Agenda and minutes

The drop-in surgery gives you the opportunity to talk with your Councillors, Street Environment Officer, Safer Neighbourhood Police Team, Neighbourhood Management Officer and Visiting speakers in a informal setting.

Plus test your braking reaction with North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue!

During the drop-in surgery residents had the opportunity to speak to councillors, the Safer Neighbourhood Team, the Street Environment Officer, Neighbourhood Management Officers, and visiting speakers.

Cllr Moore welcomed residents to the meeting and the minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed.

The Safer Neighbourhood Team will give an update on policing in the area and answer any questions you have.

PC Ian Richardson introduced himself and PCSO Michael Holden.

Since October 2010 levels of theft have been constant, however, this is mainly due to shoplifting in Clifton Moor Retail Park. Burglary was up by 7% but this is only after several years of reported figures going down. Reports of anti-social behaviour were down by 35%.

Ian also spoke about the changes that are to take place from 21 March 2011.  He said he would be moving to another area but that the PCSOs would remain largely the same. The members, and residents at the meeting, thanked him for all his help during his time in the ward.

Alan Bell, Station Manager, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue will give  information about keeping safe and how to reduce the risk of fires.

Alan Bell, Fire Station Manager, and his colleague James Titchener,  Community Safety Officer, gave a presentation on keeping safe and what the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service could do for residents.

They spoke about their free home risk survey and providing free smoke detectors, which have a ten-year battery and are ‘toast-proof’ which means they don’t go off if you burn the toast! There were leaflets available that could be posted to the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service who would then contact the resident to make an appointment. They would then visit to do the survey which would normally take between thirty minutes and an hour.

Residents asked questions about whether they had referrals from other agencies, for example district nurses. James confirmed that they do get referrals from Social Services and other agencies. They were also asked if you need to switch off all your plugs at night. James said it was best to switch off all electrical equipment at the wall. It was safer not to leave televisions or other equipment on standby or to leaving washing machines on. It is also better to unplug mobile chargers as they can get very hot.

Richard Wood, Assistant Director for Strategic Planning and Transport, will talk about the development of York’s Local Transport Plan.

Richard Wood, Assistant Director for Strategic Planning and Transport, gave a presentation about the development of York’s Local Transport Plan. In response to residents’ questions he also spoke about York’s additional Park and Ride schemes. They aim to reduce congestion in the city. There are 45 schemes nationally competing for government finance but York is still in the running and he is 110% behind it. The Government’s decision will be made in December 2011.

The residents asked several questions:

Whether there was a ‘Plan B’. Richard replied that plan b would involve smaller changes at a reduced cost.

How would the A19 alterations improve the roads? Richard replied that the general idea of the A19 alterations was to improve the queues and to get the traffic moving more quickly.

Was air control still going on in Gillygate? Richard replied that there was monitoring and that Gillygate is still a low emission zone.

Does the A59 still have the most traffic coming into York? What monitoring systems are in place after the schemes have been implemented? Richard said he would find out about the A59, when a scheme is in place a safety audit is completed and a broader review is taken one year after completion.

What happened to the proposed train line scheme where smaller stations are brought back into use? The scheme is still a proposal, however it is very complex as it would involve additional traffic on already busy train lines.

Residents raised concerns regarding cyclists on the ring road and how dangerous it was. They said there are not enough bus routes so they had to cycle to their places of work. Richard commented that there was a circular cycle lane system but that it is closer to the city centre. He understood that residents could cycle into the city and then out on a different route but that wasn’t entirely satisfactory and he would take the concerns away with him.

A resident commented that the cost of the Park and Ride was too high if it were lower more people would use it instead of taking their cars into the city. Richard said that, on some of the bus routes, the pricing wasn’t entirely up to the City of York Council but the responsibility of the bus company.

The local Improvement Schemes for April2011 to March 2012 will be discussed and agreed at this meeting.

A general discussion took place about the provisional list of Local Improvement schemes 2011/2012 published in the Jan 2011 edition of Your Ward. The list of schemes approved for funding in 2011/12, subject to the schemes being legal, feasible and within budget is:

Your chance to ask questions about local issues and concerns.

No comments were made and the meeting closed at 8.55pm.