I’ve been the Liberal Democrat Councillor for Fulford ward, to the south of the city of York, for the past 6 years. I was elected in May 2003, and re-elected in 2007. 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.

Please keep checking back for for updates and information.

Best Wishes

Keith

Thanks to all of you who signed the petition calling for a rethink on parts of the proposed A19 improvements around Fulford Park.

I submitted the petition at the Full Council meeting last night and I have already had constructive discussions with Council officers about the plans.

I hope to be able to update you all soon on the progress we have made.

The government took control of the East Coast Main Line rail franchise this weekend and with the take over came some good news about York station.

The government announced that it would not be pursuing the appeal started by National Express against the decision by the council’s planning committee to refuse planning permission for the barriers.

I campaigned against the introduction of barriers and  am glad that the government have finally realised that barriers were not appropriate for York station.

They would have created severe problems for people accessing the station, especially for elderly and disabled people entering from the short stay car park.

The barriers would also have had an unwelcome visual impact on the look of our historic station.

While attempts to cut down on people not buying tickets are legitimate, the barriers would have caused too many problems to be a sensible solution.

It is great to see that the campaign against the barriers in the station has been a success.

At this Thursday’s Full Council meeting the Liberal Democrat group will be calling on Councillors to back the 10:10 campaign and cut down on the council’s carbon emissions.

The 10:10 campaign calls on councils, individuals and businesses to reduce their carbon emissions by 10% during 2010. 

The Liberal Democrats Council Executive has already introduced an ambitious carbon management plan which will see the authority’s emissions cut by 25% by 2013. The carbon management plan will see investment in low carbon technology and a change in the way the council operates in order to reduce it’s carbon footprint.

Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.

A few weeks ago I wrote to City of York Council Planning Officers to express concerns raised by local residents about plans to build 3 new detached houses in gardens to the rear of 34 Main Street, Fulford. (Read the original story here)

I am pleased to report that, following the objections, the planning application has been withdrawn.

The plans were not suitable for the area and I am glad that the concerns of local residents have been taken into account.

A few people have asked me to put some pictures up from Fulford Show, so here we go. Thanks to Emma James for the photos.

Once again thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make the event a sucess.

Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.

Work will begin next week to resurface the footpath on Crossfield Crescent. It is expected the work will be completed in three weeks, weather permitting.

City of York Council’s Neighbourhood Services will be carrying out the work. Should you have any questions or concerns you can contact them on 01904 553130.

A number of local people have contacted me to express concern about proposals to build new houses on Main Street.

A planning application has been submitted to build 3 new detached houses in gardens to the rear of 34 Main Street, Fulford. The plans also include the creation of 12 parking spaces. Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.

Nick Clegg MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats is visiting York on Thursday 1 October for a ‘Meet Nick’ event. This is your chance to put any questions to Nick. It will take place between 5.45pm to 7pm at the Friends Meeting House, Friargate, York.

Have a look here for more info or to book a place e-mail meet@nickclegg.com

The events to mark the 943rd anniversary of the Battle of Fulford last weekend proved very popular with local people.

Well over two hundred local residents, including children and young people, took part in the Family Fun day on Saturday and the re-enactment on Sunday.

It was great to take part in the succesful events which were a fun way to commemorate the history of our area.

Sunday 20th September will mark the 943rd anniversary of the famous Battle of Fulford. To mark the occasion there will be series of family fun events to help people find out more about the battle and have some fun along the way.  Read the rest of this entry.

This year’s Fulford Show was a great success and I would like to thank the Fulford Show committee and the many volunteers for all their dedication and hard work which made this year’s Fulford Show fantastic event.

The show again proved very popular with over 2500 people visiting the 30 stalls from a wide range of groups and organisations. There were also a number of sporting events to help get people involved.

Everyone who worked hard to organise the show deserves credit for all the work they put in to provide this community event.

I am sure everyone is looking forward to next year.

Fulford residents using a popular shortcut will soon be in for a smoother walk after City of York Council announced that Chapel Alley will be fully resurfaced later this month.  The announcement draws to an end a our long campaign to get the Council to adopt the alley and carry out repairs.  Read the rest of this entry.

Dobbies Garden Centres have withdrawn their appeal against the refusal of planning permission for a new garden centre on green belt land in Fulford. 

Dobbies were contesting the refusal of planning permission for a garden centre on land lying to the southeast of York Designer Outlet in Fulford, but in a letter from the Planning Inspectorate today it was confirmed that the planning inquiry set for September was cancelled as the appeal had been withdrawn.  Read the rest of this entry.

The Council’s Executive have approved the submission of the 7 most popular proposals received under the Sustainable Communities Act. These proposals will now go to the Local Government Association who will collect submissions from local authorities and choose those to be sent to the government.

 The 7 proposals to go forward from York are:

1. Returning packaging to supermarkets
2. Retention of business rates locally
3. Re-regulation of buses
4. Generating energy via community renewable sources
5. Bringing commercial waste in to council recycling targets
6. Retaining council house income locally
7. Ensuring that all landfill tax and Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme penalties are returned to local authorities for investment in further recycling, reduction and reuse and repair.

You can find out more about the Sustainable Communities Act here

There was some good news yesterday as plans for ticket barriers at York Station were rejected by the West & City Centre Area Planning Committee. This is great news for all of us who have been campaigning against these plans. For more details check out the story in The Press here.

As promised in the latest edition of Focus I have added a page with more information on the suggestions made as part of the Sustainable Communities Act consultation.

Click here to visit the page or select the link on the left.

Today’s announcement that the government is set to take over the running of trains on the East Coast Mainline is a good opportunity to rethink plans for barriers at York station. The announcement means that it is very unlikely that barriers will be built at York station in the immediate future.

There is a great deal of local opposition to these plans and I think that now is the right time to look again at the proposals.

I am calling on the government to reconsider it’s position on station barriers. I would hope that they would take into account the views of local people before deciding whether or not to continue with the plans put forward by National Express.

Following a request from residents a new cold calling controlled zone will be launched in Atcherley Close on July 10th.

Cold calling controlled zones aim to prevent doorstep crime by defining an area in which cold callers are not welcome. Anyone breaching the cold calling controlled zone can be reported to the Police or Trading Standards.

If you are interested in having a cold calling controlled zone in your area please visit the council’s website

The Council consulted with residents on plans for the Fulford Road corridor, including cycling, bus and pedestrian improvements earlier this year. Along with local residents I objected to various parts of the scheme, including the fact that there were plans for a significant reduction in local parking, the removal of the two lane exit from Heslington Lane, and that in one location new cycle ways were planned both on and off road going in the same direction.

After these successful representations, the Council agreed to look again at the Main Street and Heslington Lane aspects of the scheme.  Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.