Draft minutes

Cllr Sonja Crisp welcomed everyone to the meeting.

PCSOs Sarah Dale and Sue Court gave a police update to the meeting.  The crime figures compared to this point last year and this year were as follows:

                                                          2013 2014

Arson and criminal damage          125   120   reduction of 4%

Burglary                                          88     65    reduction of 20%

Drugs Offences                              29     32    increase of 10%

This increase was due to information received from members of the public of suspicious activity and two warrants this year have been issued so far in Holgate ward, giving rise to the higher figure.

Cycling theft                                    41     47    increase of 15%

Most of the stolen bikes where not locked

          Vehicle theft/vehicle offences       51     70      increase of 37%

Vehicle theft spiked around Christmas and involved money and sat navs being stolen, in particular, from taxis. A campaign has been launched to make drivers aware they should take valuables out of their cars. A lot of the thefts were from unlocked vehicles.

Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)

The new ASB vehicle is out during the night-time and every day during school holidays.  It goes to wherever a hotspot is identified.  Anyone wanting to report any anti social behaviour should contact us on 101.

Councillor Crisp stated that anti-social behaviour and damage in parks and open spaces since October, when the council had stopped locking and unlocking the parks at night, has not been found to have increased.

Q.    Is this a coincidence that these figures have fallen as it was over the winter period. What is the reason for stopping locking  and unlocking them?

A.     The figures have been compared to the same period in the previous year. The policy has changed in York recently. Previously funding had been available to carry out locking and unlocking parks but due to financial pressures savings have had to be made.

Q.   A resident reported that in the early mornings in West Bank Park there were young people drinking bottles of wine and cider in the wooded area and also taking drugs.

Now that the lighter nights were here people were reminded

to ensure that their doors and windows are locked.

The property marking scheme has now been relaunched.  This can be done online at www.immobilise.com through the link on the Safer York Partnership website. When setting up your account please include any distinguishing marks.         

Q.      Can a police helicopter be used for external imaging.

A.      The helicopter would be very expensive to use in this way.

Q.      What are the police doing about cyclists riding on pavements and jumping red lights. They appear to be turning a blind eye to these events.

A.      We will deal with it when we see it happening and feed back your comments.

Q.      Is there a regulation on the size of bike lights?

A.      No but cycles must have a steady white light at the front and a red light at the rear. Auxiliary flashing lights are permitted.

Andy Laslett informed the meeting about the new Road Safety Car and explained the benefits.  Work was being done in schools across the whole of the city to educate parents and children about it being an offence to park on zig zag lines outside schools.  Unfortunately people were not listening so there was no option but to enforce this parking ban. The car will take camera images of any offending car, the image will then be reviewed back in the office and if it is found to show an offence a £75 fine will be sent in post. 

Q.  The car will target people who park on zig zag lines but what about double yellow lines

A.   Currently the use of this car is focussed on the prevention of parking on zig zag lines only. Enforcement Teams police the parking on double yellow lines from 8.00am to 9.00pm in well known hotspot areas. If anyone is aware of people parking on double yellow lines this can be reported on the response line.

Q.    Why can residents not have parking permits.

A.   In order to have residents parking permits all the residents in a road must agree to be part of this scheme.

Q.    According to the Road Vehicle Licensing Regulations parked vehicles must be parked the right way at night but this does not happen.

There are not enough enforcement teams to police this.  We may extend this scheme eventually but at the moment it is tackling the issue of parking on zig zag lines.

Gill Cooper from the Arts and Festivals Team updated the meeting on the arrangements for the Tour de France which takes place on 6^th July 2014. This is the largest free sporting event in the world.  There will be major traffic disruption and road closures from midnight on 5^th July. The roads will reopen at midday after the race has left the city. Four of the five bridges in the city will be closed.

Prior to the race there will be a cultural festival from 27^th March to 6^th July which includes flags and banners, planting yellow and gold plants, Bike Story, 320 metre square picture.  It is anticipated that 3 billion viewers around the world will be looking at York on this day.

The caravan will leave the Knavesmire at 9.00am and travel across the city centre and up Bootham. The cyclists will leave the Knavesmire at 11.00am.  Parking will be available in the centre of the racecourse and also in the Tesco car park.

Q.    Where will the chequered flag be?

A.     On the A59 near the former Civil Service site.

Q.     Will Poppleton Road Primary School have a viewing area from the playground?

A     Yes and they are providing tea, coffee and respite.

