I’ve been the Liberal Democrat Councillor for Fulford ward, to the south of the city of York, for 8 years. I was first elected in May 2003, and re-elected in 2007 and 2011. I live locally, on Main Street in Fulford. It is a great honour to represent Fulford at the Council.  

I am always keen to hear from residents about local issues and concerns, so please do contact me using the links on the left. To see some of the improvements I have campaigned for recently that affect your local area see this map of Fulford.

Please keep checking back for for updates and information.

Best Wishes

Keith

City of York Council have reported that vehicles have been observed parking at the junction of Heslington Lane and Fulfordgate at school times. This not only makes it very difficult for school buses to negotiate the turn in and out of Fulfordgate, but also restricts the visibility of pedestrians crossing on the junction table.

There will be a public consultation with nearby residents shortly. Following comments from Keith Aspden, the yellow lines have been reduced in order to protect parking to the north of Heslington Lane. 

Yellow lines will be proposed in line with the highway code guidelines of not parking opposite or within ten metres of a junction. Where the end of the lines would fall so that drivers parking next to it would obstruct a vehicle access, the lines have been extended across the access. The revised proposals are shown on the attached drawing.

If any residents have comments please get in touch with Councillor Aspden who will pass them on to council officers for you.

Var Sch Parking – Fulford Secondary rev a

Councillor Keith Aspden has hit out at the lack of a long-term parking strategy for an area of Fulford. Cllr Aspden  met with residents last week from the Heslington Lane and Heath Moor Drive area who have raised concerns over parking issues, and who reported that there is a parking time bomb in this area of Fulford unless co-ordinated action is taken. Cllr Aspden will be launching a petition next month to push for the Council to take action. 

The Council are set to tackle school-run traffic for Fulford School at the junction of Heslington Lane and Fulfordgate, with limited yellow lines in order to allow buses to easily pass. Local residents will shortly be consulted as the school buses are having increasing difficultly negotiating the turn from Fulfordgate. However, local residents at a meeting last week said that this was not good enough on its own, and was an example of just moving the problem on. 

Cllr Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat Member for Fulford, commented: 

“Although I welcome consultation on improving bus access to Fulfordgate it is not enough on its own. I have been working with residents for some time to try to address wider parking issues in Fulford, some of which are related to the University. In the Heslington Lane and Heath Moor Drive area, residents have multiple problems with parking. These are caused by a number of factors, including businesses, schools and University parking. Last July I wrote to the Council to call on them to take action to address parking problems in the village after the Council considered proposals to address similar issues in other areas of the city, such as Badger Hill. 

“After meeting with residents on a number of occasions, including last week, we feel the best way forward is for the Council, Police and University to consider tackling the issues together, before the parking problems continue to increase. Unfortunately, the Council has not produced a report or undertaken consultation with local residents, so we will be launching a petition in the area. The petition, which I will present to a future council meeting, will call on the Council to look at a number of suggestions and the need to find a long term solution to this problem. 

“Without a joined up approach the Council is just moving the problem on and on. I want council officers to consider what actions could be taken to ease the problems experienced by residents.”

I just wanted to give residents an update on the Germany Beck development. I am sorry for the level of planning detail here, but it is fairly complex now as the developers have submitted a range of different applications. Local representatives on the Community Forum I know will continue to work hard to get the best deal for Fulford residents throughout the process.

Persimmon and Hogg are considering representations made to the original reserved matters application (submitted in Febuary 2012) and are to submit amendments to the scheme. This will then result in a further 21 day City of York Council consultation.

In addition to this, the following applications were submitted recently to the Council by the developers:

Reserved Matters Application – Following the submission of the Reserved Matters Application, consultation responses have now been received from all statutory consultees, residents and CYC and the developers currently reviewing all the comments to inform what, if any, amendments are to be submitted.

Extension of Time Application – The existing Outline Planning Permission expires on 9 May 2012. When it became apparent that City of York Council would not be in a position to determine the Reserved Matters Application prior to 9 May, the decision was taken by the developers to submit an application to extend the life of the Outline. This basically would give the developers more time to build the properties.

Second Reserved Matters Application – Following on from the first Reserved Matters application and the Extension of Time application, should either be unsuccessful, this second application would allow the developers to continue with their plans, whilst taking account of any new issues.

