Late last year the leader of City of York Council, Chris Steward, agreed to answer YorkMix readers’ questions.
You came up with some crackers, on all sorts of topics. We’ve picked some of the best, and Cllr Steward has given full and frank answers.
So here is the council leader on everything from potholes to refugees…
Flood defences
How much money will it cost to significantly improve the York flood defences, and what will the funds that have been allocated be spent on?
– John Jones
It is also clear that we are getting more extreme flooding than in the past and the water is reaching York at ever greater speeds, we must therefore work more upstream to limit the flooding itself rather than just dealing with the consequences.
Affordable housing
Why is there no affordable housing? Why do you turn everything into student accommodation?
– Jayne Stafford
There is a particularly great need for homes at the lower end of the market at prices within people’s budgets and this is something we are delivering by being realistic on affordable housing targets.
Unfortunately political dogma saw Labour insist on unrealistically high levels of affordable housing, as a result nothing got built and they denied many of our residents homes.
Curb the hen parties
Is anything gonna be getting done about all the hen/stag do parties flooding the city during the day? Evening times not a problem but its not nice trying to enjoy a day in the town with toddlers when there are groups for hen parties walking about with blow up penises
– Charlotte Moffatt
Traffic, roads and pollution
Can we switch all the traffic lights off in York and see what actually happens? Because at the Barbican when the lights went out the traffic really moved smoothly
– Malcolm Lummas
There is too much traffic and pollution in York. Why not introduce congestion charging in York? We have excellent park and ride (bus and why not bicycle or even boat?)
– David Kessel
As a group though we believe it is about a carrot of giving better public transport rather than a stick of congestion charges or for example the fines from the Labour Lendal Bridge closure.
Why are you you not using the extra money given by the Chancellor to repair local roads? The condition of all residential roads is an absolute unacceptable disgrace
– Neil Lewis
Although Labour’s waste means we as a council now have less money to spend in areas where residents want better roads is still a firm priority of ours.
Refugees and the homeless
Do you support housing refugees in York ahead of the ex military, young couples with York ties etc, and the homeless you can see on the York streets?
– Jeff Sawyers
Why did York not take any refugees? Why do we not open unused houses to rough sleepers, as they did in Manchester?
– Nele Sonntag
Manchester has vastly more empty houses than we do in York but where there are empty homes here we as a council work with landlords to ensure buildings are brought back into use as soon as possible.
Care homes for the elderly
Why are you closing all the elderly care homes? And why have you scrapped the idea of building new ones?
– Mark Gibson