Planning applications in York set for approval Holiday apartments, Padel courts and a site compound.

Several planning applications in York are set to be approved by the Planning committee thsi week. They include

Vue Cinema, Stirling Road York

Rge application is to use a of section of car park to construct 5. padel courts and erection of cabin accommodation with associated landscaping and boundary treatment

Padel is a comparatively new sport incorporating elements of lawn tennis but with the physical intensity of squash. The sport can be played indoors or outdoors with courts intermediate between squash and tennis courts in size. It became very popular with younger players after the COVID pandemic as it could be played outside with minimal physical contact. There are no current formal facilities for the sport in York although other courts besides those within the current proposal are projected

There have been no objections to the proposal.

Officials recommend approval of the plan and say “

“The proposal seeks permission to develop an area of car parking for a sports use in an area characterised by a mix of employment, retail and leisure related uses. The proposal is therefore considered in principle to be acceptable. In highways terms adequate vehicle parking can be provided for the site and subject to any permission being appropriately conditioned to secure cycle parking of an appropriate standard then the proposal is acceptable in highway terms”.

Club Salvation, George Hudson Street

The proposal is to construction of new storey and roof level at 23 Tanner Row, conversion of upper floors of 23, 25 Tanner Row and 27, 29 and 31 George Hudson Street to create 17. serviced apartments (use class C1), conversion of ground floor and basement of 31 George Hudson Street to amenity space for serviced apartments above (use class C1)

Officials conclude that ” The proposed extension and change of use will not harm the character and appearance of the conservation area or the special interest of the listed buildings”

They go on to say, “The serviced apartments are acceptable in principle in this city centre location;
the partial loss of the existing night club use is contrary to policy D3 of the DLP but on balance considering the applicant’s submissions, the retention of a smaller night club is considered acceptable.

Subject to planning conditions noise and air quality impacts on the serviced apartments are acceptable and the serviced apartments should not adversely impact on the functioning of the retained night club.

On balance the proposal complies with the policies of the National Planning Policy Framework and the policies of the Draft Local Plan 2018″.

Land Bounding St Pauls Mews And Watson Street York

Change of use of part of recreational space to contractors compound for a period of 1 year

Officials are recommending approval.

They say, “the proposal seeks planning permission for the temporary use of a section of the area of informal open space known as Holgate Dock as a construction site compound for the works for St Paul’s Nursery for a period of up to one year. The nursery site does not have sufficient space which is accessible by large commercial vehicles to accommodate a contractor’s compound. On balance the temporary loss of part of the open space land is acceptable subject to any permission being conditioned to secure compliance with the measures contained in the submitted arboricultural method statement, replacement planting and site restoration.

Bus shelter advertising – Policy change paper published

Following yesterdays decision to pull back from allocating a major advertisng ocntract, without going through a competitive tender process, the York Council has now said how it intends to proceed.

A report (click) claims that a full procurement exercise is needed because the value of the contract is likely to exceed a £5 million threshold. Competive tenders must therefore be sought .

This, however, means that the new contract cannot now be introduced until January 2026.

Council report 9th May 2024. click to view

It also means that planned additional income of £500,000 will not be received in the short term, putting further pressure on the Councils budget.

The report fails to respond to other criticisms of the original strategy.

The new contract, when it is agreed, is likely to be based on a profit share arrangement with the Council proportionately benefiting from advertising sales.

It will thus be under pressure to approve the installation of digital advertising boards in sensitive locations.

This is a particular problem in an historic City. Only recently the Council turned down similar plans from BT who wanted to install boards at some of their kiosk sites. There is a potential clash of interest between the Authorty as a adverting revenue recipient, and in its role as a Planning Authority

..and the odd plan to ban KitKat adverting from kiosks has not gone away. Labour Councillors still apparently want to apply a restrictive foodstuffs advertisng policy to any new contract..

The Council is being recommended today to extend the exisiting Decaux contract until December 2025.

The authority has already been labelled as “finacilly illiterate”

This latest blunder will do little to improve that reputation.

