Agenda and minutes

Surgery 6:30pm – 7:00pm

1.1    Residents had the opportunity to speak to Cllr James Alexander, Cllr Denise Bowgett, Cllr Sonja Crisp,  Matthew Ward and Cindy Benton from Neighbourhood Management, Insp Phil Cain from the Safer Neighbourhoods Team, Liz Levett, Head of Parking Services and Street Environment.

1.2    Residents also had an opportunity to find out more about services offered by Safe and Sound Homes and York Older People’s Assembly.

Welcome and Introductions

Including an update on the action points from the last meeting.

Welcome and Introductions

2.1 Cllr James Alexander welcomed residents to the meeting.

2.2 The minutes of the last were approved and signed.

2.3 It was agreed at this point to offer residents the opportunity to give information about their scheme proposals as some attendees had other engagements. The following  made representation.

2.31 Joe Armer, representative from York Youth Council stood to talk about the application to the ward to provide a city centre space for young people.

2.311 The Youth Council has already raised over £50,000 to fund the required space.

2.312 A board of young people will be responsible for the running of the space once up and running.

2.313 One provision will be for a young people’s café which will advertise services and activities available for young people.

2.314 Information, advice and guidance will also be available.

2.315 The facility will be self sustaining by charging rent for community use and the profits from the café.

2.32 Alex Hunt, Director of Safe and Sound Homes gave information on their application to provide accommodation for homeless young people.

            2.321 Work is done with volunteers to provide temporary accommodation for homeless young people across York.

            2.322 Young people who have entered the programme have progressed to achieve academically.

            2.323 The service is a community based project, which encourages participation from residents to improve lives of homeless young people.

2.4 At this point Inspector Phil Cain, the new inspector for the ward introduced himself.

            2.41The Safer Neighbourhood Team aim to reduce the number of incidents for the ward priorities. The priorities presently are burglaries from sheds and garages and criminal damage.

            2.42 The action day on 1^st October proved very successful and the good work carried out will continue.

            2.43 Operation Shadow is currently running. This targets known criminals by officers carrying out home visits and checks.

            2.44 Five out of seven recent warrants in the ward have been successful, recovering unpaid court fines, proceeds of crime and class A and B drugs. These are only made possible due to information passed on by members of public.

            2.45 The Safer Neighbourhood Team are looking to promote Neighbourhood Watch Schemes in the ward. Anyone wanting to get involved should get in touch.

            2.46 Inspector Cain invited questions from residents, the following were asked.

            Q – Speed cameras?

            A- The decision has to come from the Chief Constable, not install static cameras in North Yorkshire. One PC for the ward is trained in using the speed gun. 94 Alive is the system used to log complaints of speeding. Complaints are logged with the Traffic Management Unit (TMU) who then will launch an investigation, only one report is needed for an investigation to take place. TMU will set up an investigation for seven days to see if there is a speed related issue and act accordingly.

            Q – Two reports had been made to police, one took seven months to get a reply and never heard back from the other.

            A – Apologies  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

New Recycling Scheme

Mark Hewlett, waste strategy support officer will give the meeting information and take feed-back about the recycling scheme which has been rolled out recently.

3. Recycling in the Ward, Mark Hewlett, Waste Strategy Support Officer

3.1 The three bin system is now in place for Holgate and waste strategy are open to feedback. There is an awareness that some people are confused by the collection and work is to be done to clarify who has what collected and when.

3.2 The changes are ultimately to free up time and money to help the collection service provide a wider range of collections for residents. These changes can mean green waste collections can be offered to more residents without the cost of collections been passed on to the residents.

3.3 Mark gave residents the opportunity to ask questions and give feedback on the service, the following was raised.

            Q - Can there be clarification on where collections are taking place?

            A – There has been confusion as different areas have different collections. There needs to be clarification for residents. Current central collection points are at the end of alleys. Bags are still front of property.

            Q – Not a lot of encouragement is given to residents to recycle as the boxes are never put back where they were left for collection.

            A – This shouldn’t be the case as the three box system was chosen by loaders to improve the service. Details where taken of the problem to follow up.

            Q – Green waste recycling, why do only some residents have it?

            A – This is a work in progress and as more residents convert to two weekly collection more man power will be freed up to offer the service to more residents.

            Q – More wheelie bins been given to terrace house residents is not appropriate

            A – Smaller containers are been looked into for terraced properties.

Cllr Crisp explained that a meeting had taken place to discuss waste collections in the ward. In which it was agreed that large wheelie bins for green waste won’t be offered for terrace housing.

