City of York Council wants to hear from local residents about how to improve their local area.

The authority's neighbourhood management team would like to hear from anyone who has an idea about:
- what additional services they would like to see in their local area
- whether local groups or clubs could be asked to provide a service in the local area
- local groups who need financial support to deliver services

Local improvements can either be schemes that improve or add to council provided equipment, such as additional park benches,  play equipment or  highway improvement; or schemes that offer additional services, such as youth services or  assistance  to community groups.

The ideas will be fed back to the council's 18 ward committees, each of which has a budget to spend on additional local services that are not already provided by the authority.

For the first time this year, each ward committee will prepare a Neighbourhood Action Plan, which will outline what the key ambitions and visions are for the area. Residents and stakeholders will be asked for their views on the draft plans, to make sure they reflect what services local people want.

The information from residents will be included in the Neighbourhood Action Plan for each ward, which will help local councillors and members of the committee decide how best to allocate their budget, in line with local priorities and the ideas put forward by residents.

Suggestions put forward so far include:
- enhanced recycling pints
- improvements to street lighting
- a ward ar sharing club
- notice boards to improve local communication

There have also been a number of scheme suggestions to enhance community safety.
The council is working with Safer York Partnership and the police in a bid to reduce people's fear of crime under an initiative called 'Feeling and Being Safe in York'. The campaign includes a 'giveaway' of a number of practical measures which can help contribute to personal and property safety, including:
- Cycle tagging
- Personal security alarms
- Property marking kits.

This is your opportunity to let us have your ideas on what could be done that would make a real difference to you in your neighbourhood.

The deadline for idead to the local improvement scheme is Friday 3 August.
Anyone with ideas to improve  their local area needs to submitt their proposals  to neighbourhood.management@york.gov.uk or call 01904 551832.