Earlier 8th May 2024

York Council backtracks on unlawful bus shelter contract

The Council has abandoned its plan to hand out a new bus shelter advertising contract without seeking competitive tenders.

It had favoured a “behind closed doors” deal with the existing Decaux provider who it had claimed would pay a bung into Labours “Community Fund”

Procurement regulations, however, require that an open tendering process be followed. This happened when Decaux took over the contract from the previous providers Adshel several years ago.

The Labour plan – which had included a ban on chocolate advertising in the shelters – had been called in for further consideration by LibDem opposition Councillors. However, before any debate about the merits of the plan could begin, Council officials capitulated and withdrew the proposal.

It is understood that a full competitive procurement process will now be implemented in accordance with the Councils financial regulations.

The costs and other consequences of the false start have yet to be revealed although a report to an Executive meeting taking place on Thursday is promised

Earlier 11th April 2023

York Council to deploy digital marketing screens in both bus shelters and on free-standing street boards

The Council is to give JC Decaux a 15-year contract for digital advertising in the City.

The company is the current provider of advertising bus shelters some of which will be converted to incorporate electronic boards. JCDecaux UK are not the only provider of bus shelters, but they own 142 bus shelters (of which 80 include paper advertising).

No competitive tenders for the contract have been sought by the Council.

Previous Councils have been cautious about rolling out intrusive digital advertising screens because of their potential impact on the historic environment and neighbour amenity.

It appears that the authority has been seduced by promises of over £100,000 in advertising revenue, a new propaganda platform for their “communications messages” plus donations from the contractor to Labour’s new  “Community Fund”. The company will also facilitate “tree-planting and community-led biodiversity activities”.

Some of the shelters may incorporate air quality monitoring equipment and footfall meters.

What shelter users will not see are chocolate bar, burger, cola and junk food adverts.

All “high fat, salt and sugar” product adverts will be banned – because the Council doesn’t want residents to get fat.

There is a long list of banned goods and services  (click) on the Council list although the ban does not extend to political adverts

There have been major problems with the maintenance of Decaux bus shelters in parts of the City over the last couple of years.

Damage has gone unrepaired for months on end.  Some have become gathering grounds for criminals.

The new contract says that seats will be provided in every shelter.  They need to get the anti social behaviour sorted out first.

The new contract will say that all items shall be cleaned at least once a fortnight throughout the year – including sides and clear roofs; graffiti and fly posters shall be removed within one working day of JC Decaux UK becoming aware or being notified; offensive graffiti shall be removed within four (4) Normal Working Hours of the JC Decaux UK becoming aware or being notified; routine repairs shall be carried out within two working days of the JC Decaux becoming aware or being notified of the fault; & “Brandsabotage/Brandalism” – on notification the JC Decaux shall replace within a day

NB. There is a further Council advertising contract held by “Community Partnerships”. There have been no reports on the success or otherwise of their stewardship although it is understood it includes the adverts seen on roundabouts and central reservations (which are rapidly disappearing into the undergrowth as the Council’s “no mow” policy takes effect) .

Council must rewrite Local Plan traveller site section

The planning inspectors have now published their conclusions on the Councils policies on Gypsy and Traveller accomodation They a re heavilly critical of the sttae of repair of the sites in general and Osbaldwick (see photo below) in particular..

The adoption of the Local Plan is now further delayed while the Council finds a form of words which addesses the Inspectors concerns.

The Inspectors are content for additional pitches to be provided at the Clifton and Obsbaldwick sites but only after a Masterplan for both has been approved.

The Inspectors conclusions can be viewed via this link

It is unclear how much further delay will be involved or what the implications will be for the rest of the, hugely expensive, Local Plan which has been many years in the making

Extract from Inspectors report

Earlier 6th May 2024

York Council confirms that it will spend £5 million on campsites

A report to a meeting taking place later this week says that the Council will spend £5 million upgrading and extending Traveller caravan sites in York.

The report also takes a broader look at the needs and challenges of the Traveller community. It identifies continuing problems with access to health and education services. This will be awkward for those who were charged with making improvements when the last strategy document was agreed some 10 years ago.

