A COUNCIL boss has outlined in more detail the steps taken to improve safety along York’s rivers following a tragic death.

Steve Waddington, assistant director of housing and community safety at City of York Council, was speaking after the mother of Megan Roberts marked the first anniversary of her daughter’s drowning in the River Ouse by calling for every step possible to be taken to prevent further such tragedies.

Waddington said 65 new lifebelts had been installed with 30-metre floating ropes alongside rivers, fencing at Blue Bridge had been improved and extended, and riverside steps and viewing platforms had been repaired. 

He said: “We’ve pruned trees to open up sight lines and we’ve approached owners of riverside land to adopt these safety standards. Our next steps include completing installing new post and chain fencing, removing silt from towpaths, more tree pruning and further repairs to steps. We’ll also complete our chain and ladder review and extend lifebelt arrangements to ponds and lakes.”

He also said the council had also promoted river safety every year since 2005 and had been involved in many personal safety campaigns around alcohol.
 

Road to close for work 

NORTH Lane in Dringhouses is to be temporarily closed to traffic next month when City of York Council carries out essential resurfacing works. 

The work starts on February 2 and is expected to be completed by February 13. Work will take place between 8am and 5.30pm. 

There will be no access for residents’ vehicles during working hours, except in emergencies. Residents who require access are asked to inform operatives onsite to ensure safety. Pedestrian access will be available at all times.


Samaritans receive cash thanks to DHL Foundation 

York Press:

A TOTAL of £700 has been donated to a charity that provides emotional support for people in distress or despair.

York Samaritans has received the donation thanks to the DHL UK Foundation after volunteer Roz Sands took part in a sponsored dragon boat race on the River Ouse in July. Roz, pictured with Tom Mason and Matt Griffin, is a stakeholder manager at NHS Supply Chain, which is a DHL contract.

Roz’s team raised more than £2,500 in memory of John Vinuesa, 51, from Bishopthorpe. The father-of-two who died last year after a short battle with cancer, was a fellow Samaritans volunteer and also worked at NHS Supply Chain.

Samaritans answers calls from people of all ages, backgrounds and circumstances. It provides a safe place for anyone struggling to cope, whoever they are, however they feel.


Cyclist injured in collision with car in Bridlington

A CYCLIST has been injured in a collision with a car in St James Road, Bridlington.

Humberside Police said the 28-year-old man was cycling towards the junction with George Street when he was in collision with a dark-coloured hatchback car at about 6.25pm on Sunday.

“The driver of the car initially stopped and helped the cyclist up but then left without providing his details,” said a spokesman for the police.

“The vehicle sustained some damage to the windscreen and the cyclist attended hospital in Scarborough for treatment to swelling to the knees, ankle and hip as well as small cut to the head.”

The driver or any witnesses are being asked to contact police on 101.
 

New look at bike scheme

A CYCLE lane plan for Monks Cross will be reconsidered by city councillors this evening after calls for a better design to keep cyclists safe.

The council’s cabinet will look again at the Jockey Lane cycle scheme, which was first approved on December 11, after ward councillors and Green member Cllr Andy D’Agorne objected to the design of the road scheme.

He identified problems over the lack of a right-turn lane into The Range store, and areas where vehicles turning into and out of businesses have priority over cyclists - something Cllr D’Agorne says puts cyclists in danger.
 

Retailer tunes in to community music funding

COMMUNITY music projects in York are being invtited to apply for up to £3,000 in funding through an initiative by retailer John Lewis.

The John Lewis Partnership's Music Matters programme is designed to support groups which make an “outstanding contribution” to their local community through music, and have a charitable purpose.

The retailer's new York store, at Vangarde Shopping Centre, is inviting local groups, choirs and music projects to bid for donations of between £500 and £3,000. 

Applications will also be considered from local schemes where groups need funding to start a musical group, or help for schools to teach music to young children. 

Gary Rowntree, branch manager at John Lewis York, said: "Music can make such a difference to people’s lives, it really has the power to bring people together in our local community. 

