Figures for the Councils survey into residents preferences for waste collection in the Severus Street and School Street areas have now been published.

The options were:

1. Present black bags at the front of their property (with a storage bin available on request)

2. Present a wheeled bin at the front of their property (NB. houses with forecourts)

3. Keep a wheeled bin on their property for presenting at a central collection point. Residents would have to wheel the bin to the collection point in the morning and return it when it had been emptied. Bins would have to be stored in back yards. Help would be available to move the bins for people with disabilities.

The closing date for the consultation was 23^rd August. The leaflet sent to residents said that if they did not respond then the Council would assume they were happy with the current arrangements.

The breakdown of responses for each street was as follows:

Local Resident Mark Waudby with an ftr 

The sometimes criticised ftr bus service, which runs between Acomb and the University at Heslington, has got a welcome boost as it approaches its 5th birthday.

Launched in York in June 2006, the ftr has become a familiar sight on York’s streets. While the size of the vehicle – which seeks to emulate tram standards of comfort – was not popular with some, regular users of the vehicle have given it the thumbs up in a recent survey.

Organised by local resident Mark Waudby, and with the support of local Councillors Steve Galloway and Andrew Waller, the survey asked users of the service for their verdict.

The survey results reveal that nearly 90% of respondents living in the Foxwood part of the City use the number 4 ftr service.

While 25% felt that the service was not as reliable as it could be, around 80% rated the vehicle as comfortable with a similar percentage saying that they got to their destination quickly.

Most popular feature of the service was the presence of “hosts” (conductors) on board with over 90% liking this part of the service.

Mark Waudby comments, “Although the ftr has been criticised in some quarters, most of the people who actually use the service rate it highly.

The hosts on the service get good marks for customer service while vehicle features, such as air conditioning, set it apart from ordinary buses”.

The 5 year agreement on the use of the ftr in the City comes to an end next year.

Steve Galloway, the Councils executive member who has responsibility for transport in the City, says, ” From a passengers perspective, the ftr will be a hard act to follow, but we are negotiating with First to try to ensure that we continue to have a modern, low emission, public transport fleet operating in the City.

Substantial investments in bus priorities have been made over the last 7 years with recent reductions in journey times, on the Fulford Road corridor, amongst those being recorded.

Further improvements on the number 4 route can be anticipated next year with changes to the Blossom Street traffic signals and additional waiting restrictions being introduced, to speed traffic movements in the area”.

1679 homes in the Foxwood area were surveyed with, so far, 523 responses being received. Not every respondent answered every question

Consultation has started on how access to Hob Moor school can be made safer. Following concerns raised about road safety on Green Lane, it is proposed to introduce warning signing and pedestrian improvements at the main entrance to the School site. These proposals are shown overleaf.

There is little existing signing on Green Lane highlighting the presence of the school. It is therefore proposed to introduce warning signs and road markings similar to those on other arms of the roundabout to ensure that drivers are aware that large numbers of children should be expected at school times.

The multi–use site has several accesses and children travelling from all directions. This results in a lot of pedestrian crossing movements across the vehicular access to the school. Unfortunately, this is also at a point where visibility and footway provision is poor. In order to address this, it is proposed to extend the footway and introduce dropped kerbs to assist pedestrians with pushchairs or mobility aids. In addition, the crossing point will be highlighted with red surfacing.

Our survey is progressing in the Foxwood area.

On the issue of possibly providing 5 a side goal posts on the Tedder Road park, opinion was divided.

56% were in favour while 44% opposed the idea.

Most residents who occupy properties overlooking the park seemed to be opposed so it is unlikely that the proposal will be implemented.

More survey results are available. We had a response rate of over 40%.

The improvements to Acomb Green got the support of 93% of residents

83% backed the idea of converting the York Road pedestrian crossing into a Toucan (which can also be used by cyclists).

86% said that they preferred the new recycling boxes to the old arrangements bags.

Repairing roads and footpaths was the top local priority followed by reopening the Barbican concert hall and providing more affordable homes.

The most popular Coalition government policies are increasing pensions at least in line with inflation, removing workers earning under £10,000 a year from income tax, real terms increases in funding for the NHS and scrapping plans to make people carry I/D cards.

59% of residents had seen a PCSO patrolling in their area

British Heart Foundation 

Dinner in aid of the Lord Mayor of York’s charity appeal

Bengal Brassiere Restaurant, Poppleton Park

Monday 12th July

Tickets £15, direct from the Bengal

Tel: 01904 788808 / 787770

Acomb Green Development Plan (Draft)

The following draft development plan is based upon the Green Flag Award judging criteria, which is the standard management plan structure for formal green spaces across York, and the rest of the country. These management and development proposals aim to bring together the needs and desire of the local community, the City of York Council Parks & Open Spaces Service, The Friends of Acomb Green and the local Ward Committees. Once agreed, we will all then have a shared vision for the Green that we can work towards. Some of the proposals will take significant investment and so should be seen as aspirations rather than firm management commitments.

