From Cllr Clark to the Chair of P&R
Could the Chair of Policy and Resources please inform Council how well the ‘Picture Pickering’ consultation is proceeding?
From Cllr Clark to the Leader of Council
Does the Leader of Council agree with proposed cuts suggested by the Fire Authority to Ryedale District Council?
Minutes:
1. Councillor Clark submitted the following question.
To Councillor Mrs Cowling, the Chairman of Policy and Resources
Could the chair of Policy and Resources please inform Council how well the ‘Picture Pickering’ consultation is proceeding ?
The Leader of the Council, Councillor Mrs Cowling replied:
‘Well John. I'd like to thank you first of all for asking this question because it's nice to be able to report back on how well Pickering is doing. The Picture Pickering consultation isn't actually proceeding. It was a one day event and the issues that were raised on that day feed into the work that our Officers now do. The results of the consultation is used and is what is proceeding and if we could we could have a quick trot through some of the successes in Pickering. It was a very good day - the Picture Pickering event - I think all 4 Pickering district councillors attended it and a number of other councillors were there as well. A lot of the issues which were raised were to do with traffic management, road humps and the condition of the road which John you might be able to report on better than me , you being an NYCC County Councillor. Other issues were - a lot of people were concerned about 2 sites in particular in Pickering that were quite untidy. One was the local cinema which a lot of you will be aware now is being demolished and being turned into a new development. The other was the coal yard and that is now a thriving Lidl store which is very well used in Pickering and I have to say has had a very positive impact on Pickering for lots of different reasons. For some reason, ever since the day that Lidl opened Pickering is much busier, it's eased the parking situation - I think they have about 40 car parks at Lidl - and that's freed up the car park on the Ropery in Pickering so that's had a very positive impact.
There were comments about improving the quality of the market. Well I regularly go up the market on a Monday and I have to say that since officers implemented the work to monitor the mix of stalls on the market it is really good. There is a fabulous mix of stalls on the market and the farmers market on a Thursday once a month is also a very good event in Pickering.
A lot of people asked about improved provision of open spaces and the open space up Whitby Road is continuing. We're working with officers from Ryedale, we're working with Pickering Town Council to use Section 106 money to improve that space.
Improving circulation around the town. I didn't really know what was meant by that but I do know that the rephasing of the traffic lights at the Ropery has certainly improved traffic movement around that area.
Parking issues around the town have always been of great concern and the introduction of decriminalisation of parking and the new regime that we have with traffic wardens is working well but I won't say it's 100%. I went up the Market Place today and there were three vehicles with disabled stickers in parked on the double yellow lines in the Market Place and it was making it extremely difficult for people to get up and down the Market Place, so there probably is still a bit of work to do there.
Housing need for young people - that is a problem that's been recognised throughout the whole of North Yorkshire and beyond and I'm very interested in looking at alternative ways of providing housing for young people. At the moment we're addressing it quite well; Ryedale is delivering very well on affordable homes.
Diversity of economy - I think we have an Economic Development department that is working really well with businesses in the whole of Ryedale but particularly in Pickering, we were very successful in delivering planning permission very quickly for Rosti McKechnie so they could expand their premises and I believe there are around 200 new jobs that will be provided there eventually.
The other thing that was commented on a lot was the flood defences and that is a massive thing for Pickering that those flood defences have been delivered successfully.
A lot of comments about Wells Walk and the lack of access to what was a very popular public footpath and we have to thank NYCC for dealing with that. It was a long process but it was successful in the end.
One of the other comments was that people wanted more recycling. Three years ago we introduced recycling of plastic and cardboard throughout the district and of course in Pickering as well.
I think the other important think to mention was that a lot people wanted the facilities and equipment updating in the leisure facilities at Lady Lumleys and at the Pool in Pickering and Derwent Pool and of course that will be happening’
Councillor Clark then asked the following supplementary question:
‘Traffic management, well I think we've done alot of that, we've sent it off to Scarborough and as for road humps, I've campaigned against the road humps in Middleton Road since before I was on this Council and have continued to do since. If anybody can give me any idea that can stop the County having the view that car wrecking road humps are a good idea, particularly alongside potholes, I'd be very impressed but so far nowhere. I wonder - this is a very impressive list but this is the first time we've heard this list, the last time I asked Councillor Cowling for this she didn't know what I was referring to and she was, and told many people at the consultation, going to bring it to Committee. With that list of things could we hope that it will come to the Committee? I'm a little concerned about the promise for more recycling because I think, more recycling, yes, but we're going to charge you £30 odd for doing it wasn't exactly mentioned at the time. On that basis, when could we expect the requests from the public and the analysis done by the officers to go to Committee?
