Minutes

Proposed venue: All Saints Upper School, Mill Mount Lane

Items
No. Item

1.

Ward Committee Drop-in Surgery

Minutes:

A drop-in surgery took place prior to the main meeting. Residents were able to:

 

1.      Speak to their local councillors: Julie Gunnell, Dave Merrett and Sandy Fraser.

2.      Report any street environmental concerns to John Wood, Clair Bailey and Ben Hyde.

3.      Find out about policing priorities in the ward and discuss any community safety concerns with Inspector Mark Khan.

4.      Speak to Vicky Fuggles and find out about services on offer for young people in the ward.

5.      Claim a free Bokashi Kitchen Waste Composter and, or, collect a free Jute Bag or Energy Efficient lightbulbs.

6.      Get composting advice and information on recycling.

7.      Give their views on whether York should be considered as a World Heritage Site.

8.      Find out about grants available from the York Home Improvement Agency and York Energy Efficiency Advice Trust.

2.

Welcome and Minutes

Minutes:

Welcome and Minutes

 

Cllr Julie Gunnell opened the meeting and the minutes of the October 2007 meeting were agreed.

 

Extra Item

Pauline Buchanan informed the meeting that the St Clements Hall Preservation Trust was about to apply for a grant of £1 million from the Community Assets Fund. If successful this will enable work to progress to bring St Clements Hall into community use. The assessors will make a

3.

Safer Neighbourhood Team

Minutes:

Inspector Mark Khan gave an outline of the work of the Safer Neighbourhood Team in Micklegate Ward.

Unfortunately, both Sgt Brannan and PC Wright are leaving the Safer Neighbourhood Team. PC Karl May will be starting on 16th February. 

 

Safer Neighbourhood Team priorities for Micklegate Ward

After discussion with residents and the Ward Planning Team, three priorities for the ward have been decided upon:

I.          Anti-Social Behaviour 

PCSOs are working with Youth Services to address some problems associated with a few young people in the ward. York Races still present an ASB problem, particularly in the South Bank area of the ward.The police are working productively with the Race Committee and new Policing Plan has been submitted that will ensure a more visible police presence on race days from 15th May 2008.

II.         Drugs

This is not considered a major problem in the area, as it is mainly confined to the city centre.

III.                Burglary

There was a spate of burglaries just before Christmas, with twenty-two incidents recorded in the ward.  Alleygates should be in place in March / April this year.

 

Questions

Q - Can anything be done about speeding traffic on Bishopthorpe Road?

A – This has been asked before and the problem is being investigated.

 

Q – Disruption in relation to York Races, particularly urinating in the street, occurs well after 6pm, when the police presence has gone.  How can this be addressed?

A – Officers will be on duty until 10pm.

 

Q – The traffic bollards on South Bank Avenue are being regularly broken by youths.  What can be done about this?

A – The area will be patrolled.

 

Dave Merrett reported that councillors are looking for agreement with Race authorities on certain issues, as the lease is due for renewal.  There has been discussion about the provision of Portaloos to solve the problem of urinating in the streets.  The question of how people are getting so drunk has been posed and there may be a particular problem with the hospitality tents. All licensees should not serve people obviously drunk, and discussions with the racecourse and licensees in the area were underway.

4.

Tackling Climate Change - Kristina Peat, CYC Sustainability Officer

Minutes:

Kristina Peat- Sustainability Officer informed the meeting that the council has set a target of 25% reduction in carbon emissions by 2013, and is looking at the design and construction of new developments using government codes.

 

Global Warming is a natural phenomenon but we are accelerating it by adding carbon and methane to the atmosphere.  It is likely that unusual weather events are occurring because of this. Thirty per cent of carbon emissions in the UK are due to households so it is important that individuals look at their own behaviour and how it can be altered to reduce our impact on global warming.

 

The concept of Earth Share was outlined as the surface area of the earth, energy and resources, divided by the population.  We in the Western world are using more of the world’s resources per capita, thus we are using more than our Earth Share.

 

A volunteer came forward to have her Carbon/Ecological Footprint assessed by examining her behaviour regarding food consumption, travel behaviour, home specifications (e.g. insulation, double glazing, low energy light bulbs, boiler efficiency etc.) and consumption behaviour

 

Laura Collins from York Energy Efficiency Trust, informed the meeting that grants were available to a large section of the population for home improvements that lead to a reduction of carbon emissions from homes. Insulation is the most effective way of reducing these.

5.

Election of Planning Panel Members

Minutes:

Kristina Davey introduced the election by describing what the Planning Panel does, and on behalf of Micklegate Ward Committee, thanked Andy Chase and all the other past members for their contribution to planning decisions in the ward.

A request was made for any further nominations from the floor and then nominations were read out to the meeting and agreed.

 

ACTION: Andy Chase, Keith Chapman, John Gawthorpe, Steve Woods, Stephen Young, Bob Fletcher, Richard Troughear, Shelagh Edmonds, Margaret Bunce and Monica Nelson were elected on to Micklegate Planning Panel. Andy Chase agreed to convene their first meeting whereby they would select a Planning Panel Clerk.

6.

