Agenda and minutes

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.

1.1       Residents had the opportunity to talk with Cllr Keith Aspden; Cllr David Levene; Sally Barker, Neighbourhood Management Officer; Michal Czekajlo, Neighbourhood Management Support Officer; Dave Mercer, City Strategy; PCSO Nigel Colley; PCSO Colin Martin; Suzanne Prance, Street Environment Officer; Allen Marsh, Head Street Sport York Coach; Chris Weeks, Business Support Manager, Service Delivery & Transformation; Graham Terry, Assistant Director, Adult, Children and Education; Liz Topi, Events and Festivals Officer.

1.2    Environmental Protection Unit presented information about  air quality in the Ward.

1.3    Residents had the opportunity to look at Local Development Framework and Just 30 displays.

Update on any action points.

2.1    Councillors Aspden and Levene welcomed everyone to the meeting.  The minutes of the previous meeting were distributed to residents.

The safer neighbourhood team will give an update on police operations in the area and answer any questions you have.

3.1    PCSO Nigel Colley and PCSO Collin Martin gave an update on the crime figures.

The Police reported that crime in Fulford and Heslington continues to be low, and at current levels, was in the villages one of the safest places to live in York. For the specific figures, number of general crime incidents went down by 10 in Heslington, however crime figures in Fulford show increase of 4 comparing to last year.

The following questions were raised.

Q       Can you do something about cyclists not using lights at night?

A       We do educate cyclists with particular emphasis on University freshers.  Safer York Partnership is offering cycle lights at discounted rate currently.

Dave Mercer, a council project leader will tell you about the proposed improvements and listen to what you think of them.

4.1    David Mercer, City of York Council Principal Engineer, Transport Projects gave an overview of the proposed University Road and Field Lane changes.

4.2    Drawings of the proposed schemes were presented to the meeting and copies of the drawings with supporting information describing the scheme were made available for residents to take way for further consideration.

4.3    The ward meeting was to serve as the platform for a wider consultation exercise to residents and key groups, during which residents will be afforded the opportunity to comment on the proposals.

4.4    A public exhibition and/or public meetings are being considered to allow residents and other interested persons the opportunity to discuss particular issues of the proposals.

4.5    Residents who would like to take part in  the consultation can contact Dave Mercer by e-mail: david.mercer@york.gov.uk , or by phone : 01904 55 3447. 

The following questions were raised.

Q       Why is the scheme required?

A       The scheme, along with various other highway schemes, was identified within the planning permission for the University East Campus project and the improvements are proposed to meet essential transportation needs of the area.

Q       Are those expensive improvements essential?

A       The traffic will increase in the area as a consequence of the development of the University and the improvements are proposed to minimise its impact on the area. In addition, the scheme aims to improve cycling and pedestrian links between the campuses. The proposals minimise the impact on the existing trees and a tree survey will also be carried out to verify the condition of the trees and ensure minimal tree loss.

Q       How long will the period of public consultation be?

A       Consultation periods usually last for 3 weeks.

Q       Would you be able to extend the period of consultation? It is impossible for Parish Council to provide comprehensive response within 3 weeks time, we would need at least 6 weeks.

A       We will consider this further and contact Parish Council directly to discuss the proposals.

Q       There is a concern that continuous traffic flows on University Road may result in difficulties entering and particularly exiting Main Street during rush hours. Retention of the roundabout should be considered as a solution.

A       It is recognised that vehicles may have difficulty exiting Main Street and so the suggestion will be considered further.

Q       Primary School will be supportive of some of the changes as long as  traffic around the school will reduce. There is concern about motorists shortcutting through School Lane to get to the village.

A       The proposed route through the Science Park was built to accommodate the through traffic. It is wider and the route is 350m shorter than that through School Lane. School Lane has a 20mph limit and is traffic calmed, and this is considered to be a less desirable and less convenient route. Drivers will be encouraged to turn towards the Science Park from the signalised junction instead of continuing along Field Lane towards School Lane. Physical restrictions can also be put  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Graham Terry and Chris Weeks will talk about the future of Elderly People’s Homes in York.

