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.            Residents had the opportunity to talk to their ward councillors. Matthew Ward from Neighbourhood Management. Sgt Iain Sirrell from Safer Neighbourhoods Team. Russ Broadbent and Liz Levett from Parking Services. Mark Hebblethwaite from Street Environment Services.

1.1         Representatives from local groups were also represented.

Hamilton Panthers Football Club

York Tree Wardens

Chapman’s Pond

Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Planning Panel

1.2      Representatives from City of York Council attend to give the latest information on the Local Development Framework and the York 800 initiative

Find out who deals with what and what can be done about parking issues in the ward, with the police and the council’s parking services.

2.         To inform residents on who deal particular issues regarding parking, Russ Broadbent, Parking Services Manager, Elizabeth Levett, Head of Environmental Enforcement and Parking Services and Sgt Iain Sirrell, North Yorkshire Police.

2.1       The structure of Parking Services

            Liz Levett – Head of Service

            Russ Broadbent – Manager of Parking Services

            James Langley – Officer Supervisor at St Leonards Place

            Roy Wilcox-Harrison – Parking control Supervisor at Foss Bank

            12 Full and part –time clerical staff at 9 St Leonards

            22 Civil Enforcement Officers

2.2       Parking Services enforce the parking restrictions but the restrictions themselves are not their responsibility.  Parking Services do not decide where yellow lines should be or where a resident parking scheme should apply or how much to charge people to park in the car parks.  These are strategic decisions that are made by the Transport Planning and Highway Management Teams of the City Strategy Department. 

2.3       The enforcement of parking regulations have been operated by the City of York Council since 8^th October 2000. When the City of York Council took up the powers of the 1991 Act and became responsible for enforcing almost all parking offences – except obstruction and dangerous parking.

2.4       On 31^st March 2008, the 2004 – Traffic Management Act was implemented which introduced differential penalty charges of £70 and £50 and allowed Councils to enforce parking on pedestrian crossings.

2.5       These payments are halved if paid within 14 days.

2.6       The key objectives of Parking Services are enforcement of waiting and loading restrictions, bus stops, cycle lanes, taxi ranks, school keep clear zigzags to improve road safety and the movement of traffic. Enforcement of resident parking schemes to discourage parking by motorists who are not entitled to park in these areas. Meeting the needs of people with disabilities by enforcing the disabled bays and protecting access for emergency vehicles. Not to raise revenue.

2.7       The current parking restrictions in the city are 16 Council Car Parks  (total spaces 2,569 cars and 62 Coaches) 53 Resident Parking Schemes (over 27,000 metres of restrictions) over 570,000 metres of  Yellow Line waiting restrictions. Over 5,000 metres of other parking restrictions. A Total of over 600,000 metres (377 miles) of restricted parking in York.  Over 800 different streets have parking restrictions of some description.

2.8       There are currently 22 Civil Enforcement Officer covering the city, this has reduced from 30 Officers over the past 5 years.

2.9       IN the financial year of 2010/11 the following Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN’s) were issued.

                        Car Parks                              6,983

                        Yellow Lines                         5,734

                        Residents Parking               4,901

                        Other on street offences     1,359

                        Pay and Display bays         1,277

2.10    This raised over £3m revenue, which is used for traffic related expenditure.

            Breakdown of expenditure                         £         

            Dial and Ride                                               100,000

Concessionary Bus Tokens                      116,000

Shopmobility                                                 13,000

Subsidised Bus Services                           771,000

Highway Maintenance                               2,031,000

2.11    What can CYC enforce?

            Council Car Parks – No payment, Expired ticket, parked in disabled bay etc.

            Waiting Restrictions – Double Yellow Lines – No Parking  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

Find out about how residents and the council will work together to improve environmental services in the ward.

3.1    Kristina Davey – Neighbourhood Management Unit Project Officer gave an overview and the background information about community contracts.

3.2    The Neighbourhood Management Unit has been trialling a 12 month area-based working approach in six wards in the West of the city since October 2010.  This is due to be rolled out across the rest of the city from October 2011. A key output of area-based working is to improve service delivery at a local level. Community contracts will offer the opportunity for residents to engage with service providers to improve services based on the needs of communities.

3.3       A community contract will provide a framework for residents to:

·        Influence service delivery in their wards.

·        Monitor the performance of service providers in wards.

·        Hold service providers to account, identify gaps in service delivery and identify and help deliver solutions to those gaps.

·        Have the opportunity to be included in the process regardless of age, race, gender, sexuality or socio-economic background in a way that suits their needs.

3.4       The key functions of a community contract will be to:

·        Create a partnership between residents and service providers in each ward committee area.

·        Provide residents with clear information on what services they can expect in their ward.

·        Provide details of the outcomes of negotiations with residents on their responsibilities.

3.5       Community contracts will have vital impact on building community spirit and bringing cohesion to the community. ‘Snow Wardens’ initiative was brought up as an example.

3.6       York has a history of developing agreements on service delivery between service providers and residents. Bell Farm's estate agreement was the first in the country (launched in 1995) to be set up and is the longest running. Foxwood Neighbourhood Agreement was developed in 1998 and monitored by FCAG (Foxwood Community Action Group). Clifton Pride Neighbourhood Agreement was developed on the back of the Clifton Regeneration Project in 2004 and monitored by the Clifton Partnership.

3.7       Neighbourhood Management Unit will begin the process in the 3 ward committee areas. Residents will be recruited to form Ward Action Groups (WAP’s). WAP’s will identify problems,  opportunities and monitor services delivery. Training for residents involved in WAP’s will be provided by Neighbourhood Management Unit.

