Details about how proposed Neighbourhood Caretakers could work in York have been revealed – but councillors have heard residents may not see changes for at least a year.
The work of the caretakers could include regular walkabouts in York’s council wards and co-ordinating with existing volunteer groups to maintain areas like grass verges and playgrounds.
City of York Council’s environment spokesperson Cllr Jenny Kent said the proposed system was designed to aid work on the city’s upkeep by drawing on local knowledge.
But council environment lead James Gilchrist said the work needed to set up the posts meant it would be at least a year before residents see changes.
The comments came during a discussion on the proposals at the council’s economy, place, access and transport scrutiny committee on Tuesday, January 28.
York’s Labour group pledged to introduce Neighbourhood Caretakers as part of its pitch to voters during the 2023 local elections which brought them to power.
Their manifesto stated the caretakers would help look after communities and put pride back into the city’s streets while helping the council use limited resources more wisely.
This year’s council Budget proposals include spending £150,000 on setting up the roles.
Fixing issues
Councillors heard on Tuesday the work of the caretakers would be broader than just managing public spaces and they would also be involved in community safety and other areas.
The proposals include ward walkabouts which would allow Caretakers to look at where problems are in local areas and decide who is best-placed to deal with them.
They would also work with existing groups such as litter pickers and volunteer gardeners to help them with their work.
Councillors heard there was an aspiration to create facilities such as communal tool stores as part of the scheme.
Ideas including allowing local groups to ‘adopt a verge’ aim to let people take the lead on the way some public areas are maintained.
The proposals aim to better co-ordinate work across council departments dealing with issues like road maintenance, grass cutting and fly-tipping and give locals one point of contact to report issues.
The areas covered by the caretakers would cover the north, west, centre and east and York, with populations from almost 45,000 to almost 60,000 each.
Tracy Ostler, chair of The Groves Association, told Tuesday’s meeting she hoped the changes would mean that issues residents raise would be dealt with quicker.
The association chair said: “There’s issues that are taking far too long to fix.
“For instance fly-tipping is constant in this area, I’ve counted ten instances of it in one week just around my little area.”
Council environment director Mr Gilchrist said the scheme was designed to address local issues such as those raised by Ms Ostler.
He said: “This aims to tap into local knowledge and into the positive work already being done to deal with issues.
“The question is, given our resources are limited, how are those issues best prioritised?
“Part of the challenge that Neighbourhood Caretakers aim to address is picking up on the fine details and deploying resources across an area in a way that delivers for residents.
“This is all dependent on budget decisions, in a year’s time we might be talking about how things are starting to change but by then it will be longer before the changes are seen and felt.”
Labour environment executive member Cllr Kent said: “This proposal is for additional resources to make sure all parts of York look good and our communities shine.”
Proposals to set aside £150,000 for Neighbourhood Caretakers is set to go before all York councillors for a vote along with other Budget proposals for this year on Thursday, February 27.