Cycle path still blocked/Future of MUGA

Despite promises by Highways Yorkshire, the cycle path on the A64 slip road next to Pike Hills golf course remains obstructed, The overgrowth problem was reported in June. Shortly afterwards Highways Yorkshire (who are responsible for the path up to the junction with the A1036) tweeted to say that the whole path would be routinely freed of obstructions during July.

That has proved not to be the case.

Now the issue is set to be escalated to the local MP but this really shouldn’t be necessary. A team could clear the hazardous overgrowth (thorn branches) in just a couple of hours.

We hope that the issue is not left to volunteers to tackle. If the government is serious about encouraging sustainable transport – the the very least they should do is maintain existing paths in a useable condition.

UPDATE: Highways Yorkshire have tweeted to say that the path “is due to be cleared in the very near future”

We’ve also reported overgrowth near the cemetery and at the Tesco roundabout (York Council responsibility)

*A64 cycle path blockages and overgrowth at Tesco roundabout.*

MUGA Mugged

Separately we have queried with Councillors representing the Westfield ward what the future of the former Multi User Games Area (MUGA) site off Kingsway West is. It was used as a building compound for a couple of years but was subsequently abandoned.

The expectation was the the area would be leveled and grassed over. At present it is a weed infested eyesore.

The Council mowers studiously avoid cutting the area. They stick religiously to a route outside the line of the MUGA fence (which was removed last year).

If the area isn’t to be maintained as grassland then there is scope for more tree and wildflower planting. Neglect shouldn’t be an option.

Sadly there is still no news of the promised replacement games area. An all-weather surface, to replace what was lost, was due to be provided at the Thanet Road Sports Area, but progress has been glacial.

Hob Moor disabled access gates in working order

Claims were made in the media earlier in the week that access gates at the entrance to Hob Moor were faulty. The gates are intended to allow movement, by people with disabilities, to the path around the moor and have been in use for nearly 20 years. They can be operated using a “RADAR” key. The keys are widely available,

*One Hob Moor access point for disabled users is obstructed by nettles and thistles.*

The gates allow entry for 3 and 4 wheel specialist machines and wheelchairs although the configuration may be awkward for some types of cycle.

There is an adjacent pedestrian “kissing gate” as well as a separate lane for conventional cycles.

There are 6 gates positioned at key points around the perimeter of the moor. They were installed many years ago as part of a configuration which was aimed at preventing access by off road motorcycles. The motorcycles had become a major source of irritation to nearby residents. The motorcyclists had also caused disruption to wildlife (particularly ground nesting birds) and flora on the moor.

The design also aimed to secure the moor for cattle grazing.

Generally the arrangements achieved their objective, with much of Hob Moor now a peaceful haven for wildlife.

The gate mechanisms were all working correctly yesterday.

One gate near Hob Moor Drive was obstructed by weeds and nettles and this has been referred to a local Councillor for attention.

There is some pressure for improvements. The equipment needs to be repainted. There is a suggestion that there should be a trial removal of one of the “plinths” at a cycle access point. This would allow cyclists to move more freely through the dedicated lane without the risk of getting a bent pedal.

More ambitious is a proposal to replace the RADAR keys with an electronic version which could also involve powered gates. Such options were not available 20 years ago when the gates were designed. The proposal would be expensive to implement

There will be some who think that the top priority should be to ensure that maintenance standards on existing routes are improved. This would include an improved inspection regime, the systematic removal of overgrowth and repairs to signs/lineage.

The same could also be said of the obstructed cycle and footpaths which can be found in other parts of the City.

Music-making kit seized to silence noise nuisance in Thoresby Road area

Equipment used to play overly loud music day and night has been seized following complaints, repeated warnings and formal notices to the owners.

Complaints about two separate households in two blocks of apartments in the Westfield Ward included the volume and frequency of music. People found their sleep was being affected by the noise, and working from home was made more difficult.

Following advice, warnings and formal notices being issued to the people playing the music, City of York Council applied for warrants from York Magistrates Court. Visiting the flats last week, officers from City of York Council and North Yorkshire Police seized stereos, speakers, TVs and other items ahead of ASB Awareness Week (19-23July).

Working with the victims, council officers gathered evidence of the nuisance they suffered. Officers were told that the noise was so loud they were disturbed night and day unable to work from home during the pandemic, or watch TV in the evening or even sleep in their beds at night.

Noise recording equipment installed over five days provided evidence of nine incidents of serious noise nuisance going on for hours at a time, with the perpetrator listening to TV music channels at full blast.