It seems that little progress has been made.

An annex to the report provides more information about the 86 caravans currently parked on authorised sites in the City.

City of York Council owns and runs three main Traveller sites throughout the City:

• Water Lane, Clifton
• Outgang Lane, Osbaldwick
• James Street, York

In addition, a small number of Travellers are living on a non CYC site in the Naburn area

Site residents pay rent, council and utility charges.

In total, there are 61 individual pitches; most are big enough for 2 caravans and 1 or 2 vehicles. Each pitch has its own service block which includes a kitchen area and bathroom. There are “regular visits from support workers who manage the site and provide help when required”.

An unknown number- yet considered the majority- live in “bricks and mortar” housing throughout the city. In York, approximately 368 residents identified as Gypsy or Traveller in the Census 2021.

Officials claim that “York’s high cost of living causes significant stress for the communities with many on low incomes struggling to afford the basics”.

As usual the elephant in the room is the relationship between the Travellers and neighbouring communities. Differing lifestyles produce tensions and there is little evidence that the Council has addressed these issues effectively over recent years.

Indeed the feeling is that conflicts are often brushed under the carpet..

None more so than on the issue of unauthorised road side campsites (There is a longstanding one on the  A166 )

The report does say that the Council is,

“Looking to identify a parcel of that land might be used for Negotiated Stopping arrangements”  

The Council will also have a“regular and supportive presence on the static sites, taking an educational approach to ensure people are aware of their responsibilities for issues such as waste management, fly-tipping, Scrap Metal Dealing and dogs, while at the same ensuring people are aware of the penalties for non-compliance”.

It will come as a surprise to many residents if this hasn’t happened in the past.

York Labour set to ditch another homeless persons contractor.

Comes in the wake of the Salvation Army controversy

Only 6 months after ditching its deal with the Salvation Army to look after people found sleeping rough in the City, the Council is set to terminate its contract with the charity (The Cyrenians) which runs homeless accommodation in the city

Th service provides emergency/temporary accommodation and support, using residential placements, for everyone who is homeless over the age of 16. The service supports people to develop the skills to live independently and prevent homelessness.

The Councils existing external contract was commissioned on 1st February 2017 from The Cyrenians Ltd. (trading as  “Changing Lives”) to reduce homelessness. The Contract will expire on 31st July 2024 (the term having previously been extended beyond the original expiry date of 31st January 2022 by a further 2.5 years).

The current annual cost is £1,098,375.

The scope of this contract covers: –

• 24/7 hostel provision at Union Terrace (39 male units)
• 24/7 hostel provision at Robinson Court (14 female units and 4 young people’s units)
• floating tenancy support to shared housing and people living in the community (74 units across 14 houses, including Scarcroft Rd, and 12 training flats).
• Making Every Adult Matter services (“MEAM”) which provide intensive support and multi-agency coordination to up to 28 adults with complex needs.
• Mental Health Housing First service (“MHHF”) which supports up to 21 individuals with a long history of mental ill health and challenging lives to live independently.

This is also supplemented by charitable provision by Restore who provide a further 41 beds of uncontracted, shared accommodation in 10 properties, at zero cost to the council. The service provided has proven highly effective at supporting individuals and getting them to the point where they can move on into self-contained accommodation.

Now the Council wants to end the contract and – rather like the Salvation Army issue -bring the service “in-house”. This wish appears to be based on political dogma rather than any attempt to put the homeless first.

The Council claims that this can be done at zero additional cost.

Anyone who has been through this kind of exercise will doubt that. There will also be major concerns about any break in provision between the time that the contract expires and the launch of a new service. Senior management at West Offices cutbacks mean that there is limited experience and capacity to call on.

While those currently working for The Cyrenians will be entitled to transfer to new Council posts under TUPE arrangements, there is no guarantee that they will want to do so.

The Council has multiple job vacancies for care workers and there are reports that experienced staff across the authority are considering leaving in the wake of the turmoil caused by cuts being imposed by the Labour administration.