Please give feedback either direct to the Parks & Open Spaces Service by emailing rangers@york.gov.uk or calling 0777 194 1155, or go through the Friends of Acomb Green by contacting John Henderson (Secretary) at johnhenderson1971@googlemail.com 

The Plan:

A Welcoming Place:
– Improve entrance at NW corner.
– Add extra flag stones or replace existing flags with crushed stone or other hard surface       
– Improve entrance to war memorial to allow disabled access. Current paved entrance is not accessible. Link path to gate at top of play area to enjoy views across the green    
– Add extra barriers at entrances without them to deter children from running straight onto the roads. Simple 1m wide wooden fence set back from the main fence (as in other areas of the green) would suffice (these need to be large enough for scooters and prams)       
– Add just 1 signs to entrances. Format yet to be decided – whether small signs or full size interpretation panels. No need for more than 1 sign.       
– Install more benches but space these out to deter groups hanging out on them. Utilise the existing bench donation scheme to raise funds. Look at the possibility of adding a path inside the fence, around the perimeter of the green 

Healthy, Safe & Secure:       
– Replace concrete steps and assess the possibility of adding a method of pushing cycles up and down (like on the Cinder Lane path)    
– Replace handrails along steps from southern edge   
– Install handrail along steps on northern edge      
– Resurface path inbetween the two steps
– Maintain the ‘thin’ shrub beds around the War Memorial to keep an open feel to deter antisocial behaviour·    
– Add small signs on the exit (facing out) to warn of exit direct onto roads 

Clean & Well Maintained:       
– Remove the privet ‘Daleks’ (single bushes) from bank on southern perimeter.       
– Remove grass and clear mud from the concrete steps
– Gap up privet hedge around war memorial
– Replace or restore damaged bins and dog bins. Paint red dog bin green, like the others on the green.
– Add dog bin to NW corner entrance      
– Paint railings around play area       
– Clean (and paint??) perimeter wooden fence       
– Asses the vehicular entrance gate (half way along western edge) for suitability of hosting larger events such as the summer fair. Does it need a drop kerb or hard surface?       
– Replace missing bench tops at NW corner and in play area       
– Edge off the turf at borders with shrub beds. Carry out at least annually     
– Longer term plan to improve the play equipment in the play area

Sustainability:       
– Re-use woodchips from trees work on shrub beds in war memorial
– If none available, replace wood chips in war memorial with chips from locally felled trees
– Use peat free grown plants when sourcing new plants 

Conservation & Heritage:
– Plant native Bluebells under trees in SW corner of Green      
– Plant extra trees on the banks along southern and northern boundaries       
– Restore the ‘Silver Jubilee’ memorial in the NW corner      
– Add bird boxes and bat boxes to trees around the Green       
– Remove gappy privet hedges from the perimeter       
– Add wildflower plugs to the bank on southern edge. Try to establish a wildflower bank with suitable native species. To be cut and raked in August. Try for a few years before looking at more radical options of establishment     
– Replace the dated street lights along path across the green with something more sympathetic to the green and local area     
– Where safe and appropriate, leave standing dead wood when arboricultural work is necessary 

Community Involvement:
– Continuation of the Friends group. Expand the group to include more local residents.
– Support as needed by the Parks & Open Spaces Service and Ward Committees
– Improve communications between the friends, ward committees and Parks Service.
– Offer educational sessions to local schools and informal sessions with scout groups etc       
– Investigate the possibility of using Brunswick Organic Nurseries to carry out annual management of the wildflower bank       
– Organise work parties as necessary with the Friends group for practical site management       
– Use the Community Payback Team for some site maintenance tasks such as painting railings       
– Organise one summer fair per year       
– Circulate this document throughout the local community for feedback on a shared vision for the green

Marketing:
– Install one interpretation board for the site detailing various points of interest       
– Improve CYC web site information about the green      
– Friends of Acomb Green to develop a web site       
– Friends of Acomb Green to produce a newsletter (annually or more frequent?) to keep members are residents informed

With over 40% of the survey forms now returned from residents living in these areas opinions have become clearer.

There is little support for changes to Green Lane (either road humps or cycle lanes) but there is a lot of backing for the provision of a Vehicle Activated Speed warning sign. We hope to progress this suggestion later in the year.

In Severus Street and Howe Street residents have given their backing to the conversion of the York Road pedestrian crossing into a Toucan Crossing (which will assist cyclists to get across what is a busy road).

Residents  are overwhelmingly opposed to gating the rear alleys and to the introduction of a ResPark scheme. Views are mixed about introducing a 20 mph limit with several residents saying that the street is too short for it to have much effect.