Community Meeting Notes
August 2024 Community Meeting Notes
Hello everyone
Firstly – I want to say a huge thank you to Simon for organising the meeting today. It was great to see so many people who are also concerned.
I have made detailed notes of the meeting if anyone wants to view them just let me know.
The takeaway information is as follows:
North Yorkshire Police
The police have only received 6 lots of 101 reports since January. Which was very different to the consensus of people who attended.
The police have advised that they work on statistics that they receive from the public. Every single report is counted. The more reports that they receive either via 101 or online will allow them to request extra support for the area. More police presence and more stop and search etc. So even if you know someone is reporting it, you should also report it if you have also seen it!
This can be done by calling 101 and ask for a ref number before ending the call.
If you are on hold for too long (they are aware of the issues if this happens) so please follow the below to report it online:
Complete the online form and you will automatically get a reference number.
Every call answered or logged online goes towards their statistics.
If ever you feel you are in danger you must call 999.
British Transport Police (they cover Scarborough Bridge and York Station).
They also have a number you can text 6106
The text will also give you a ref number and you will either receive a txt back asking for more information or they will call you back. They are also looking at liaising better with North Yorkshire Police with sharing intelligence.
Council Info:
It was highlighted that if you feel unsafe then Victim Support can help with providing support https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/. It was also mentioned that it might be possible to request a video doorbell https://www.northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk/protectyourhome/homesurveyform/
In attendance was a representative from 54North who manages the flats that had a recent raid where there have been issues. He advised that he doesn't get to know about issues from YCC (hopefully this will be rectified).. In order for him to take any action he needs to be aware of any issues/complaints of the tenants so he can start the internal investigation/process so please email any complaints or observations to hello@54northhomes.co.uk
Another meeting has kindly been organised by Simon in approx. 3 months.
Simon Boyle
November 2024 Community Meeting Notes
South Bootham Residents’ Association
(yet to be formally constituted)
Meeting at Clifton Methodist Church, 18/11/2024
Notes from meeting
Simon Boyle (SB) welcomed attendees. 42 members of the community attended. Councillors Myers (Clifton), Clarke, Melly and Merrett (Guildhall) were present.
Ryan Chapman (RC), recently appointed (September 2024) Chief Inspector for Neighbourhood Policing (NP) for York and Selby, introduced himself and gave a summary of the position of NP, and the review it is currently undertaking. There is a push to be more proactive around neighbourhood crime. He talked about the policing being more evidence led, with officers patrolling areas of greatest need. The area pertinent to this residents’ association falls into two different policing areas – York City Inner and York City Outer – but RC has overall responsibility for both. The area also falls into two different council wards – Guildhall and Clifton, the boundary being the railway line between Bootham Terrace and St Mary’s.
In relation to a recent incident locally where armoured police officers attended, RC said that there are always armoured police patrolling the area within 1 mile of the Minster, so if they are the closest to an incident, even if it is not very serious, they are likely to be the first on the scene, to be replaced by the Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) as soon as they can get there.
RC quoted a statistic: between 15/08/24 and 17/11/2024 there had been 54 incidents recorded in this area, of which 14% were potentially related to drug dealing issues. This is apparently a relatively low figure. However, there has been no actual intelligence to say that there has definitely been drug dealing in the area, despite residents’ observations. There was discussion about the difference between intelligence (information gathered professionally) and evidence (reports by members of the public). The latter can take some time before it is assessed: RC could not be specific about how long.
There are no home-grown drug gangs in York, but there is organised crime in the form of gangs arriving from bigger cities such as Leeds and Manchester. There are 6 or 7 organised crime gangs operating across the whole of York currently, but none recorded in our area. NPTs work with British Transport Police on this matter.
Tim Kendall (TK) said that on both 09/10/24 and 16/10/24 he had reported seeing unambiguous drug dealing near Almery Terrace and had reported it, but had had no feedback. RC said that this is recorded as an occurrence, but not as evidence. When evidence is recorded, it is assessed by the Control Room and graded according to level of threat.
The assessment determines how quickly officers should attend. All reports add to the overall intelligence picture, so RC encouraged residents to report sightings of suspicious activity. The NPT looks at intelligence weekly so that they can direct their limited resources to the right areas.
SB observed that after police have attended an incident they do not follow up with patrolling the area, and the drug dealers return within about 3 weeks. There is a high level of anger about the lack of action.
Residents reporting incidents have been frustrated by the system. When calling 101 (for non-urgent reporting such as drug dealing) there is an automated response, and then there can be a delay of several hours before any follow up call is received. RC urged residents to call 999 for urgent reporting, but there was a comment from the floor that even that can entail a wait of around half an hour.
Councillor Myers thanked RC on behalf of the council, which has been working with the police for the past 18 months to try to see more police officers and build confidence in the city. He mentioned the ‘Connecting Clifton’ project, in which the police are involved with the community in aiming to drive out crime and make Clifton a safer place.
DM will include the streets in the South Bootham area in the next community safety meeting, and problems can then be followed up by the council. As a balance, there were thanks to the council for attending to matters such as tree cutting and street light repairs in order to increase safety.
A question was posed to RC about the statistics for burglaries locally. Whilst RC did not have the figures to hand, he did admit that York has issues around burglary, and said that after several years of the police not doing enough to combat burglary, over the past couple of years there has been much improvement.
