Report those puddles!

Residents are being urged to report any accumulation of surface water to the York Council.

Today’s heavy rain has meant that several roads and footpaths are impeded by large puddles.

In some cases these may be the result of blocked gulleys

In other cases the cause may be a poorly aligned carriageway.

Either way, the Council needs to add any vulnerable locations to its future maintenance programmes.

Reports can be made on line via the “Report it” system. Click to accesshttps://www.york.gov.uk/reportproblems

Some City centre carriageways have been affected

York residents urged to ‘help change a child’s life’ in 2019

City of York Council is urging local residents to help change a child’s life in 2019 by fostering.

With around 150 children and young people being supported by foster carers in York at any time, the authority is always looking for new foster carers to join the team.

Fostering involves looking after children in a safe and secure environment when they can’t live with their own families.

And as James Lee, from the council’s Fostering Team, explains, they’re not looking for just one type of carer:

“The children and young people who need our care are from a wide range of backgrounds and have very differing needs, so we need foster carers with different experiences and skills to help them. Many people consider fostering when their own children have left home and they have a bit more time and space, while others foster young people alongside their own children. If you have experience of living or working with children and young people, either in a work setting or at home, and think you might be able to help then please do get in touch.”

To find out more about how you can help local children by fostering call 01904 555678 or visit www.york.gov.uk/fostering

York business ordered to pay nearly £20,000 for fly-tipping

An investigation by City of York Council has uncovered and prosecuted a serious case of fly-tipping in the city, as part of Operation Eyeball a multi-agency campaign to tackle illegal waste disposal.

Haizhou Zhou (aged 46 of Outgang Lane, Osbaldwick, York) appeared yesterday [7 May 2019] at York Magistrates, where he pleaded guilty to fly-tipping and a related waste disposal offence.

Mr Zhou and two unknown male accomplices were caught on CCTV arriving at Ocean Corals and Reptiles, Clifton Moor, York, on 26 May 2018.

The three men discarded waste from a hire van into a skip next to the business. The waste included black waste bags, a wooden pallet, strips of plastic, cardboard, and wooden boards.

City of York Council officers noted that some of the waste recovered from the site belonged to Pegasus Textiles, registered as Pegasus World Ltd, Outgang Lane, York, for which Mr Zhou is the company director.

The incident cost the owners of Ocean Corals and Reptiles £228 for an additional skip to get rid of the extra waste.

York Magistrates fined Pegasus Textiles Ltd £13,200 yesterday [7 May 2019], he was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £170 and costs of £1012.64 as well as repayment of the waste costs.

Mr Zhou was fined £3938, ordered to pay a surcharge of £170 and costs of £500, as well as £228 compensation to Ocean Corals and Reptiles.

The council is working with North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Crime team and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to lead on the development of the Operation Eyeball (cross-county work to reduce fly-tipping).

Together, this campaign aims to support communities to find alternative ways to recycle and reuse their waste, rather than resulting to fly-tipping.

To check if a carrier is licenced, visit: https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers or call the Environment Agency on 03708 506 506.

Residents can take waste to our household waste recycling centres – see www.york.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling – or can arrange for the council to collect it via www.york.gov.uk/BulkyWaste. Up to ten items can be taken so why not join together with neighbours?

Sort out sub urban bus shelters plea

Bus passengers in York are calling on the Council to review its bus shelter policies for suburban areas.

A lot of money has been spent on the bus stops on the York City centre in recent years. Hundreds of thousands more will be spent as the area outside the station is remodelled.

but there has been little progress made in providing “next bus due” real time information on most of the network. Even busy routes with inter -urban services like Tadcaster Road lack passenger information (and shelter)

Mobile device systems have been developed but they are not user friendly and often revert to providing just when the timetabled service should arrive.

In Leeds, bus arrival time signs are integrated into shelters.

Some bus shelters are redundant following changes to bus routes which took place several years ago. The shelter below on Tudor Road is an example. The local number 4 service only serves the opposite side of the road on its clockwise route round Acomb. Now all the shelter does is attract anti social behaviour

As a consequence there is a large amount of litter on the near by verge while ponding on the adjacent footpath has never been properly addressed.

Litter next to Tudor Road bus shelter

It is an issue that the various public transport pressure groups in the City have failed to get to grips with.