2008/09 Ward Committee Budget

Minutes:

Cllr Gunnell asked residents to refer to the provisional list of local improvement schemes for funding detailed in Your Ward. She explained that the ward committee had considered schemes on the basis of the voting priorities by residents and the Micklegate Ward Committee Neighbourhood Action Plan (NAP) Ambition Statements. Residents were asked to comment on the list before members of the ward committee could agree on a final list of schemes to ratify at the meeting.

 

Q – Pauline Buchanan asked why the grant application for training for members of St Clements Preservation Trust not been selected as it would fit under 3 of the 4 NAP Ambitions Statements

 

A - Cllr Gunnell informed the meeting that this scheme did not receive a high number of votes but should extra funding become available later in the financial year, this scheme may be considered.

 

Q - A resident asked why scheme MK-08-10 had £5,000 allocated to it as the scheme was only to consider ways of improving the area opposite Sainsbury’s on Bishopthorpe Road.

 

A – Cllr Merrett explained that there are a number of possible elements to a project such as this. It will require partnership working to bring funding in from other streams. This is a project that will need to be worked up and costed over the coming months. Kristina Davey added that the funding would be split between capital and revenue expenditure.

 

AGREED: the provisional list of local improvement schemes published in Your Ward to be formally ratified by Micklegate Ward Committee. Schemes will be commissioned over the coming months and are subject to feasibility, budget availability and legality. Micklegate Ward Committee will fund the following list in 2008/09:

 

 

Ambition 1: Increased recycling

Ref

Problem / Issue

Cost

MK-08-02

Investigate the possibility of installing recycling banks for plastic and cardboard at Bishopthorpe Road car park

£2000

MK-08-03

Recycling bank for plastic bottles and cans in the Bishophill area

£2000

MK-08-04

Provide 10 doorstep collections of garden waste, including January Xmas tree collection, using bio-degradable bags

£3000

Ambition 2: An enhanced environment

Ref

Problem / Issue

Cost

MK-08-07

Plant 2000 daffodil bulbs on the city walls along Bishopgate Street

£280

MK-08-08

Plant 500 daffodil bulbs around the base of trees along Bishopthorpe Road

£70

MK-08-09

Improve cycle parking facilities at Bishopthorpe Road car park

£1000

MK-08-10

Fund to consider ways of improving the visual appearance of the bench area opposite Sainsbury’s outside the car park

£5000

Ambition 3: Young people & community life

Ref

Problem / Issue

Cost

MK-08-19

Fund to pay for youth work and activities throughout the year in the ward

£5000

MK-08-20

Grant to Street Sport York to provide multi-sport and skateboarding activities throughout the ward during school holidays

£2000

MK-08-24

Grant to Club SC Southlands to enable them to continue to provide youth club facilities for two evenings per week

£2000

MK-08-27

Grant to Age Concern to fund a Community Outreach Support worker to support older residents identified as lonely or isolated

£4,732

MK-08-28

Grant  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Have Your Say

Minutes:

Cllr Gunnell invited residents to raise any other issues:

 

Q – who is responsible for the bus stops including timetabling, disused bus stops, incorrect information and superfluous electronic displays?

A - Cllr Merrett explained that at the Traffic Congestion Scrutiny Committee reported that 12 months ago a survey suggested that 40% of timetabled journeys on the signed routes with displays were either being run with the wrong buses (i.e. without transponders) or the drivers were forgetting to use the electronic system so the correct real time information does not appear on the displays. Regarding timetables and up to date information at bus stops, the council only covers the city centre and the bus companies are responsible in the outer areas of the city. He said that the issues had been raised on numerous occasions and there had been some recent improvements on the real time display issue.

 

Q – A number of residents complained that they did not receive the councils’ budget questionnaire.

A – Cllr Gunnell asked residents to note this on the feedback forms available.

ACTION: Kristina Davey to pass this information on to the relevant CYC department.

 

Cllrs Merrett and Fraser had two final issues to comment upon:

 

Terry’s Development Update

Cllr Merrett informed the meeting that the planning application is delayed due to the concerns of CYC planning officers with some elements of the application. The council is pressing GHT Development for changes in the Traffic Management Plan as it appears that, even with the inclusion of traffic lights at most junctions in the area, other junctions simply will not cope with projected traffic numbers. There is either too much development for the area, or other methods of coping with the traffic load will have to be considered. For instance, GHT Development has not included additional bus services or other non-car transport options. Work is ongoing to hold a special ward committee meeting in the community to discuss the traffic issues, particularly at the junction of Scarcroft Road and Bishopthorpe Road. An independent traffic advisor may be brought in to inform the discussion, as council officers would be in an awkward position to comment on the application prior to the committee meeting. The meeting would create the opportunity for local residents to gain a proper understanding of the traffic implications and to make their comments.

 

CCTV at Bishopthorpe Road / Scarcroft Road Junction

Cllr Fraser informed the meeting that discussions are taking place regarding the installation of CCTV on the triangle of ground at the junction of Bishopthorpe Road and Scarcroft Road. Local traders in the area heavily support this scheme and it is hoped that CCTV could be in place later this year. The ward committee would want this to compliment other elements of the local improvement scheme approved for this area.

 

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