Call for clarity on public service standards from York Council

Perhaps not surprisingly, the change in political control of the York Councils affairs has produced an hiatus in decision making. The published forward programme of decisions which need to be made is very thin (click to link)

They new Council Leadership is perhaps wise to be cautious and to avoid the impulsive decision making, in the wake of election euphoria, which has been the undoing of some previous administrations

However, over a month after the polls, residents are little wiser on who now has responsibility for overseeing the different aspects of Council policy and performance. All we have are vague – and seemingly controversial in some quarters – job titles.

The result is a lack of clarity with crucial street level public service standards under pressure. Surprisingly few of the new intake of Councillors have so far communicated direct with the people who elected them. A “thank you for your support” leaflet was de rigueur until recently.

As we reported yesterday, some haven’t even included a contact telephone number on their Council web page yet (click link) NB. Councillors are recompensed for telephone costs through the “basic allowance” that they receive.

Meanwhile there are issues across the whole City which should be resolved quickly. The Councils PR team should be tasked with informing residents what will happen, when and to what quality.

Paths obstructed by overgrown hedges
Grass not cut (Bishopgate Street)
Weeds blighting streets
Verges need cutting

Weeds making Front Street shopping area look neglected

Weed growth is becoming a significant problem in many streets in York. None more than in the Front Street shopping area. This is a shame as it would take little effort to tackle the issue. It would be within the capabilities of volunteers.

The neglect brings into question the sincerity of the Council who claim to want to reinvigorate retail areas.

Weeds on Front Street
More neglect

We’ve also reported fly posting on the nearby noticeboard.

Tackle root causes!

Residents rightly become irritated when they report public service problems and either they take a long time to clear up or the issue occurs again very soon afterwards.

This is particularly frustrating when potholes reopen and gullies become blocked immediately there is a shower of rain

We think that the York Council needs to get to the root causes of some issues.

They currently spend a lot of money clearing up fly tipping but have been very tardy in advertising the bulky waste collection service the cost of which was reduced substantially in April.

Recurrent litter problems occur on some snickets. It should be possible to identify, and fine, offenders. In some cases the littering is happening everyday.

Full litter bins like this one in Cornlands Road add to problems

Snickets off Tennent Road are regularly littered

The Tithe Close snicket is littered on most days
Its not just urban roads that suffer from littering. This Is Bland Lane near Knapton
Local Councillors should arrange for gated alleys – like this in Jute Road – to be cleaned from time to time
Bedding has been dumped on the playground on Cornlands Road

BIFFA bin taking root in Acomb?

A full BIFFA bin has been abandoned in the little Green Lane garage area in Acomb. It has been there for over 4 weeks. The bins is stuffed high with black bags.

The garage area is owned by the York Council but is rarely inspected and even more rarely cleaned up.

Hopefully whoever rented this bin will get it removed quickly.

  • Biffa bin abandoned in Green Lane garage area
We’ve reported black bags left next to the litter big on Hamilton Drive West

Some verges haven’t been cut this year and are looking untidy. We have reported those on Foxwood Lane and Bellhouse Way
Weeds are growing on the path and road at the end of Sherringham Drive. The Council has not yet published when it hopes to schedule weed treatments this summer.
Work has started on the demolition of Windsor House. There is still a lot of confusion about this project with additional costs scheduled to be discussed at a Council meeting taking place on 16th June. There has still been no update on the plans to relocate the children’s all weather play area.

Anger mounts as York Council ignores complaints about spoil heap on Front Street

As reported earlier in the week, residents living next to the Library in Acomb were dismayed to find that demolition contractors had taken over the adjacent Council owned land. The trespass apparently formed part of the plan to build on the bowling club

Plan shows Council owned site which has been bulldozed

Several days later and things are even worse.

A 4 metre high mound of spoil has now appeared. It is only feet from the gardens of nearby homes

Spoil heap is nearly 4 metres high

The Council appears to have done nothing other than send an environmental protection officer to the site to make an inspection.

The Council has remained tight lipped about whether they have granted permission for the work and whether the actions of the contractor breach planning regulations.

There are also questions about whether the activities conflict with the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

There are complaints about early morning activities. Construction work on the bowling club site is conditioned not start until after 8:00am,.

It is very disappointing that the Council has not acted more promptly to reassure residents about what is going on.

Not a good start for the authorities new Executive members of whom we had expected better.

Greening of York

No, not a reference to the influence of the Green Party.

More the steady advance of weeds on amenity paving areas, back lanes, snickets and on footpaths. Weed growth is heavily influenced by weather conditions, of course, but the Council doesn’t help by being secretive about when they have scheduled weed treatments for this year. Treatment hasn’t always been effective in the past.

Weeds gaining a foothold in back lanes
Footpaths already reduced in width
Self seeded trees allowed to damaged boundary railings and adjacent public footpaths
Weeds and unswept gutters let down local streets
More weeds – not treated last year
Weeds are growing rapidly on some uncut verges

Foxwood woman fined for dog offence

Two women sentenced following noise complaints against dogs

Two dog owners in York were ordered to pay a total of £2421.74 by York Magistrates on 7 May after failing to comply with the conditions of a noise abatement notice.

Lesley Smith (aged 62 of Hinton Avenue, Foxwood, York) received multiple complaints from neighbours in 2016 following continuous disturbances from her four dogs in the early hours of the morning.

Ms Smith’s dogs were also left outside for up to two hours on an evening, causing further noise disturbance to the neighbours despite numerous warnings, an abatement notice and a caution being issued.

City of York Council Neighbourhood Enforcement Officers carried out surveillance of a property belonging to Samantha Flower (aged 42 of Lincoln Street, Leeman Road, York), after they received multiple complaints from neighbours in 2017.

Council officers employed noise monitoring equipment and noted over 15 barks in one minute after 11pm during a visit to Miss Flower’s property in February 2019.

Appearing at York Magistrates on 7 May, Miss Flower pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the conditions of a noise abatement notice and was fined £120, ordered to pay costs of £100 as well as a surcharge of £30.

Ms Smith pleaded guilty by post to failing to comply with the conditions of a noise abatement notice and was fined £450, ordered to pay costs of £1676.94 as well as a surcharge of £45.

York river bank needs a tidy up

With the City economy now so dependent on visitors the Council and its partners needs to up its game and give some public areas a face-lift.

Graffiti on Scarborough Bridge
Flood barrier work and graffiti next the Ouse. One of the first things rail travellers see as they enter the City
Missing fencing on Dam Judy Dench Walk – reported several weeks ago – still hasn’t been repaired
while the Lendal Bridge steps need a coat of paint.
Hopefully any investment in public service standards in the City centre won’t be at the expense of the suburbs. Here graffiti and detritus blight Kingsway North
Hopefully the Council will persuade more businesses to “adopt” roundabouts in the City.

No way to treat a nature reserve

The wooded area next to the Grange Lane park is littered with rubbish again. The area is home to a wide selection of wildlife. It should be treated with more respect.

Ironically the park itself – often the source of complaints about litter in the past – is reasonably tidy at present.

We are now coming up to the second anniversary of our request to the Council to repaint the goals posts on the Westfield Park.

The Council is seemingly keen to encourage healthy living. The least it could do is keep sports facilitates in good condition

Westfield park

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?