- £1m EXTRA FOR HIGHWAY REPAIRS

- RECYCLING FOR EVERYONE

- CENTRAL LIBRARY TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO EXPLORE CENTRE

- LOWEST COUNCIL CHARGES IN YORKSHIRE

- REVAMPED STREETLIGHTS WILL SAVE MONEY AND ENERGY

- HELP THROUGH THE CREDIT CRUNCH

£1m EXTRA FOR HIGHWAY REPAIRS

York's Liberal Democrats have expanded their successful highways repair programme by investing an additional £1 million to keep the city's roads and footpaths in top condition.

The extra funding will see an additional 30 roads or footpaths repaired across the city on top of those already included in the existing £4.5 million resurfacing programme.

Liberal Democrat Councillors took the decision to invest the extra funds after repairs to roads and footpaths were voted the top priority for investment in the Council's budget consultation.

Local roads to benefit from the resurfacing programme include

RECYCLING FOR EVERYONE

City of York Council's successful kerbside recycling scheme is set to be rolled out to all households in York from April 2009.

The Liberal Democrat budget, which was recently approved by Councillors included £210,000 to roll out kerbside recycling to the areas not currently covered by the scheme.

A total of £630,000 is being committed over the next three years to ensure that the expansion can be sustained.

York already recycles 48% of it's waste and the investment in increasing recycling provision will divert a further 1,760 tonnes of rubbish away from landfill, saving the Council £83,000 a year in landfill charges.

A trial has been underway in The Groves area to find the best way to collect recycling from the city's flats and terraced houses.

Cllr Waller said, "We already have a fantastic record on recycling here in York and this investment will see York become one of the few cities with a 50% recycling rate."

"The extension of the scheme will allow everyone to contribute to our recycling record and help to ensure we continue to make the city greener and more sustainable."

CENTRAL LIBRARY TO BE TRANSFORMED INTO EXPLORE CENTRE

York's central library is set to be transformed into a state of the art 'Explore Centre' following the Liberal Democrats decision to allocate £200,000 of Council funds to the project.

Following on from the success of Acomb Library and New Earswick Library, the objective is to improve the skills and qualifications of residents in the city through the provision of courses in the city centre.

By making the library more open and inviting it is anticipated that there could be a similar impact to Acomb which saw the daily number of visitors triple as a result of the transformation.

Funding has been made available as part of the Council's capital programme to begin phase one of the transformation. The changes will include the creation of three new learning rooms on the ground floor of the building, along with a new café.

Cllr Waller said, "The new facilities at the Explore Centre will provide a place where the community can come together and make the most of what the library has to offer."

"We are very keen to make the new explore centre as open and inclusive as possible to ensure that as many people as possible are able to access the library service."

LOWEST COUNCIL CHARGES IN YORKSHIRE

Residents in York will once again be paying the lowest amount in Yorkshire for their council services. Residents in Band D properties in York pay £1062 per year for their council services compared to £1250 in Harrogate, £1209 in Ryedale and £1094 in Leeds.

This is despite York receiving one of the lowest grants per head in the county.

Cllr Waller said "York receives a much lower grant than most other unitary authorities in the country, yet the Liberal Democrats have been able to keep council taxes low while maintaining excellent services."

Authority Band D Council Charges 2009/10

Sheffield 1265.82

Harrogate 1250.10

Scarborough 1237.90

Calderdale 1218.00

Richmondshire 1214.70

Ryedale 1209.92

East Riding 1199.01

Kirklees 1194.39

Selby 1185.97

Craven 1177.86

Rotherham 1164.00

Barnsley 1143.00

Hambleton 1118.15

Leeds 1094.86

Bradford 1084.45

Wakefield 1074.33

Doncaster 1070.66

York 1062.44

REVAMPED STREETLIGHTS WILL SAVE MONEY AND ENERGY

Liberal Democrat Councillors have included £100,000 in the council's budget to modernise street lighting in a move that could save the council almost £15,000 a year on its street lighting bills.

The scheme will see existing mercury lights being replaced by more efficient ones and will also see solar powered bollards replacing existing mains powered ones.

The new lighting will cut City of York Council's CO2 emissions by 50.83 tonnes on year, saving the Council £14,046 in energy costs.

Cllr Waller said "Increases in the cost of energy cost the Council over £500,000 last year. It is important that we take action to cut our energy use as much as possible so we are not hostages to fluctuating energy prices."

"We are committed to meeting our targets for cuts in C02 emissions, this investment programme will help us save money as well as cutting our emissions."

HELP THROUGH THE CREDIT CRUNCH

The Liberal Democrats are doing everything they can to help local people and businesses through the credit crunch. Liberal Democrat Councillors allocated almost £500,000 of the council's budget to a credit crunch response fund which will be used to help reduce the effects of the credit crunch locally.

Money has also been invested in the Credit Union to help it continue to lend money at reasonable rates to people who need it most.

The council has also held a series of special events which gave small and medium sized local businesses the chance to learn more about how to do business with the council as well as receiving advice on the help available to them.