As ever, please do get in touch with me if you have any questions and I will do my best to answer them.

York’s Liberal Democrat Group spoke out against Labour’s plans to close Burnholme Community College at Tuesday’s  Cabinet.

Cllr Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Education, Children & Young People, commented before the meeting: 

“After meeting parent representatives last week to study Labour’s proposals we cannot support the plans for closure when there are still legitimate questions for the Cabinet to answer. These include the potential £2 million cost for closing the school and a lack of detail as to where the invaluable on-site Special Educational Needs provision will be moved.  We also need to see a long-term strategic plan to deal with an increased demand for school places after closure and the rising pupil numbers across York in the next ten years.

“In 2009, the Council agreed a 5 year plan to save the school. This plan should not be abandoned half-way through for short-term financial considerations. The parents and governors have worked tirelessly to present a thorough case that proper support and investment could result in an increase in pupil numbers to improve the viability of the school. This needs to be fully explored before Labour rush into closure. Once the school is closed it will be lost forever to the community. The Cabinet has to address all of the issues before they take a decision that has such profound long-term implications for the pupils, staff and parents.”

In a letter to the The Press Cllr Keith Aspden responds to Fulford Parish Council’s bid to revoke planning permission for the Germany Beck scheme.

Dear Editor,

Following your article ‘Bid to revoke Germany Beck consent’ on Saturday, local residents in Fulford will know that many of us have long campaigned for the developers to take proper account of the views of the local community, including on the fact that the area has changed so much since approval was given nearly 5 years ago. It is confusing for those of us involved locally as we now have a situation where we have a consultation on extending the deadline to build, an ongoing reserved matters application and further amendments to the scheme yet to come.

 The concerns being raised by Fulford Parish Council, such as with traffic, air quality, loss of green belt land and historical evidence, must be considered. I will continue to work with local groups, such as  the Parish Council, to ensure that we continue to put pressure on the City Council and developers to get the best deal for Fulford.

Cllr Keith Aspden

Liberal Democrat Councillor for Fulford Ward

Fulford in Bloom will this Saturday plant a Jubilee Oak on the occasion of the Queen’s 86th birthday. The ceremony will take place at the gateway of Fordlands Road playing field at 3:00pm. 

An oak whip from the Queen’s estates has been donated to Fulford in Bloom and it was decided that this Diamond Jubilee Oak would be planted on the Queen’s birthday. The whip will be planted alongside a six foot oak sapling. Local resident and member of the Fulford in Bloom Group, Judi Legg, who celebrates her own 65th birthday on the Saturday, will officially plant the oak trees. 

The Chair of Fulford in Bloom, Councillor Keith Aspden, commented: 

“It is fantastic to see the planting of this Jubilee Oak in Fulford. In this special Jubilee year and after the recent Royal visit to York, it was decided that the oak should be planted on the occasion of the Queen’s 86th birthday. Oak trees are famed for their vigour and longevity and are therefore a fitting tribute to a Queen celebrating sixty years on the throne.” 

The event is part of a series of new projects by the group as they seek to build upon their success in last year’s Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ competition. The Fulford in Bloom group have agreed that they will following a red, white and blue theme for the year, and will be adding a new planter and barrier baskets throughout Fulford.

Local Liberal Democrat Councillor Keith Aspden has welcomed Labour’s promise that salt bins in Fulford will be retained.

Cllr Nigel Ayre, Liberal Democrat Councillor for Heworth Without asked the Labour Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Social Inclusion, Cllr Sonja Crisp:

“Will the Cabinet Member confirm that all salt bins currently funded by Ward Committees will now be filled and refilled from the core budget?”

Cllr Crisp answered:

“Certainly, all the salt bins required across all wards will be refilled from the core budget.”

Cllr Ayre said “There has been a lot of concern across York that these salt bins would be lost. In wintry weather they are a lifeline for residents and their removal would be extremely unpopular.

“I am pleased that the Labour Cabinet, after Liberal Democrat pressure, has offered a commitment to funded salt bins and this news has been positively received by local residents I have talked to.

“I hope that Labour will stick to this commitment in the long-term and that their use of the word ‘required ‘ is not an attempt to wriggle out of their commitment to maintaining all salt bins.”