  It has been assessed by traffic authorities and the bollards will be installed.

The scheme to paint the columns of street lights is still ongoing.

Your chance to ask questions about local issues and concerns not covered by the agenda.

The following issues were raised:

The new traffic system at Field Lane, with traffic being diverted via Badger Hill, was carried out without consultation and is a waste of money. 

A member of the public expressed his approval with the new parking regulations in Badger Hill.

John Cossham spoke about the York in Transition  group, which has organised an event with ward committee funding at St Hilda’s Church on electricity use and insulation.  This will involve taking thermal images of local houses, and he is looking for volunteers to offer their houses to be photographed in this way, which shows where heat is escaping.