"We hope John Lewis York, together with the Music Matters scheme, can go some way to help people take part in a musical experience that really has an impact."

John Lewis York is looking for specific events or projects rather than continuing activities which need ongoing funding.

To apply contact Rachel Bostock, branch operations assistant, email: rachel_bostock@johnlewis.co.uk.
Deadline for applications is March 2.


Poet to talk at school

York Press:

SIR Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate, will spend the day at Bootham School on Thursday (29th January) giving a series of public readings.

The first of three events is part of the school’s weekly, public programme of Thursday lunch-time talks and recitals. With free entry every week, doors open at 12.50pm via the street frontage of 45 Bootham, and the half-hour reading starts at 1.05pm.


Councillors’ surgery

POCKLINGTON ward councillors on the East Riding of Yorkshire Council are holding a surgery at the Pocklington Pocela Centre on Saturday, January 31 from 10am to noon.

Councillors Mole, Lane and West will be available at a drop-in session for residents wishing to call in and discuss any issues.


Cash scheme agreed for greener homes

A £20 MILLION deal to make homes in Yorkshire more energy efficient has been agreed.

The Better Homes programme brings together the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and nine Local Authorities in the Leeds City Region, including City of York Council, with the private sector partners at KeepMoat and Willmott Dixon (KSW).

Residents will be offered new boilers, central heating systems, new insulation and renewable energy systems.

In the first three years, the programme aims to deliver energy efficiency measures to more than 12,000 homes, including a minimum of 800 in York.

To launch the scheme in York, KSW will offer 80 Green Deal communities fund vouchers to targeted areas - worth up to £750 per resident, while one private home will be given £15,000 worth of funding energy efficiency measures and will become a demonstration show house.

Cllr Tracey Simpson-Laing, of City of York Council, said: “We hope this new scheme will make it even easier for York residents to introduce energy efficiency measures in to their homes, which will help towards reducing fuel poverty and carbon emissions.

"It’s not just people who sign up to the Better Homes programme who will benefit from this scheme, the partnership will also create new jobs and apprenticeships for local people too.”

Everyone eligible for the scheme will be contacted by KSW in the coming weeks.


Obesity funding help call

CITY of York Council has said it supports calls for a fifth of VAT raised on unhealthy foods to go back to councils to fund health and leisure facilities.

The call was made by the Local Government Association (LGA).

Julie Hotchkiss. the acting director of public health, said: “We are dealing with a national epidemic of obesity, yet we have no budget to provide a weight management service in York. The money the council received from the NHS, when public health became local authorities’ responsibility in 2013, is mainly used on services we have to provide, including drugs services and sexual health services.

“If we were able to receive even a small percentage of the tax raised on the sale of fast food and unhealthy food options, it would mean City of York Council would be able to offer support to those who really need to lose most weight.

“We need to be able to offer a service which supports York residents to change behaviour - and this proposed tax would enable us to do that.”
 

Integrated Sexual Health Service set to start in July

NORTH Yorkshire County Council has awarded the £3 million contract for the provision of its new Integrated Sexual Health Service to York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The Trust will work with highly experienced voluntary sector sexual health organisations and GP practices to provide locally-based services which will be accessed through a central booking system.

The new service will be available free to all who require it, and will include the provision of contraception, STI testing and treatment services, community outreach services, and support services for people with HIV and their carers.

The new service will be operational by July 1, 2015, following the award of the £3 million contract in January 2015. It replaces a complex range of services previously provided through nine different contracts.
 

Chance to meet Sisters

THE Bar Convent will be one of the many York organisations to get involved with York Residents weekend. Residents are invited to explore the Bar Convent in Nunnery Lane and to meet the Sisters.

There will be free talks at 11am and 2pm, and free entry to the museum on Saturday. There is a complimentary glass of wine with each main course over £7 in the cafe.

All funds generated by the convent events go towards supporting the Living Heritage Project.