There is a very real danger that this will go badly wrong and that the victims will be vulnerable homeless people.

They deserve better.  

Unlawful activities dog York Council

Flags to complaints about Councillor behaviour, tie up valuable resources

Update 26th April 2024

The second complaint against the Councillor (see below) has been upheld. A secret panel has ordered that the representative be “censured”. He will also be prevented from contacting officials in a Council department.

The issue arose following an interchange of Emails about the flag-flying protocol (see below). The Councillor had been (rightly) concerned about the transparency of the process used for approving the flying of campaign banners (instead of the City flag).

It subsequently turned out that flying non-traditional flags was unlawful without planning permission.

Whether disciplinary action will be taken against members and officials who turned a blind eye to the legal requirements remains to be seen.

Earlier A York Councillor has been found guilty of berating an official.

The dispute arose over a claim about “cowboy builders”..

Now he is being asked to undertake “equalities training” following a hearing, which was held “behind closed doors” . The meeting was chaired by a Labour Councillor. The same Councillor has executive responsibility for – you guessed – “equalities”. So no chance of a balanced view from there then!

In addition the Councillor had been complaining about an unlawful campsite which has been established in a layby on the east of the City. Rather than take enforcement action  to remove the caravans- or alternatively to regularise the camp – the Council and authorities decide to turn a blind eye. They seem to work on the basis that if you never make a decision then you will never be wrong.

In the case of the campsite the local Councillor became frustrated over 4 year period with the lack of response.

Of course, the fundamental issue,. lack of good quality traveller sites in and around York, remains unresolved. Officials claim that it is bogged down by the ongoing Local Plan Public Inquiry.  In reality, the Council has failed to broker an understanding between permanent residents and the traveller community. Successive Councils have run scared of the issue. They now hope that it will simply go away.

The issue is taking up a lot of officials and Councillors time. Time is money. In this case the resources would be better directed towards improving public service standards in the City.

Further “code of conduct” standards cases are understood to be in the pipeline including one on the “flag flying protocol” (See beow) .

The standards process should be streamlined. No time should be spent on complaints tabled by Councillors or officials. Any such issues should be moderated informally.

But that won’t resolve the problems of a dysfunctional Council which is incapable of dealing transparently with problems.

There are similar issues on the other side of the City, where a residents association raised, in 2021, concerns about anti social behaviour in the neighbourhood.

Following complaints the Police did have a higher profile for a time, although this gradually declined.

Crime numbers were lower during the winter. They’re increasing again now that spring has arrived.

Residents reached an impasse with the York Council – and its agents – about 6 months ago on a way forward. A raft of proposals had been tabled.

These included providing a CCTV surveilance camera, improved security on snickets (which were used as escape routes by criminals), diversionary activities for teenagers (including the provision of a replacement Multi User Games area which had been in the pipeline for 4 years), better lighting and cutting back undergrowth to make passageways less intimidating plus a refined tenancy allocation system coupled with the strict enforcement of tenancy conditions.

 It was hoped that the nascent Safer York Partnership would take more of an interest in the suburbs and that agencies like the youth justice system would start to have more success.

A continued high police profile was also required to provide reassurance for local residents.

The only positive changes were that better use was made of social media (community messaging) to warn residents of possible issues and – no doubt in preparation for the upcoming Mayoral elections – the crime commissioner offered a limited number of free “ring” video doorbells (but neglected to pay for the license which would allow the recorded footage to be retained)

There has been little, if any, recent action by local Councillors to address escalating crime levels. Obviously, they are in no danger of offending any officials

On the topic of wasted resources, the decision by the Council to apply for planning permission to fly non traditional flags on the Mansion House is a classic case.

Since 2011 the Council has been flying an erratic collection of national flags and political banners from the mansion’s house roof. It turns out that they did so unlawfully. They were in breach of planning laws.

In theory, all the Groups present on the Council have to agree that a campaign flag can be flown. In reality, this doesn’t seem to happen and certainly not in a transparent way. One of the pipeline Councillor code breach claims, may originate from a secret decision not to fly a regimental flag on a commemorative day.

