Agenda and minutes

The drop-in surgery will give you the opportunity to talk to Cllr Helen Douglas, Cllr Ken King, Cllr David Scott, ward team and visiting speakers informally before the meeting.

1.1    Residents had the opportunity to speak with Cllr. Helen Douglas, Cllr. Ken King, Cllr. David Scott, Mora Scaife and Michal Czekajlo from Neighbourhood Management Unit, PC Ian Richardson, Vicky Harland from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Penny Goff from NHS Foundation Trust, Wendy Taylor from City of York Council Major Development Projects and Initiatives Team in an informal setting.

2.1    Cllr David Scott welcomed everyone to the meeting and provided basic housekeeping and fire safety information.

2.2    The minutes of the October meeting were ratified and signed.

Officers from your local Safer Neighbourhood Team will give an update on the work they’ve been doing in the ward and take your questions.

3.1    Pc Ian Richardson gave an update on crime statistics for Clifton Ward.

          Number of shed and dwelling burglaries has risen over November and December 2011. Police proactive action resulted in the 25% drop of burglaries in January 2012.

          April to April statistics show 10-15% drop of general crime incidents comparing to previous year. 

3.2    PCSO Wayne Capell has decided to leave North Yorkshire Police. 

Residents were given the opportunity to raise questions.

Q       Could you provide an update on bike theft crime figures in Clifton?

A       The situation is stable. There is a group of suspects that we are aware of and keeping an eye on. They do not seem to cause any problems currently.

          Operation Spoke is currently taking place in the city centre. We have had some successes and recovered number of stolen bikes.

Q       Is there anything that you can do to stop drivers speeding on Westminster Road?

A       Please continue to report speeding incidents to us. There is a proposal to redesign the junction there. It is at the consultation stage currently.

Q       How often do you dispatch your van to monitor speeding in the area?

A       There are no identified hot spots in Clifton Ward.

Cllr David Scott has stated that ward committee is grateful    for Police being able to attend these meetings.

The Clifton Community Co-ordinator for York St John, Jennifer Summers, will share about her role in linking students together with the community.

4.1    Jennifer Summers, York St John Community Coordinator gave a brief picture of her work in the community.

4.2    Safety and awareness raising video guide for students was produced with the help of the Police. The purpose of the guide is to teach students how to secure their property and how to provide help to their neighbours.

4.3    Funding for tea dance session in April was secured. It will almost certainly take place at Burton Stone Community Centre.

4.4    Jennifer has declared that she is standing down from her position due to other commitments and that someone else will be taking over her responsibilities.

Vicky Harland from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust will share about their lottery funded ‘Dig In!’ project and how Clifton residents can be involved in the community gardens being established over the next two years.

5.1    Vicky Harland, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust gave an update on their Dig In project funded by big lottery.

5.2    Work on 10 sites has now started. The nearest site to Clifton Ward is Brailsford Crescent.

The project is to promote more active and healthy living, improvement to participant’s knowledge about food growing and caring for the local environment, develop participant’s inter-personal skills and provide participant’s with a greater feeling of community pride and belonging.

5.3    Dig In consultation sheets and events calendars were provided for residents who would like to get involved.

Residents were given opportunity to raise questions.

Q       Have you got funds to pay for aftercare of those sites?

A       Sustainability is the key priority for us. The project will be carried out over the next 3 years.  We are looking at recruiting around 10 residents to be attached to each site, take ownership of it and be responsible for its maintenance. We will sign licence agreement with City of York Council that will guarantee site maintenance after the project end date.

Greenfields Community Garden project was mentioned by one of the residents, who also reminded the meeting about the coming Edible York AGM.

Vicky Harland has stated that Yorkshire Wildlife Trust works together with Edible York.

Treemendous is an initiative that aims to plant an additional 50,000 trees in York over a three to five year period. Wendy Taylor from City of York Council will explain more about this project.

6.1    Wendy Taylor, Major Development & Projects Initiative Officer spoke about Treemendous York initiative.

6.2    Treemendous York is a new project with a mission to plant 50.000 trees in York in the next 3-5 years.

The initiative evolved from the ‘Towards an Economic Vision’ Document launched in February 2011 - part of which was to plant more trees.Following this a group of environmental groups got together with the Council with the aim of increasing tree cover in and around York wherever possible.

6.3    Organisations involved in the initiative are:  Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Edible York, Wheatlands Educational Woodlands, Woodland Trust, York Environment Forum, BCTV, University of York (rep of Stockholm Institute), City of York Council, anyone else that wants to be.

6.4    The partnership developed a leaflet which explains what the aims and objectives of Treemendous York are. The leaflet assesses levels of interest in helping the group to plant more trees through the community, businesses etc. Treemendous York leaflets were provided for residents to take home.

6.5    Donations received so far are being used to plant more trees in Heslington, New Earswick and community spaces through CYC and Edible York and Parish Councils.

6.6    The initiative is community based with help from City of York Council to provide officer time to help co-ordinate the project.

6.7    The group is pursuing funding bids to increase the capacity of the community groups by having a paid co-ordinator as well as extra funding to plant trees.

6.8    What is happening now?

·        Edible York are working with schools to plant fruit and nut trees where possible and have set up community groups to promote this.

