Agenda item

At this point in the meeting, any member of the public who has registered to address the Council, or to ask a Member of the Council a question, on a matter directly relevant to the business of the Council or the City, may do so.  The deadline for registering is 5:00pm on Wednesday 16 July 2014.

To register to speak please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting, on the details at the foot of the agenda.

WEBCASTING NOTICE

Please note: this meeting may be filmed for live or subsequent broadcast via the internet - at the start of the meeting the Deputy Lord Mayor will confirm if all or part of the meeting is being filmed.

You should be aware that the Council is a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act. Data collected during this webcast will be retained in accordance with the Council’s published policy.

Public seating areas will not be filmed by the Council.

The Lord Mayor announced that twelve members of the public had registered to speak at the meeting. She confirmed that, in view of the number of petitions to be presented and the large agenda, she had used her discretion to allow two additional speakers at the meeting.

Tobie Abel spoke in support of a petition, to be presented later in the evening by Cllr Reid, from residents of Newborough Street asking the Council to consider making the street a Resident’s Parking zone. He referred to the difficulties resident’s of Newborough Street encountered from visitors, to the adjacent York Hospital and Bootham Crescent Football Ground, parking outside their homes. He asked Members to support their request.

Tony Fisher, spoke in support of a petition to be presented by Cllr Runciman, later in the meeting, relating to the allocation of land to the east of Strensall Road, Earswick in the draft Local Plan. He referred to the proposed scale of the development and to its effect on the village’s infrastructure and asked, on behalf of residents, for the site to be removed from the Local Plan.

John Williams, also spoke in support of a petition to be presented later in the meeting by Cllr Doughty, on behalf of Earswick residents, also opposed to plans to build houses on the Strensall Road site in Earswick. He reiterated the effects this scale of development would have on local roads and services pointing out that the sites addition to the Plan was contrary to local resident’s wishes. Residents felt that resources should be targeted at brown field sites.

Gwen Swinburn spoke in respect of a recent Internal Audit Report on democratic governance considered by the Audit and Governance Committee. She highlighted that consideration had been given to a cover report rather than the full document and asked if future reports could be considered in full by the Committee, in the interests of transparency.

Peter Richardson, also spoke in relation to the Local Plan and proposals for housing developments in Haxby and Elvington. He pointed out that local infrastructure could not support large housing developments, particularly the drainage system and the outer ring road. He also asked if the fines imposed during the Lendal Bridge trial could be refunded from monies no longer paid by the authority to the North Yorkshire Police.

Geoff Beacon also spoke in relation to housing development, particularly to support the Council in building on green belt land in an effort to reduce house prices. He asked Members to consider the use of Walter Segal construction methods to build lightweight housing or designs based on properties available in holiday villages resulting in large savings in construction costs.

Barrie Stephenson spoke in support of Restore (York) Ltd and Cllr Lookers’ motion, to be considered later in the meeting, regarding the provision of safe homes for vulnerable people. He explained that Restore provided properties in the York area, gave help and professional support to vulnerable people and provided volunteers who sought to prevent rough sleeping. He referred to the uncertainty for these people following changes in funding arrangements and asked Members to support the motion in order to resolve the delays in payment.

Richard Lane spoke on behalf of York and Ryedale Friends of the Earth in support of the petition to be presented and debated for a Frack Free York. He referred to the experiences of fracking in America and to subsequent environmental impacts. He asked the Council to protect the city and take action, similar to Preston and other UK cities in declaring the city Frack Free.

Sue Lister, spoke on behalf of York Green Peace and as a member of Frack Free York, also in support of the petition to be debated on fracking. She highlighted her support for not putting all the countries energy into green renewable options and to her concerns at the increase in greenhouse gas emissions and unpredictable climate changes and she asked Members to support a greener future to safeguard the city.

Christopher Rainger, spoke as a Fellow of the Institute of Civil Engineers, also in support of the Frack Free York petition. He referred to the difficulties involved in predicting ground conditions and settlement of land when considering fracking or similar works. He asked Members to think carefully before granting permission for drilling works in the authority’s areas.

Kate Lock, spoke as Chair of the York Environment Forum, also in support of the petition for a Frack Free York. She confirmed that the Forum had also submitted their own statement to the authority expressing their concerns over any application for fracking in the city. She highlighted their concerns in relation to the volume of fresh water required in the process and the lowering of property prices but not the lowering of energy prices for residents. She also referred to the lack of long term employment, damage to properties and lack of consistency with the Council’s Local Plan.

John Cossham, spoke as the organiser of the Frack Free York petition, referring to the 1,200 signatures on the paper copy with a further 750 signatures on the online version from both residents and tourists who did not want to see fracking take place in the historic city of York. He pointed to the presumption for sustainable development in the Local Plan and to the contamination of land and water supplies caused by fracking. He asked Members to consider the principle of proving that fracking for shale gas was safe prior to allowing works in the city and supporting the decision to make the city frack free.