Local campaigner Gwen Swinburn has tabled an objection to the planning application. Although we don’t agree with her on all  issues, she is right on the money when she says,” The flag pole on the Mansion House should not be used as a political pawn”.

Better to go back to the old system, where the only flag permitted to be flown over the Mansion House was the City Flag. This, a version of  the St Georges Cross, was taken to encompass  all residents views in a multi-cultural City.

While it is the political left who have been trying to seize the flag pole in past years, they should beware of the precedent that they may set.

 At some point, a more right-wing administration will take its turn in power. What flag they chose to fly may spark even more controversy.

£750,000 funding secured to “extend and improve” Acomb Explore Library.

Big let down for Acomb residents who were promised much more

According to the Council, £250,000 has been secured to add to the Council’s committed £500,000 capital investment to extend and redevelop Acomb Explore Library.

“The additional £250k is the result of a successful application to the Arts Council’s Libraries Improvement Fund.

It will support significant upgrades to the popular library learning centre in Acomb to ensure it continues to be an important asset to the people of Acomb.

This building project will help to boost access to the library learning centre’s many valued and important services, and will maximise longer-term opportunities for Explore to generate income.

In partnership with Explore, the whole library will be fully refurbished and extended. Following a consultation with the local community back in March 2023, the following improvements will be made:

• a larger children’s library to extend the cultural offer for families and children
• enlarging the café area for more people to sit, meet and relax while enjoying a drink or a slice of cake
• quiet spaces for anyone who need to work or study
• improved toilets including an extra accessible toilet to add to the existing Changing Places facility
• improving meeting rooms and an IT suite to support adult learning in literacy and IT to help get more adults online.
• an area for community outdoor events
• moveable shelving to allow for performances spaces to build on high quality shows already staged at Acomb Explore.

“Full details will be brought to the Council’s Executive for approval later this year”.

Jenny Layfield, Chief Executive of York Explore, said: 

It is great news that City of York Council has been successful in its bid for Libraries Improvement Funding (LIF) which will enable further capital improvements to the Acomb Explore Library. LIF’s support underlines Explore’s track record in developing York’s library services so successfully over many years.

“We have now entered a period of formal confidential contract negotiations with City of York Council over the delivery of library services across York and are therefore not able to comment further at this time.”

Derelict land to rear of the library which was to have been part of an expansion site

NB. The budget of £3/4 million is still substantially less than the £2 million which was allocated by the Council to the project 3 years ago.

That funding was gradually whittled down by the Council which chose to invest in facilities located on the east of the City.

The original scheme, developed as long as 15 years ago, involved extending the library into a “one stop shop” providing access to a range of public and voluntary sector resources.

Land to the rear of the library car park (right) was purchased in order to facilitate the project but it thas remained derelict and unused during the intevening 15 year period.

Huntington School becomes first in York to receive Silver Healthy Schools Award

Huntington School has become the first in the city to be awarded a coveted Silver Healthy Schools’ Award.

The award is part of the Healthy Schools Programme, launched by City of York Council and North Yorkshire Council in partnership last year. 

The programme aims to encourage state-funded schools across the county to work towards improving the health and wellbeing of pupils through a ‘whole school approach’. It covers four key themes: personal, social, and health education (PSHE); emotional health and wellbeing; active lifestyles; and food in schools. 

Schools can work towards Bronze, Silver and Gold Healthy School awards. Pupil voice and involvement is a key part of the programme, along with staff wellbeing. Teachers can also take advantage of free resources and training sessions.

Since its launch in March last year, a quarter of schools in York have signed up to join the programme, which is funded and supported by the council’s Public Health team. 
Huntington School was the first school in the city to achieve Healthy Schools accreditation under the programme, achieving a Bronze award for PSHE in November. Since then, the school has continued to work on improving the health and wellbeing of pupils and staff by completing the requirements for the emotional health and wellbeing theme and the staff wellbeing criteria, achieving a Silver award this month. 

