York bridge maintenance shame

Ouse Bridge York June 2014

Ouse Bridge York June 2014

The Labour Leadership of the York Council has come under attack from visitors and residents alike for neglecting the appearance of the City.

In the City centre, tourists have pointed to Ouse Bridge where weeds are now overgrowing the parapet.

The bridge stonework has deteriorated while failure to control algae and moss growth could lead to major repair costs in a few months time.

No historical evidence of horticulture on Ouse Bridge

No historical evidence of horticulture on Ouse Bridge

The bridge is one of the most used by pedestrians in the City with many visitors photographing the river and banks from it.

Nor is the situation better in the sub-urban areas with some side streets in Acomb covered in foot high weeds.

The Council revealed recently in a response to a Freedom of Information enquiry that it gives a contractor £70,000 a year to control weed growth on local highways and footpaths

NB. The Council recently spent £490,000 repaving Kings Square

 

Weeds in Beaconsfield Street in Acomb June 2014

Weeds in Beaconsfield Street in Acomb June 2014

 

 

Spy camera car in Front Street?

Minster FM is claiming that the parking enforcement camera van has now expanded its coverage area to include shopping streets.

Amongst them is Front Street in Acomb together with Acomb Road itself.

Traders in the sub-urban area have been having a difficult time over recent years and any suggestion that customers could pick up a £70 fine for parking would be an unwelcome development.

Free parking is one of the few advantages that small traders in Acomb have over the retail giants.

The camera car was introduced to stop poor (sometimes dangerous) parking outside primary schools in the City. Although not popular with everyone, we recognise that the initiative was a genuine attempt by the Council to address a real problem.

Local schools being monitored include Westfield and Woodthorpe

Extending the use of spy cameras to routinely issue tickets in less critical streets would be a step too far.

spy car

We are fortunate that York’s parking wardens (civil enforcement officers) do exercise discretion before issuing fixed penalty tickets. That approach needs to continue.

It appears that the Labour Council have learned little from the Lendal bridge fiasco. There, the crude use of cameras to enforce restrictions that were misunderstood by many, damaged the City’s reputation.

Labour’s inclusion, in their budget for the current year, of an additional £150,000 from spy camera generated fines confirms that they intend to continue the war against their own citizens.

NB. Respondents to our survey in west York have come out by 2:1 against the extended use of spy cameras in the  City.

That Vile Train

Vile train

Mint Yard Lecture:

Date:Wed 4 June

Time:7.30pm – 9.00pm

Venue:Acomb Explore Library Learning Centre

Cost:£5

Compelling and heartfelt accounts of people who travelled home from the frontline on the ambulance trains throughout World War One; their fear, horror, relief and humour.

More

Small grant allocated to Westfield Ward

The Council has allocated (at a behind closed doors meeting) what it describes as a “credit pot” to “deprived” wards.

The allocations are

Behind closed doors logo

  • Westfield – £4260
  • Clifton – £4241
  • Heworth – £4296
  • Hull Road – £3342
  • Guildhall £2818

 

The Council says that on 6 March 2012 the Cabinet established a “credits pot” to be allocated only to wards with the highest levels of deprivation to be used in line with the criteria for ward funding, to deliver on the ward priorities.

No-money-clipart

This decision distributes the pot to the 5 wards in proportion to their population.

The amount compares to the £60,000 made available each year to wards like Westfield when the Liberal Democrats were in control of the York Council.

NB.  Labour are scrapping all financial assistance to local community centres in 2015.