Liberal Democrat campaigners Reuban Mayne and Andrew Waller have hit out at the recycling chaos that is hitting Acomb and Westfield. This weekend the recycling banks in Acomb’s Morrison Supermarket car park have been so overflowing that bottles have been left strewn around and a shopping trolley has acted as an overflow for the paper banks.

The need to empty the banks was reported to the council on Wednesday (Report ref 101721085), and yet they have not responded.

Reuban Mayne said “On the closure notice for Beckfield Lane ‘Tip’ the Labour council is urging residents to come to this supermarket car park to leave their recycling yet they cannot get it right even before it is shut. No wonder the petition has now broken the 3,000 signature barrier – the people can see that a proper recycling site is needed in the West of York.”

Andrew Waller said “It is clear that the council has abandoned ‘York Pride’ standards and is in the process of abandoning Acomb. It is unfair to the supermarket, and it is a hazard having all of this paper and glass around in a car park on a Bank Holiday weekend. This is going to put people off when Front Street it needs all the trade it can get. ”

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With the Labour Council keen to implement their manifesto “promises” – no matter what the safety or financial consequences – it seems that they now intend to impose a City-wide 20 mph speed limit.
It is an issue which divides the City although polls reveal that over 65% of residents oppose a blanket speed limit reduction.

At present the council implements what is considered to be the most appropriate speed limit for individual stretches of road. Potential accident risks are taken into account. Most schools and shopping areas now have 20 mph limits. In addition, traffic calming (road humps) were introduced in areas like Foxwood and Gale Lane where accident levels were high.

The policy has contributed to a gradual reduction in the numbers killed or seriously injured on roads in York. Very few of the accidents occurred in residential areas and those that did were distributed on a random basis. In no case could any be traced to an endemic problem with high speeds.

The pros and cons of a blanket reduction in the speed limit have been debated at length. But the most telling point is that the Police have consistently said that they simply don’t have the resources to routinely enforce such a limit. Instead they intend to concentrate their resources on accident black spots. They have had a lot of success with their mobile speed cameras which initially revealed a shocking disregard for the speed limits (60/70 mph) on some of our major roads (the A1237 and the A64 for example).

Against that background a trial of 20 mph zones in various areas was introduced. These included an area in Fishergate and the Milner Street/Gladstone Street area in Acomb. In both cases vehicle speeds were already very low. (more…)