5.1    Graham Terry,  Assistant Director, Adult, Children and Education spoke on Elderly Peoples Homes review with the aid of a  Power Point presentation.

5.2    The feedback on review was received from variety of different sources including:

·        1,163 consultation questionnaire responses.

·        Public consultation meetings attended by 104 members of the public.

·        A variety of other meetings and workshops with interested parties such as EPH staff, Care Management staff (social workers), and Age UK York.

·        E-mails, letters, and voicemails to the Review Project Team.

·        Public consultation sessions held in supermarkets and at the 50+ Festival Information Fair.

5.3    The public consultation focused on three key areas:

·        The strategic direction.

·        The design specification for a modern residential care home.

·        The options for the future.

5.4    One of the proposals for the future is to redirect more of the council  resources from residential care into helping people stay at home with appropriate support for longer.

5.5    The number of older people will increase significantly over next 10-15 years and the future of residential care must to be looked at.

5.6    The council owns and operates nine elderly persons homes that were built between the 1960s and 1970s. They are coming to the end of their useful life as fit for purpose care homes.

5.6    The presented concept intend  to reduce number of sites from nine to three.

5.7    Concept drawing of 55 bed care home on Fordlands Site was presented to the meeting.

The following questions were raised.

Q       In regards to Fordlands Site, are you planning to redevelop the existing structure?

A       Yes, we intend to reshape it and use it other way.

Residents can find out more about the review by visiting www.york.gov.uk/eph and can forward their opinions by either e-mail carehomes.consultation@york.gov.uk ,or phone 01904 554359.

Come along to find out more about the schemes on the ballot list or, if you have made one of the suggestions on the list please attend and tell people more about it.

6.1    Councillors Levene and Aspden explained to the meeting about the new appearance of Your Ward Newsletter.

Residents who have not received the publication were advised to contact Sally Barker - Neighbourhood Management Officer.

6.2    Additional information was given for the following improvement schemes by the groups who have applied for funding from the Ward Budget.

Scheme number 9

The floor at Fulford Social Hall require renewing. There have been a number of complaints about cracks, splits and uneven level of that floor. All community groups that are using the hall will benefit from that improvement.

Scheme number 14

Older Citizens Advocacy York  service is city wide and benefits all wards and their older residents. Outreach sessions will provide an opportunity for older residents of Heslington and Fulford Ward to speak to independent adviser who will listen to their views and needs and support them to speak up and be heard.

Scheme number 22

Bee Keepers After School Club is applying for funds to purchase new child size goal posts, tennis and badminton sets.

Scheme number 24

NYFRS are applying for funds to provide specialist community fire safety solutions, such as smoke alarms for vulnerable members of the community.

Scheme number 26

In 2012 York will celebrate the 800^th anniversary of the signing of the City Charter. York 800 activities will be taking place across the 12 month period from Jan 2012 to Dec 2012 with a calendar of

one or two signature events per month.

YorStories is a series of bespoke ward-based projects aimed at engaging all parts of the communities in every ward, capturing the stories and experiences of the participants.

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

Residents were given opportunity to raise questions.

Q       Could CYC arrange for additional service to help with clearing allotments in Heslington?

A       We will address that with Street Environment Officer and see what can be done.

Q       Gullies on Prospect Terrace require cleaning, can you arrange for that?

A       Cllr Aspden agreed to look into this residents (The work has now been completed).

Q       Last winter side roads leading to farms were full of snow and almost impassable for several weeks. Could you arrange snow clearing of those roads this year?

A       This will be looked into.

A number of residents commented that the idea of e-mail reminder about the meeting and provision of tea/coffee and biscuits was excellent.

Minutes from last meeting were ratified and signed.

The meeting was announced closed at 21:00.

The next meeting date is 6^th February 2012, venue Fulford Secondary School.