3.8       Environment Services to be the first service area to be included in a community contract.

At this point Kristina Davey addressed the meeting with four questions regarding community contracts. Residents were able to cast their answers with the aid of OptiVote.

Q 1   How do you think Community Contracts would benefit your ward the most?

A.  Give residents information about service standards         1 vote

B.  Improve service delivery                                             1 vote

C.  Encourage residents’ influence in service delivery1 vote

D.  Encourage community involvement                          2 votes

E.  All of the above                                                            9 votes

F.   I can’t see a benefit                                                     1 vote

G.  Other                                                                                      0 votes

Q 2   Would you go to regular meetings?

A.  Held locally                                                                            14 votes

B.  Held in the city centre                                                 0 votes

C.  I don’t want to go to regular  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Fiona Williams, the council’s head of libraries and heritage will talk about the Explore library concept and explain how libraries work with their local communities.

4.         Fiona Williams, Head of Libraries and Heritage, explained the ranges of services available at York city libraries.

4.1       Apologies were given for missing the last meeting, and thanks were given to the ward committee for inviting Library to the meeting.

4.2       There has been a lot of press coverage about libraries and as a service we are open to suggestions and ideas from residents for development.

4.3       Dringhouses Library acts as a hub for the community and provides many services, praise was given to Pauline and her staff for the way the library is run and utilised.

4.4       Libraries are a statutory service and provide a wide range of facilities for everyone.

4.5       A service that is run by WRVS helps reach housebound people, there are book start schemes to get young people interested in reading, books are offered in numerous formats – large print, downloads, audio books, kindle and ebooks.

4.6       York libraries have a huge collection of books to borrow, and requests for new books which aren’t in stock are taken.

4.7       Libraries provide study support and learning opportunities. Course are offered through Open University, rooms are used for adult education courses, informal learning opportunities are offered and even a free ancestry service is offered.

4.8       Digital inclusion, moving with technology, Wifi and free internet are available. Help to get on line if available, including setting up email address etc.

4.9       There are regular courses on offer, such as the Get online course running in November, where students will be explain to new users the benefits of the internet to increase understanding.

4.10    There is a great amount of information available at Libraries, vast resource are held, such as the latest developments regarding the council and historic artefacts.

4.11    Libraries act as a community hub, feedback regarding Dringhouses Library shows that residents like the atmosphere, staff and the safe environment provided and all for free.

4.12    2012 will be a very busy year for library services. The York800 project promises to be very interesting and inclusive for all residents of the city.

Residents were offered the opportunity to ask questions.

Your chance to join the planning panel.

5.      The planning panel elections – Apologies were given on behalf of the current Planning Panel Clerk, Roger Jennings. Peter Robinson supplied information on the planning panel.

5.1    The Dringhouses and Woodthorpe planning panel are a small group of local residents who meet to discuss all planning applications in the ward, and submit their views and concerns.

5.2    The panel meet monthly.

5.3    If there the panel is in any doubt over proposals, site visits are carried out, but usually the meetings are sufficient.

5.4    There are currently five members plus the clerk, more members are welcome to give a better representation geographically across the ward.

5.5    Members are from various backgrounds, there is currently a tree expert and architect who share their knowledge.

5.6    Training in planning law is available for new members and ongoing training is offered by the council.

5.7    All current members were willing to continue their roles in the panel and this was agreed by attendees of the meeting and the ward members. The attendees at the meeting were offered the opportunity to join the panel.

5.8    The members of the Planning panel are Roger Jennings(Clerk), Peter Robinson, Ann Grey, Ian Thomlinson, Val Plitt.

Discuss the proposed schemes for next year’s ward committee budget. This is your chance to tell people about your scheme and get more information on schemes you may support.

6.      The 2012-13 Scheme proposals were discussed the following was raised regarding the schemes.

6.1    Scheme 2, the board if it should get funding will mach others already present.

6.2    Scheme 3, the path at Chapmans Pond will improve accessibility and usability of the area.

6.3    Scheme 5, will include consultation with residents of Pullyen Drive.

6.4    Scheme 8 was highlighted as Sustrans are a national charity and is it suitable to be awarding funds to it.

6.5    Scheme 15 was questioned as the rangers haven’t been functioning in the ward this year, are they needed?

6.6    Scheme 24 Funds for the gifted was mentioned as a very well used project in the ward.

6.7    Scheme 26, The proposed location for the youth cafe is 3 Little Stonegate.

6.8    Scheme 27, Cllr Reid declared an interest as a governor for Woodthorpe Primary School.

6.9    Scheme 29 with a history of Anti-social behaviour in the Nevis Way/Etive Place location it wasn’t deemed suitable for play equipment.

6.10  Scheme 36 the Knavesmire Wood is a significant wood for the city and following the success of the tyburn information board, another board at the wood, would be equally useful.

6.11 Scheme 37 Hamilton Panthers are applying for funding as the team have many players in Dringhouses and Woodthorpe. 3600 people have benefitted from joining the club through its history and the development of a community facility would benefit many more.

Your chance to ask questions about local issues and concerns.

7.      Have Your Say. Attendees of the meeting were offered the opportunity to raise issue regarding their neighbourhood.

Q -    Has there been any progress with the Terry’s site, as it is becoming an eyesore?

A -     The site is owned by developers and they are progressing the build although it does seem to have slowed, possibly due to the economic climate.

Q -    Has progress been made with the renovation of the Woodthorpe shops canopy?

A -     The owners have agreed to the work and Suzanne Prance is working closely with them. Any updates will come to the ward committee and be available at the next meeting.

Q -    Who owns the area behind the garages at Woodthorpe Shops?

A -     This has been a long running debate and the enquiries will continue to find out.