The Leader then replied:
‘I'm not 100% sure that it a piece of work that needs to go to Committee. The results of the work and the comments that people made are available for you to see, if that's what you want to see I can forward that on to you. As I said, the consultation and the results of the consultation is a piece of work that Officers use in connection with Pickering, so I'm not quite sure what you hope to achieve by taking it to Committee but perhaps we can have a talk about that outside of this meeting’
2. Councillor Clark submitted the following question;
To Councillor Mrs Cowling, the Leader of the Council;
Does the Leader of Council agree with proposed cuts suggested by the Fire Authority to Ryedale District Council ?
The Leader of the Council, Mrs Linda Cowling replied:
‘I think the first point to make is that the Fire Authority is a separate authority to Ryedale District Council and any cuts in the district are regrettable of course and these cuts will affect some properties in Ryedale. I'm sure that the Fire Authority have considered these cuts very carefully and they, like us, are subject to cuts in their budget and I think that this will be, in their opinion, the least damaging way of making cuts. I'm sure they wouldn't want to increase the risk to any properties in the district’.
Councillor Clark then asked the following supplementary question:
‘I thank the Leader of Council for her reply, I'm not sure she can justify a cut in service that would mean that one fire appliance, if there was an automatic fire alarm from Malton Hospital, one fire attendant would arrive rather than two. Up until now it's been two arriving, in other words two units of people so that one group can work to get the people out and the other can be there to deal with the fire. But if she does agree with it, tell me why she didn't reply to this consultation or did she think that the Tory controlled Fire Authority was quite good enough to make a cuts decision and it would help to keep it quiet?’
The Leader replied:
‘First of all I wasn't aware that the Fire Authority is a political organisation but I've learnt something tonight from you. I believe that there was only one authority did respond to the consultation and I think that perhaps it's regrettable that we were one of those who didn't but I'm not sure it was my job to do the response. I don't think I would be qualified to do that.’
3. Councillor Raper submitted the following question:
To Councillor Luke Ives, Chairman of Council:
Can council look into the situation of the crossing closure proposed by Network Rail in Norton. Pedestrian access later in the day appears to have been overlooked, and also early to work residents are also going to be disadvantaged by the current proposals. Section 17 of the police and crime act place an obligation upon councils to endeavour to reduce crime be planning adequate measures for its population. I can foresee that access to the railway via Malton station will be occurring by residents not wishing to take a longer route.
Network rail also have a duty under the act. This council must
ensure that access is maintained for pedestrians at all times.
Thereby eliminating the potential for criminal acts to take
place.
The Chairman of Council, Councillor Ives replied:
‘The question to me exactly, specifically is can the Council look into this situation. My role as Chairman of Council I cannot direct this Council to do anything like that. I look after procedure, the civic side of things and the constitution. I have spoken to the Corporate Director on this matter who said that in terms of what this Council can do is very limited. It is for Network Rail, nevertheless I will update you on the situation which I've got an answer for you here.
My understanding is that the situation has been addressed from feedback from residents. Hours of closure have been reduced. In addition, Network Rail will have a minibus shuttle service in operation on both sides of the level crossing to help pedestrians, wheelchair users and people with collapsable pushchairs and bicycles to make their journey across the level crossing while it is closed. People will be able to access this service as and when they need it. In addition, during the closures and when engineering work allows there will be limited pedestrian and cyclist access over a temporary footbridge.
Members should note that the closures are essential to allow the track beneath the closure to be renewed and for the final completion of track works’.
Councillor Raper’s response
‘Not specifically supplementary Chairman just thank you for using your office to glean this extra information that I don't think alot of people were quite aware of especially with the minibus service because, as I understood it, this aspect had been deleted from them because it was a cost implication. I know personally members of the public who travel to work across that crossing at 5 am in the morning and this would have been outside the access times that have been currently proposed as I understood them but thank you for your efforts’.