Q.      Who provides the caravan floats?

A.    They are mostly the sponsors of the Tour de France. There                will be a family atmosphere and hubs will be set up around           the city with big screens where family events will be taking place.

The ward priorities for 2014-15 were announced as follows:

·        Increase access to activities and facilities for families with young children

·        Helping to make your money go further

·        Increase community involvement.

The budget for this year has been confirmed as the same as last year at £4,790.  Applications for grants for projects should be submitted as soon as possible for the councillors and the Holgate Ward Team to consider. Kristina has application forms available and can answer questions. Her contact details are on the agenda.  

Q.    Will the criteria be on the website?

A.  All grant application information will be on the website which will be updated on Monday.  If anyone is aware of any organisation that would benefit from such a grant please could people encourage them to make an application?

Residents were asked if they would like to form a Holgate Planning Panel. Kristina explained that planning panels existed in wards in urban areas and they carry out the same scrutinising function as parish councils for planning applications. The panel should ideally be comprised of six people but three would be the minimum and would be required to meet monthly to look at planning applications for the Holgate ward and submit their comments to the Planning Department. Such a panel would be able to provide local knowledge/views that the Planning Department may not be aware of.

Q.    How would the panel be supported

A.  The Communities & Equalities Team would support the panel for example, help find a meeting place. The panel would need to appoint a clerk who would be the point of contact with the council. We are currently liaising with the Planning Department to provide some basic training on planning law.

Q.    Would the plans be sent electronically?

A.   The plans can be accessed by anyone on the council website at www.york.gov.uk .

Q.    Concern was expressed about the local community and any bad feeling that may be caused by comments made by planning panel members

A.     The final decision would not be made by the planning panel members as they would only be expressing their views.

Q.    There may be people interested who are not here tonight who should be contacted.

A.     Kristina will circulate details to all residents on the Holgate email distribution list and will put on the Holgate Twitter page.

Q.     Can this issue not be put in “Your Ward” Magazine

A.     The Your Ward magazine is now produced in one issue for all wards.

Q.The traffic lights on Poppleton Road at the junction of Tisbury Road are on the brow of a hill which impairs the line of vision for traffic turning right.

A.Kristina will report this to the Transport Planning Unit

Q.New markings for the bus lane on Poppleton Road.  The traffic lights remain green for only a short time and the red light is not turning at the right time and is therefore slowing traffic.

A.  Kristina will report this to the Transport Planning Unit

Q.The zebra crossing in the centre of Acomb have lights telling you when to cross.  How can a blind person be expected to know when to cross.

A.  There is a small knob that vibrates at pelican crossings that visually impaired people can use. 

Q. Why are we charged a £10 fee (per 200 kilos) to drop off rubble, plasterboard or paving slabs at James Street depot, is this just to make money? 

A.  Councillors will ask the cabinet member why there is a charge.

Q. Can’t firms be asked if they wish to put a skip for rubbish there and then take it away?

A.  Good idea but will not work as it would not be filled with just rubble but other peoples’ rubbish.

Q. Why don’t the council recycle polystyrene?

A.Only so much rubbish can be recycled and companies may not be in place that can do this.

Q.In respect of school parking there are a lot of problems with parking on both sides Hamilton Drive causing difficulties for buses.

A.This was a problem in the Leeman Road area and the answer was to paint single yellow lines which stopped parking between 9.00am and 4.30pm. However the parking problem just moved to the next street. It was also a problem for residents who could not park their cars on the street between these hours unless they had residents parking tickets which cost £100 per annum. 

Q. Can the council stop people parking on grass verges?

A. No, the council has no powers to stop people parking on grass verges unless there are double yellow lines. Provided a wheelchair and pram can get past and they are not blocking the pathway we are unable to prevent this. Should there be any damage caused by parking on grass verges and it can be proved who has caused the damage the people responsible could be asked to make it good. This is an ongoing problem.

Q.Lighting on Hamilton Drive is only down one side of the street. There are white markings on some of the pavements and people putting white markings on stones and kerbs as it is very dark.

A.The street lighting on Hamilton Drive has not been changed. Our understanding is that whitewashed stones are used as markers to stop parking which is not a good idea as the people who have placed the markers could be held responsible for any vehicle damage they cause.

Q.The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.