            Q – Why do the council expect residents to carry rubbish through their homes?

            A – This was implemented to simplify collections, recycling needs to be from the front of house and collection from front of house for waste speeds up collection. With rising health and safety, vehicles reversing and accessing back lanes also needs to be reduced.

            Q – Why do collections alter to the convenience of the operators and not customers?

            A – It is down to logistics, the collection of waste is a very complex matter.

            Q – Do you have targets for recycling collections?

            A – The figure for last year was 48% of waste recycled, it is hoped that with the rollout will provide a significant increase. Landfill usage is not sustainable and the tax on using landfill is increasing yearly.

Environmental Protection

A representative from Environmental Protection will let us know about  the issues they deal with and how to report incidents to them.

4. Michael Golightly from the Environmental Protection Unit.

4.1 Issues dealt with by the Environmental Protection Unit are noise, odour, smoke, dust and light.

4.2 For a complaint to be followed up it must be a statutory nuisance, this is dependant on time of day, duration, frequency and character of neighbourhood.

4.3 A noise patrol service takes place for Friday and Saturday nights 9pm to 3am. The number for issues is 551555.

4.4 Types of noise dealt with are neighbour noise from DIY, music etc. Intruder alarms, have power of entry to silence alarms and hold a keyholder record.

4.5 Odour, investigate Farms for slurry spreading, Takeaways, factories and sewage treatment works.

4.6 Light, investigate security lighting and any bright light complaints.

4.7 Smoke, York operates a smoke controlled area this came about due to over 4000 deaths in London in 1952 due to pollution and smog. Fines upto £5000 are possible for people having fires and creating black smoke.

4.8 Air Quality, motoring of nitrogen dioxide levels is carried out. Work is also done with partners to encourage cycling and use of park and ride.

Cllr Crisp pointed out that areas of concern for the Holgate ward are Jubilee Terrace and Holgate.

4.9 Due to the layout of York there are many areas that have reduced airflow leading to concentrations of nitrogen dioxide. One area recently investigated is Fulford Road, which has benefited from engineering work to help improve the situation.

Residents were given the opportunity to ask questions, the following were raised.

            Q – Are there time restrictions on Bonfires?

            A – No, any investigation has to satisfy that it is creating a statutory nuisance. Black smoke is not allowed and allotment holders are encouraged to compost rather than burn garden waste. Legislation only refers to boilers and chimneys not bonfires but they can be dealt with under the environmental act.

            Q – What happens is noise is causing a nuisance out of hours?

            A – complaints are logged, warning letters are sent out. Diary sheets are issued for persistent issues and hotspot areas are attended. Noise monitoring equipment is installed to monitor ongoing noise problems.

2011-12 Local Improvement Scheme Suggestions

We will talk about the proposed schemes for next year. This is your chance to tell people about any schemes you have suggested and to get more information about schemes you may support.

5. 2011-12 Local Improvement Scheme Suggestions.

Residents and groups were given the opportunity to provide supporting information for their scheme proposals.

5.1 York Older Peoples Assembly.

            Formed to encourage older residents to make decisions. The group produce quarterly newsletters to keep members informed of opportunities. The group have been largely centrally focused so the hope is that through ward funding, more communities can be reached. The intention is to hold a local information fair, a joint venture with Age Concern, to help lower emergency hospital admission rates for older people. A slipper exchange will also be arranged.

5.2 York in Transition.

            A local group who want to promote different lifestyles due to the shortage of oil in the world. Funding would help to promote activities throughout Holgate. Information would be made widely available and encouragement to build resilience.

5.3 Leeman Road Millennium Green Trust.

            Funding would be used to provide essential grass cutting and maintenance of the site. Also funding towards internet maintenance. The trust support many local activities and provide a great green space for the residents of York.

5.4 Poppleton Road Memorial Hall.

            The funding will be used to provide social outings for members, these provide a lifeline for many residents.

Have Your Say

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

6. Have Your Say?

Residents were given the opportunity to raise issues or concerns in regard to the Holgate Ward.

            Q – Is there possibility to show priority for schemes rather than just for or against. It is hard to prioritise when the budget isn’t known.

            A – Prioritisation is given based on residents feedback. The budget is based on last years, £32,430, until confirmed.

Cllr Alexander made a request for residents to put forward ideas for future agenda items. Any requests can be sent to Matthew Ward by email on matthew-nmo.ward@york.gov.uk or by phone on 01904 551819.