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 informally.

1.1     Residents had the opportunity to speak to Councillors Hyman, Orrell and

Runciman, Claire Taylor (Neighbourhood Management Unit), Iain Dunn (Street Environment Service), PC Chris Whitehead and PCSO John Armstrong (Safer Neighbourhood Team) and Andy Guy (Digital Switchover Help Scheme).

Welcome and Minutes

2.1    Cllr Keith Orrell welcomed residents to the meeting.

2.2    The minutes of the last meeting on 13^th July 2010 were agreed and signed.

An update from your ward police team and your chance to ask any questions.

PC Chris Whitehead and PCSO John Armstrong gave an update on Crime and Community Safety issues across the ward.  The following points were noted:

3.1       August saw 37 crimes reported in the ward, the second lowest month since the Safer Neighbourhood Team was introduced in 2007.  There were 45 crimes reported in September (33 in Huntington and 12 in New Earswick).

3.2       The team have been targeting operations in the Monks Cross area to reduce crime.

3.3       Cycle theft remains to be a concern in the ward and across the city in general.  Most of these thefts are opportunistic and residents are encouraged to ensure their bicycles are securely locked at all times.   The team are running Operation Spoke whereby residents can have their bicycles marked with a unique reference number which enables the police to trace it back to the owner if it is recovered.  Residents should contact the team to arrange a visit if they are interested in this scheme.

3.4       There has been a small number of domestic burglaries in the ward in the last couple of months.  On all occasions the thieves have entered the property through unsecured ground floor windows and doors.  Residents are encouraged to ensure that their property is properly secured if it is being left even for a short time such as going out in the garden.

3.5       A number of mopeds have been stolen throughout the ward as a result of not being secured properly. 

3.6       Residents are encouraged to report any suspicious behaviour to the team by contacting them on 0845 6060247 or emailing yorksnt@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk.

The following questions and comments were noted:

a)  There has been a lot of trouble recently with gangs of young people hanging around and causing trouble down Highthorn Road.

Response was given that the team have identified a few of the young people and have been to their homes to have a chat with them and their parents. 

A representative from Eaga will talk about the implications of the digital switchover and the help scheme they manage on behalf of the BBC.

Andy Guy gave a talk on the Digital Switchover Help Scheme.  The following points were noted:

4.1      In September 2011 the traditional analogue TV signal will be switched off in the Yorkshire region and replaced with a digital TV signal. 

4.2      This will not affect anyone who already has more than five TV channels. 

4.3      The Switchover Help Scheme has been set up by the Government and is run by the BBC.  Its purpose is to make the switchover easier for older or disabled people by converting one of their televisions to digital in the run up to digital TV switchover.

4.4      The Switchover help scheme aims to reach out to all eligible people ensuring that everyone that needs help gets it so that no-one eligible need be left behind without access to television after the switchover.  People are eligible if they are a) 75 or over, or b) have lived in a care home for six months or more, c) get or could get disability living allowance, receive attendance or constant attendance allowance or mobility supplement or d) are register blind or partially sighted. 

4.5      There is a small cost involved  but is free for people who are eligible and receive pension credit, income support, income based jobseekers allowance or employment and support allowance.

4.6      More information can be found online at www.helpscheme.co.uk or www.digitaluk.co.uk or by calling 0800 408 5900 (freephone).

4.7      Residents were encouraged to get the message out to everyone they know who may benefit from this scheme. 

The following questions and comments were noted:

a)  Is the digital signal stronger or weaker than the analogue signal?

Response was given it will be much stronger but at the present time the digital signal is only operating at 10% of its full capacity.  It cannot be turned up to full capacity until the analogue signal has been turned off.

b)  Do you need to buy a new cable connecting the TV to the aerial?

Response was given that no this is not necessary.  There are a lot of rumours circulating that people will need to buy new TV’s and aerial’s but this is also unnecessary.

c)  Will the switchover affect radio’s?

Response was given that the switchover will not affect FM radios and it will be a long time before this happens.

This is your chance to find out more information about the schemes proposed in this newsletter,  If you have made a suggestion that has been short-listed, this is your opportunity to promote your proposal.

Residents were given the opportunity to discuss the local improvement schemes put forward for the 2011-12 ward committee budget.  The following points were noted:

5.1        There is no guarantee how much the budget will be for the 2011/12 financial year.

5.2        Cllr Keith Hyman declared that he is the Older Peoples Champion for the city but does not have any direct link with Older Citizens Advocacy York (OCAY) or Age Concern, both of whom have applied for a grant.

5.3        Cllr Keith Orrell and Cllr Carol Runciman stated they do not have any interests to declare. 

5.4        Residents were encouraged to use their vote.

Representatives gave more information about the following schemes:

5.5        H&-10-04, H&-10-16, H&-10-17  - New Earswick Community Association  – The application is for continued support of a) the community gardening scheme, a facility which is currently accessed by 90 people, b) the junior club for children aged 8–11 years and c) the summer scheme for 8-17 year olds.

5.6        H&-10-12 – Street Sports York -  the application is to fund ten mobile street sport sessions across the ward.  The sessions alternate between a skate park, a climbing wall and multi-sport.  Archery is going to be introduced in the near future.  The sessions have been extremely popular in the ward with 164 young people attending session in 2008 and 238 in 2009.

5.7        H&-10-11 – York Youth Council – the application is for a contribution towards the set up of a City Centre Youth Café which can be accessed by young people from all across the city.  This is a project led by the Youth Council and the target is to raise £100,000 of which the young people have already raised £57,000 themselves. 

Your chance to discuss local issues.  

The following questions and comments were noted:

6.1  Who is responsible for cleaning the river, in particular removing objects that have been dumped in there?

Response was given that the Foss Drainage Board are responsible for this.  Residents can contact them directly to report any problems or contact the ward team who will pass them on.

6.2  There was a piece of legislation introduced earlier in the year outlining that water companies should take over responsibility for private sewers.  Has there been any progress on this?

Response was given that the team will look into this and report back to the resident.  Action – CT

6.3  Is there a date for a decision on the planning application for the takeaway on Brockfield Park Drive?

Response was given that this is still in the analysis stage of the comments and objections being reviews.  If it is proposed that this application is approved it will go to the planning committee for review.