Agenda and minutes

Cllr Waller welcomed all attendees to the meeting and stated that he would appreciate it if they signed in at the front desk.  He let them know that they could also leave their email address if they wanted to be in on consultations.  He advised that there would be some photography throughout the meeting and asked attendees to notify him if they do not wish to be photographed.

Roy Wallington, program director, stated that there would be a drop-in on Tuesday 18^th July about the plans to develop the Lowfield School site.  He stated that there would be information on the development that is currently being proposed based on consultation from the previous autumn and would be a chance for people to comment once more before the plans are formalised.  He stated that it was also possible to comment online by searching the council site for Lowfield development.

There will be an opportunity to have you say on the regeneration of Front Street, Acomb, with Neil Ferris, City of York Council’s Corporate Director of Economy & Place

19:10 - Acomb Front Street Regeneration

Cllr Andrew Waller stated that there were currently efforts to bring together independent traders to talk up the area and that there had been discussions about developing the pavement/pedestrianisation.  He recommended the book “Happy City” by Charles Montgomery, which contains discussions on how places can be developed as social hubs.  Cllr Waller stated that a more family-friendly layout has been requested, and that there is also a need to recognise that there will be an increase in the amount of elderly accommodation in the city.

Neil Ferris, City of York Council’s Corporate Director of Economy and Place, then presented an outline of the project.  He stated that he was responsible for servicing and maintaining the physical environment and that as the community belonged to residents it is important to understand their current feelings.  He stated that what is important is to understand the residents’ aspirations and concerns for the place. 

Neil Ferris stated that an executive has made the decision to invest £50,000, which is intended to start the process of articulating the vision for the regeneration and that envisioning that piece of work would begin tonight.  It will not be a case of overnight development, but successive years of budgets and developments.

A resident asked for clarification on what was meant by Front Street.  Neil Ferris stated that it is about the retail part.  He said that other councils such as Halifax and Huddersfield have been shrinking their city centres due to lack of demand and while York city centre remains a shopping destination, secondary shopping areas in York do not have the same pull.  He stated that they would not define boundaries to the vision today as it would be too constraining.

A resident asked what kind of economic assessment evidence this would be based on.  Cllr Waller stated that City Beautiful had previously had a disconnect with the public and there were opportunities missed.  Neil Ferris stated that funding bodies do not have a formula that stacks up well and that the local authority is looking at a much broader social outcome in terms of revitalising the area.

19.20 – All attendees were invited to come over and put suggestions/their aspirations for the area on post-it notes on a map of the local area.

19.40 – Meeting reconvenes.

Cllr Waller stated that there were a few announcements to make.  Replacement recycling nets were available at the back of the room.  He also wanted to check that everyone had received a copy of the Ward Ballot.  These need to be returned by 24^th July.

Neil Ferris stated that he will make sure that the comments collected at this meeting are available at the next.

At this moment Cllr Waller invited ward funding applicants present in the room to give short presentations about their projects.

The Chill In The Community gave a presentation on their work.  Every Tuesday 12pm – 7pm people can attend and are free to pay what  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

One Planet York Presentation - an initiative to make York a more sustainable, resilient and collaborative city - Paul McCabe, One Planet Strategic Manager

Paul McCabe, One Planet Strategic Manager, gave a presentation on One Planet York.  He introduced it as a growing network of organisations supporting a vision of a more sustainable, resilient and collaborative “One Planet” City, meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

One Planet York is based around ten principles:

·         Health and happiness

·         Equity and local economy

·         Culture and community

·         Land use and wildlife

·         Sustainable water

·         Local and sustainable food

·         Sustainable materials

·         Sustainable transport

·         Zero waste

·         Zero carbon

One Planet York offered this framework to the council.  CYC agreed to become a One Planet Council and got together with several local organisations to find out what people in the city were doing around the above themes.  These include YourCafe supporting sustainable food and the York Minster’s Eco Church Award promoting zero carbon.

Over 60 organisations are currently supporting One Planet York and the goal is for this to grow.

Paul McCabe stated that there are several ways for York residents to get involved:

·         Become a “One Planet” neighbourhood

·         Attendees were encouraged to collect a toolkit before leaving the meeting, or consult the One Planet York website for small practical actions they could do.

·         Ask your organisation to support the One Planet York vision.

·         Download the One Planet York app.

·         Come to OPY Monthly Mingles.

It was noted that the Chill In The Community Café have expressed interest and are waiting to hear back about this.

Paul McCabe asked residents to help promote the OPY app.  He stated that they are currently talking to an organisation looking to roll the app out nationally.

He stated that the Monthly Mingles generally have a particular theme (eg: the next one in September is about zero carbon) and there is food and drink.

He stated that York’s overall city performance is currently ranked at 48 out of 324 areas.  This is based on economic, social and environmental measures.  Cambridge and Oxford are currently at the top.

A resident stated that he is disappointed that new houses are not being built to eco standards, eg: the new houses at Hob Moor do not have solar panels.  Paul McCabe replied that the Code for Sustainable Homes was dropped, like many regulations, at the national level and that developers now work to what the market will stand.  He stated that York has the world’s first passive house plus, built by local architects.  This is carbon neutral and puts energy back into the local system.  Cllr Waller stated that Public Service Excellence have not abolished the Merton Rule.

A resident suggested that pressure could be put on local councillors to raise standards.

A resident stated that the living environment of parts of York, eg: Holgate, is in the bottom 20% nationally and suggested that One Planet York could do more about raising awareness, particularly about pollution levels.  Paul McCabe stated that York has the second best air monitoring service in the UK and they are  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

A resident stated that everybody at Askham Lane is dissatisfied with the Tenants’ Choice Modernisation Scheme, as the amount of waste thrown in skips has been excessive and they have caused a lot of damage and disruption to people’s homes.  She said that a shower installed in her bathroom was put in poorly and will have to be reinstalled.  She also said that the quality of customer care was poor as it was impossible to make a complaint.  She said that she would have refused the service had she known in advance what it would be like.

Cllr Waller stated that he has previously been in dialogue about this but that it is useful to have the issues raised for the minutes.  He stated that they are pursuing these items and asked for additional information to be passed on to himself or Cllr Hunter.  He said that it would be gratefully received.

Cllr Waller stated that consultation on the Front Street project was very much ongoing and that residents would be kept posted.

The meeting was closed at 20:30.