Mrs Kettlewell from Huntington School, said:

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£77,000 on offer to manage Front Street and City centre open spaces projects

The York Council are advertising two new posts to project manage improvements to Front Street and City Centre open spaces. . Applications for the posts are only curently open to existing Council employees.

The Council is trying to recuit:

• A Regeneration Project Manager to lead and manage the delivery of a City Spaces Framework and to develop business cases/funding applications for different work packages and schemes that sit within our wider regeneration programmes.  This role requires an experienced regeneration practitioner to work proactively and collaboratively with a wide range of Council officers and members, city partners and stakeholders and the new York & North Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority. 
• A Regeneration Project Co-ordinator to provide practical day-to-day support and project co-ordination across our regeneration work programme, including the York ‘Our City Centre’ vision and action plan, and Acomb Front Street regeneration project.  This role requires an experienced project administrator to proactively lead tasks such as risk and action monitoring, project planning/reporting and financial tracking, as well as a confident communicator who is comfortable dealing with a wide range of project stakeholders.

In total they will be paid around £77,000 pa. The source of funding is unclear although the Front Street project curently has an improvement budget of £570,000

The Council has so far remained tight lipped about the results of a consultation which they undertook on the options for Front Street.

Further details of the new jobs can be found via this link

Road repairs programme published

We now know where the additional funding, made available for road repairs by the government, is being spent.

A report has been publised on the (still relatively obscure) North Yorkshire Combined Authorty web site. https://yorknorthyorks-ca.gov.uk/

click for details

The report says,

“At the March 2023 Budget, City of York Council was awarded an additional £504,000.00 funding for highways maintenance for 2023/24.

In November 2023, a further allocation of highway maintenance funding was awarded to City of York Council for 2023/24 and 2024/25. £360,000.00 was awarded for each of the two financial years, a total increase of £720,000.00. This is Network North highway maintenance funding, which has been made possible due to the reallocation of HS2 Funding”.

Reasons for the prioritisation of the roads concerned is given in the report.

All are located in the, now regarded as marginal, York Outer constituency.

A larger chunk of funding will become available after the Mayoral elections in May.

None of the candidates for that office have so far highlighted the urgent need for major improvements in highway maintenance investment.

The York Council has not yet published its highway resurfacing programme for 2024/25

Many roads and paths in York are now in a very poor condition

Latest planning application for the Westfield Ward

Below are the latest planning application received by the York Council for the Westfield ward.

Full details can be found by clicking the application reference

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York Bridge Club The Green Acomb York YO26 5FG

Variation of condition 4 of permitted application 19/02690/FUL to alter wording to allow other recreational activities

Reference   24/00524/FUL

The applicant states

The condition restricts the use of building solely to the use of a bridge club and no other purpose. The building is used regularly for both playing and teaching of bridge and this will remain the primary use for the building. However, we have been approached by other local groups involved in similar recreation activities asking if they can use the building from time to time as they have problems finding suitable premises to carry out their activities. A widening of the use of the buildings to these groups would improve the amenity for the local community. Westfield Ward is limited in the facilities for such activities. It would also assist the York Bridge Club to secure its long term future.

We would like the condition to be altered to delete ‘and for no other purpose’ and insert ‘and for further community use for other similar ‘mind related’ recreational activities such as chess, draughts, scrabble, go and mahjong’. The site is currently used by the Acomb Sports Club and The York Bridge Club. The York Bridge Club uses the site all year round while Acomb Sports Club use the site primarily in the summer months. The widening of the use of the building as requested will not materially increase the number of people using the site and the amenity of the neighbours should not be adversely effected. All the new activities will be indoors and are of a quiet nature and will be appropriately managed by responsible adults. In the 18 months we have been open I am not aware that the neighbours have been adversely effected by the movement of our members or activities carried out by The York Bridge Club. The new activities will be held within the existing approved hours of use.

        ——–

Representations can be made in favour of, or in objection to, any application via the Planning online website.  http://planningaccess.york.gov.uk/online-applications/

The Council does not routinely consult neighbours by letter when an application is received.