Westfield school community garden and allotments update

Westfield Schools Community Garden construction was done with York Cares (who co-ordinate volunteers from York businesses) and Miller Construction (who are building the new Council HQ and keen to enagage with the city – and have also donated gardening tools). The scheme will be supported for the next five years by the Big Lottery Fund “Sustainability/Get Growing” team.

The school has been keen to respond to the local demand for allotment places that are in short supply as ‘growing your own’ becomes more popular. There is the opportunity to expand the area under cultivation once the first set of plots are in full occupation. Pupils are parents are being engaged, and there are meetings for parents and carers on 1st and 2nd November.

Andrew Waller digs deep for Westfield

Grange Lane public right of way

Grange Lane entrance to public right of way


The footpath linking Grange Lane to the ring road (and beyond) is still accessible. However it lacks any signage and so many residents may be unaware of its existence. (The sign used to indicate the new access to the Grange Lane park could usefully be moved to the start of this path!)
Unfortunately, Council officials have failed, when reopening the path which had been blocked for several years, to ensure that each end was secured by using either kissing gates or stiles. There is a dangerous gradient at the ring road end which led to a young cyclist being killed at that junction a few years ago.

Ring road entrance to footpath link to Grange Lane

Civic vandals at work again

Grange Lane park access blocked by Council


Civic vandals at work again
Council officials have been blamed for trying to barricade the old entrance to the Grange Lane park. The attack came only a few days after a new entrance, a few metres away, was described by local residents as an expensive and unnecessary “folly”.
Now officials are trying to force pedestrians into using the new path even though there is no bitmaced surface and the “poop scoop” bin is still located next to the old access.
With wetter weather on the way, the new access is likely to become muddy and unusable before the winter is out.
The trail of Council damage now extends to the bottom of the park where a new hole has also been punched into the boundary hedge there.
Neither access is protected from abuse by motorcyclists whose presence was a major source of complaint before access gates were fitted a few years ago.

Damage to Grange Lane hedge - Westfield Place end

Dithering on Cornlands Park security

One of the park entrances which could have been locked at night


The developers of the new bungalows on Cornlands Road have made £7452 available which could be used to secure the adjacent Cornlands Road park at night. The plan to improve security was a Liberal Democrat initiative and dates back to 2009 when anti social behaviour levels peaked.
Public consultation, undertaken by the Council in February, revealed 90% of local residents favoured the scheme which would also have involved providing railings round the outside of the park.
Later there may have been improvements to the park itself including new play equipment.
Originally it had been proposed to divert the public right of way which crosses the park but council officials favoured using a “gating order” instead saying that it would have the same effect.
Now the Council is backtracking on its promise, with the new Labour Councillors for the area dithering on dealing with anti social behaviour issues.

More deaths or spend an extra 2 minutes on a journey?

The York Council has a good track record over recent years in reducing the numbers killed or seriously injured on our roads.

Road accidents in York click to enlarge


Recent decisions though suggest that someone has taken their eye off the ball.
The foolishness of devoting up to £1 million on signing a citywide 20 mph speed limit has already been highlighted.
But a recent Council report, which looked into the implications for reintroducing a left turn, general traffic lane at the Water End/Clifton Green junction, revealed no serious accidents had taken place on or near there since the cycle path was introduced.
Yet the Council has decided to consult on spending at least £15,000 changing this safe layout into one where accidents are – on the basis of professional advice – more likely to happen.
It is an example of a political party pandering to popular sentiment in order to get cheap votes ………….and then lacking the courage to admit they were wrong.
Although there are delays at this junction at peak times, they have reduced since additional capacity was provided at the A19 ring road junction a few months ago. More relief will come when the A59 junction is improved.
For much of the day Clifton Green has free flow traffic conditions and some further refinement of traffic light sequences, particularly on Saturdays, could bring about more improvement.
But surely there is no case for digging up the road again.

Clifton Green

Westfield Security patrols scrapped

Labour have blocked the appointment of a new Community Ranger patrol contractor. After 10 years the mobile security patrols have disappeared from Westfield’s Streets.
Residents are not even being given the opportunity to vote for the continuation of the patrols as the option does not appear on this years Ward Committee ballot paper which was delivered to householders a couple of weeks ago.(Instead there are a plethora of applications for grants to organisations many of which don’t even have a presence in the area).
Time and time again security and action to reduce crime levels have topped residents priority lists. The resulting action – including the Ranger patrols – has been a drop in crime to record low levels.
Now that progress is being put in jeopardy as Westfield is dragged down to the same level as Wards like Heworth where patrols were scrapped, by the Councillors there, a few years ago.
The last Ranger contractor went into administration at the beginning of the year and Council officials were asked to find a local replacement. The main duty of the Rangers – who patrolled the area in vehicles fitted with mobile CCTV cameras – was to secure vulnerable locations such as playgrounds at nightfall. Many of these areas are now being left open with vandalism and late night noise a growing issue.
This is a very short sighted policy and it is little short of outrageous that residents are being denied the chance to vote for continuation of the patrols. Sadly it appears to be another example of the current regimes indifference to residents views.

Westfield security patrols being launched in 2001

American Courts

These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and now published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said , ‘Where am I, Cathy?’
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!

ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.

ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No , I just lie there.

ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis , does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget..
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?

ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?
WITNESS: We both do.
ATTORNEY: Voodoo?
WITNESS: We do..
ATTORNEY: You do?
WITNESS: Yes , voodoo.

ATTORNEY: Now doctor , isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep ,he doesn’t know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He’s 20, much like your IQ.

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you shitting me?

ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Getting laid.

ATTORNEY: She had three children , right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death..
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I’m going with male.

ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.

ATTORNEY: Doctor , how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All of them.. The live ones put up too much of a fight.

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral , OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral…

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?

And last:
ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No..
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.