All issue will be reported. We expect to have some good news to report later this afternoon!
Vandalism and litter disappointment
What’s on in York: Great Foxwood Spring Clean continues today at 2:00pm
Great British Spring Clean success in Foxwood and Woodthorpe
Volunteers have been busy over the weekend with both the Foxwood and Woodthorpe shopping area forecourts have been cleared of weeds and detritus. Makes a big difference.
What’s on in York: “Great Foxwood Spring Clean” starts today
Council to fund clean up projects in “high streets”
The York Council has announced that it will help to fund 3 projects which support the governments initiative to help “High Streets”.
Two of the projects are located in the Westfield ward
The York BID will get an additional £27,300 for York City Centre Cleaning
The Friends of Acomb Green will get £4,500 for a Community Clean Up Day
Acomb Alive gets a £1,200 boost which is to be used for improving seat furniture.
The Council says that it is supporting the extension of existing grant beneficiaries as there “wasn’t time to seek fresh bids before the governments deadline”.
Great Foxwood Spring Clean starts on Saturday
Lowfields problems continue
No response yet from the site liaison officer following residents’ concerns about delivery arrangements at the Lowfields development site. Concerns about the impact that the large spoil mountains are having on the local environment have also still to be addressed.
At a planning committee meeting earlier in the week some progress was made on the plans to create 5 new parking spaces on Tudor Road.
The Lowfields Action Group Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LowfieldsActionGroup/ reports that officials have confirmed that the contractor responsible for building the new access road will also construct the parking spaces as part of the same contract. Although they said that the work would be done “at the same time” no planning condition was included requiring the 3 new “on street” parking spaces to be constructed before the existing ones are lost.
The Council as both the owner and developer of the site could have offered a unilateral agreement on this but failed to do so.
Cllr Andrew Waller was the only Westfield ward representative to speak up on behalf of residents. He said that the parking spaces to the rear of 108 Tudor Road were too close to the property. He also asked that improvements be made at the Tudor Road /Gale Lane junction.
The discussion about the Yorspace development was a disappointing. Councillors completely failed to challenge the claim that the proposed homes will be “affordable”. The developer claims they will be “affordable” The Councils own housing officer has confirmed that they will not.
This contradiction remains unexplained.
A Freedom of Information request on a related issue is still outstanding. A response is due on Monday,
No convincing answers given on car parking arrangements. The 12 spaces will not be adequate to cater for the needs of all occupiers and visitors. Overflow parking will therefore further compromise space on Tudor Road, Green Lane and Kingsthorpe. The developers say that occupiers of the building “will not be allowed to own a car” and that all vehicles using the provided spaces will be “communally owned”.
We doubt very much whether they will be able to enforce such a rule.
The only good thing to come out of the debate was an offer from the developer to look again at boundary treatments. They seem to be backing away for the idea of removing the railings. The railings offer good security while permitting the movement of small mammals like hedgehogs.
New fines for householders ignoring their duty of care
Householders who are indirectly guilty of fly-tipping because they failed to check that the waste carrier they hired was properly licensed, may be issued with £250 fixed penalty notice.
Previously anyone committing this offence would be liable for prosecution alongside the fly-tipper themselves.
The new fine, agreed yesterday, allows a more proportionate penalty and can be reduced to £150 if paid within 10 days of issue. It also gives the offender an alternative to prosecution and so avoid a criminal record should they be found guilty. Offenders who do not pay the fine will be prosecuted and so risk a significantly higher fine or sentencing by the courts.
Two-thirds of fly-tips throughout the country contain household waste. This new fixed penalty is the latest development to deter fly-tipping in York. It supports both Keep Britain Tidy’s #CrimeNotToCare which City of York Council launched in January 2018, and the regional, rurally-focused Operation Eyeball campaign which started last summer. These are both backed by regular enforcement action run by the council along with North Yorkshire Police and DVLA to deter illegal waste movement and disposal.
Check if a carrier is licenced at 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?
First day of spring and some good news
The first day of spring sees some daffodils blooming on Askham Lane. The Council has cut back the hedge to allow improved visibility from the bus shelter. That’s good progress after the problems that there have been in recent years.
A little further long Askham Lane, near the flats, we understand that the Council may start to install, the much delayed, parking lay-by in the next few days. If true, it is another piece of good news following years of frustration with parking problems.
.. more litter reports today
Meanwhile edging of all the paths in the Foxwood Lane Court area have been completed.