There was a question from the floor about how many Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) cover York. RC said that there is a larger number of PCSOs in York than in any other area, but that the balance will change, and there will be more police officers than PCSOs in the future. All PCSOs are managed by their area police sergeant. There is an aim to ensure that every resident has a named PCSO who they can contact.
A question was asked from the floor regarding taking photos when observing suspected incidents, which could then be used as evidence. RC advised that people should only take photos if it is absolutely safe to do so: it does help to identify people. He added that the person who has reported the incident with a photo does not have to be a witness in court.
When the question of discarded syringes came up, Councillor Myers said that the council would remove them within two hours of receiving a report. Call 01904 551511 to reported discarded syringes.
SB suggested to RC that using texts to report incidents may be more efficient, and RC responded that the police force is looking into making that a possibility in the future.
The South Bootham Residents’ Association would like to set up a website once formally constituted. Councillor Myers will follow that up with the Communities Team, which could facilitate. Councillor Myers also mentioned that a future agenda item would be to look at improving the underpass between the bottom of Bootham Terrace and Marygate car park, possibly with an artist’s mural.
Finally, there was a call for more residents to join the Association’s committee, which will have about 4 meetings a year. Including those who responded to the call, current committee members are Simon Boyle, Hester Cashdan, Peter Conchie, Liyana Hay, Anita Hilton, Tim Kendall, Lydia Showan, Ru Smith and Lesley Schatzberger.
Bootham South Residents' Association
Meeting at St Olave's Church Hall, 07/07/2025
Notes from meeting
Simon Boyle chaired the meeting and welcomed attendees to the first meeting since the Bootham South Residents Association was formally constituted. Over 30 members of the community attended. Councillors for the area had been invited but were not in attendance.
Website
Our new website was approved as being good for purpose. Bootham South Residents Association is the only one in York to have an active website:
https://www.bootham-south-residents-association.org/
Traffic lights at the St Mary's/Bootham junction
All residents present would like to see this junction changed. Currently the yellow box is ignored and it can be very difficult to drive out of St. Mary's and onto Bootham. It is dangerous, and there is a strong opinion that the traffic lights (and pedestrian crossing) should be moved to the actual intersection of St Mary's and Bootham, doing away with the yellow box. One of the residents sent an objection to the council when the lights were first put in place, but received a reply stating all the reasons that the lights would not be relocated. Anita Hilton has been in contact with the council and as a result the council is monitoring some yellow box junctions with camers, but not on our side of York. All agreed that the Residents Association should lobby strongly to have the junction changed.
Parking
Parking remains an issue and a number of people were suggesting trying to remove the 10min/1hour parking permission in our streets, and having them purely as residents' parking (with residents' guest permits still available). There was some concern about loading for those without residents' permits, but loading and unloading are, in fact, allowed even when there is no option for 10 minute parking. Changing the restrictions would probably have to go through a complete application process and could take years, but it was agreed that we should lobby for this.
It was noted that it was easier to monitor rogue parkers when physical permits were required, but that with digital permits there is no visible evidence of people parking legally. At one point the council had said that they would be adding the facility to look up a car registration number if we suspect that it is parking without a permit, but this has not been implemented. It was agreed that the Residents Association should push for it.
It was also mentioned that people (non-residents) are driving much too fast down our streets, and that trucks are causing considerable damage. The situation has been exacerbated since the works around the station have been hindering drop-offs: a lot of people come down our streets to drop off or meet people from trains, sometimes even taking a chance and parking there to catch a train. Parents dropping off children at St Peter's School are also a problem. The 'Access Only' signs appear to be completely ignored.
Railway underpass
Tim Kendall led the discussion about a potential mural in the underpass. He noted several steps to go through in the first instance.
• We would need permission from both the council (which has been encouraging) and from Network Rail.
• We would need to source funding
• Potential artists are to be identified – there are currently about 7 who have expressed an interest.
• We would need proposals and costings from the artists
• Any funders would be likely to want recognition.
Bootham School has shown an interest in the scheme, whilst St Peter's has not.
Simon felt that the fact that this is on the site of part of the oldest Roman road in the city should be reflected in the design, and there seemed to be general agreement that, in any case, the artwork should reflect the heritage of the city. There would be a clear brief for potential artists, and it was suggested that once we have proposals there would be an exhibition so that residents could see the designs and a judgement could be reached. It is unlikely that the council would be able to offer financial support, so we would have to seek elsewhere, and perhaps approach some of the businesses on Bootham. The residents association will work on making this initiative happen.
Street-sweeping
This was added to the agenda because it had been many months since the streets were cleaned, the last time being just after the last residents association meeting. However, the streets have now just been cleaned – was it because the council knew we had scheduled this meeting? It was agreed that we will push for monthly cleaning, which had apparently already been agreed, but not implemented, by the council.
Phone box
Tim had raised the question of whether we could use the disused phone box on Bootham either to house a defribrillator or as a book exchange. As we do not own the land, only the council could 'adopt' the phone box from BT. This would cost just £1, and the residents association would commit to looking after it. If there is still power in place,
Tim believed that BT would continue to supply the power, whilst a defibrillator company would install and maintain the equipment. There was a question of who would fund the equipment, and though Tim believed it would be the supplier, he will check on it. A defibrillator would be very well placed there, but if it isn't possible, the phone box could be used as a book exchange.
Social gathering
Simon had ascertained that the Old Grey Mare, on Clifton Green, could give us a dedicated area for a gathering. He will put out some date options.
As the meeting closed, Simon was deservedly thanked for being an excellent member of the community, as were Tim and Anita.