·        Wheatlands Educational Trust work with schools and the public.

·        Yorkshire Wildlife Trust seeks to protect biodiversity through initiatives such as York Greenways.

·        BCTV planted 2,300 trees at Bootham Stray and are writing a bid.

·        Woodlands Trust seek to improve woodland cover nationally.

·        York Environment Trust increase & protect the natural environment.

·        City of York Council plant trees annually, including memorial trees, and maintain trees in council ownership

6.9    The next steps:

·        To work with businesses/retailers/schools/ward and parish councils and organisations and individuals to encourage tree planting.

·        To pursue funding to find a paid worker to work with the community and liaise with the Council co-ordinator to plant 50,000 trees in the next 3 years.

·        The group’s emphasis is to plant areas with less greenery but trees can be planted wherever appropriate.

·        To prioritise a number of sites for planting and ensure the right species are planted in the right place.

6.10  You can  get involved and help by:

·        Supporting the aims of Treemendous York and spreading the word wherever and whenever you can.

·        Planting trees where possible and appropriate.

·        Donating time, cash, equipment or advice.

·        Informing us of suitable sites for tree planting.

·        Offering time to provide aftercare for newly planted trees.

·        Letting us know when trees have been planted by anyone so that we can add it to our tree totaller.  This includes individual trees in gardens  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

An update on projects not covered by other agenda items.

7.1    Cllr David Scott has declared that normally at this time of the year ward committee would announce its decisions regarding schemes funding for the next year. Ward committee budgets and procedures are being reviewed now; consequently the decisions about the funding cannot be made at this stage.

City of York Council has to find substantial amount of savings, £12m in year 2012-13 and £10m in year 2013-14. Ward committee budgets might be affected by that. We believe that there will be some money in ward committee budgets for the next year, but at this moment in time have no indication how much will that be.

Residents were given opportunity to raise questions.

Q       After that review of ward committee meetings, what other format will there be for residents to meet with elected members? 

A       Some of the formal meetings might be replaced by informal action group meetings, to discuss specific issues. Residents, relevant council officers and the Police will still be invited to those meetings.

Q       If I wish to speak to one of the ward councillors about the specific issue, will you come to a meeting in the area?

A       We work as a team; usually one of us will take a lead on the particular issue and will be able to attend the meeting.

Q       What about when residents would like to have their say on a particular issue?

A       The consultations will not stop. New mechanisms for consultations, such as Facebook, Twitter and e-mails are being introduced. You can always contact us via phone, e-mail, or write to us. If you are a community group we will be happy to come along to your AGM.

Q       The Fairness Commission suggested in its report to remove ward budgets. I strongly disagree with that, as ward budgets form vital funding source for some community groups. The Neighbourhood Management Unit will also be affected.

A       The Fairness Commission report will be considered while deciding about the budget savings. 

Q       What is the difference between ward committee meeting and action group meeting?

A       Action groups would probably be meeting on a monthly basis to discuss specific issues. Residents, ward members, the Police and relevant officers would be invited.

Q       Who does decide how the ward budget is spent?

A       Ward members make the final decision taking into consideration outcome of the public consultation.

At this point residents declared their support to the continuation of the ward committee meetings and corresponding ward funding in their current form.

Q       You should first look at large schemes that are not properly evaluated; it would bring the council essential savings. Scrapping ward budgets is not a solution, as they are not huge pots of money.

A       Different projects are funded from different sources. The Council has a duty to provide certain services. Moving to new offices will save £5m over the period of time. That new building will be partly let to the Police and others.

Q       Ward committee meetings have important function  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Your chance to raise issues or concerns about your ward.

Residents were given opportunity to raise questions.

Q       I have a concern about 19B bus service. It does not seem to be very well used throughout the day. Transdev does not seem to advertise that service properly.

A       Transdev is an independent commercial company. They are free to decide how, where and when they will run a service that will provide a financial return. This includes the route, stops, timetables and fares. We have no influence on bus service apart from subsidising them. We can pass your concerns to Bus Company and relevant council officers, but as councillors we have no power to influence Transdev decisions. 

Q       I am concerned about Local Sustainable Transport Fund steering group membership. £4.6m was awarded to improve sustainable transport in the city. Part of this fund is to be spend in Clifton Ward. I am concerned that there are no local representatives on that steering group. The group is called ‘Intelligent Travel Steering Group’.

A       We have not been asked to participate in that steering group. We will have to look into that.

At this point Mora Scaife stated that when LSTF was granted Neighbourhood Management Unit managed to secure £7.500 from that fund to investigate the viability of home to key destination services. Residents were consulted regarding their issues with transport. Emerging issue was that older people are facing problems with transport to the hospital, Clifton Moor amongst others. Contact Neighbourhood Management Unit if you want to suggest something under this scheme.

Q       City of York Council needs to look for new ways to provide services and local resident’s involvement is crucial in deciding how to spend money wiser.

A       We agree with that completely. Please present your ideas to us.  There are many examples out there how services can be provided, such as social enterprise, or not formally established Treemendous York, that is achieving its targets. Councillors will become guardians, making sure the services are provided in the way how people voted it to be.

The meeting was closed at 9:05pm.