More confusion over cycle path improvements

Part of the planning approva,l for the provision of sports pitches on land off Tadcaster Road/Sim Balk Lane, was that improvements had to be made to the cycle track link to the Park and Ride site. Users of the pitches would use parking spaces at the P & R site and then walk to the changing rooms. Details of the improvement works had to be agreed by the Council and published before building work started. This didn’t happen but, before the pitches can be used, improvements must be implemented.

A new application was published on the Councils “Planning on Line” web site a few weeks ago. It purported to give details of the way in which condition 14 of the original application would be fulfilled. However, no details of the proposals (understood to include some resurfacing work and better lighting) were included.

The application has some additional significance as a certificate of completion for the new pitches can’t be issued until the work is completed. Completion of the pitches is a planning condition attached to the Council’s housing development at Lowfield.

The condition said that homes there couldn’t be occupied until the replacement pitches were brought into use.

Not withstanding this, the Council announced in the media yesterday that the home s at Lowfields were being occupied. No attempt seems to have been made by the Councils housing arm (Shape Homes) to discharge the condition or have the planning permission amended.

The muddle is now subject to a formal complaint to the Councils planning enforcement team.

Meanwhile more bad news for cyclists. The cycle path which runs adjacent to the A64 slip road near the Pike Hills golf course remains blocked. Some mowing has taken place next to the dual carriageway but the slip road area has been ,missed.

We’re not sure whether this was just an oversight or whether a “demarcation dispute” is taking place between Highways Yorkshire and the York Council?

Either way, cyclists currently need PPE to negotiate the nettles, brambles and thistles which impede the path.

*Tadcaster Road cycle path still obstructed*

Action taken

We’ve reported several issues in the Westfield area.

These include;

A black bag dumped at the entrance to Chesneys Field (which is insecure and being user by Travellers to access their camp site)
Broken glass on the Gale Lane footpath
Litter under the Chesneys Field play equipment
The council bus shelters on Foxwood Lane (which are filthy)
A full litter bin on Cornlands Road
Weed growth on the public footpath at the junction of Cornlands Road and Askham Lane

Really about time the York Council told residents more about its bin emptying problems.

Below is the latest update on waste collection taken from the Councils web site. Waste collection updates – City of York Council

Some green bins have been out on the streets for emptying for a full week in the Foxwood area. They were supposed to be emptied during a “catch up” last Thursday but nothing happened.

It seems that even local Councillors don’t know what is going to happen and when.

While residents will understand if an absence of HGV drivers, or crews being “pinged” by the NHS app, is to blame, they deserve to be told what to do with their bins.

Currently it is the equivalent of a green bin “hokey cokey”.

The Council spends a lot of money on its communications team.

In this case communication systems simply aren’t working.

Waste collection and other problems mount for York residents

Anyone reading the agenda for todays City of York Council meeting may mistake it for a meeting of a University debating society. Verbose, borderline pompous, motions and amendments dominate the agenda.

As the first face to face meeting of the authority since coronavirus struck, there has been plenty of time to fashion an agenda which talks to the people of the City.

Instead we have are offered the spectacle of Council members essentially having a chat with each other.

The City’s day to day problems may as well be taking place on another planet.

https://www.york.gov.uk/WasteCollectionUpdates

The meeting is, for the first time, being held at the racecourse. Perhaps bookmakers will be on hand to offer odds on anything useful emerging as the race reaches the final furlong at 10:00pm?

Earlier in the week, the Councillor responsible for waste collection held a special meeting to discuss the pressing issue of the release of “Chinese lanterns” in the City. The opportunity to also discuss the backlog in refuse collection was missed.

Yet hundreds of unemptied green bins currently adorn our streets.

Earlier a controversial change in the playground refurbishment programme was agreed at a “behind closed doors” meeting. Emergency “delegation” powers – which allow officers to make decisions without consultation or democratic input – were exploited.

The opposition claim (with some justification) to be outraged by the decision. Have they found a way of holding those responsible to account? Apparently not, judging by tonight’s agenda.

With (rightly or wrongly) COVID restrictions being lifted from Monday, the Councils top priority should now be to end the emergency powers and introduce effective governance arrangements.

In the real world, taxpayers expect basic public standards to be maintained.

It is not just the York Council that is out of touch.

Sad to report that, as of yesterday, the promised work to remove overgrowth obstructions from the A64/Tadcaster Road cycle path had not been completed by Highways/Yorks or the Council.

*Obstructions on Tadcaster Road cycle path*

The lack of action contrasts with the panic decisions taken last spring when roads and car parks were closed in order to allow “social distancing” on paths which were already much wider than those which are currently obstructed.

Acomb Moor right of way plan to be published this week?

A report to a Council meeting* taking place next week (20/7/21) promises that the long delayed decision, which will lead to the confirmation that a public right of way (PROW) exists across Acomb Moor, will be progressed over the next 7 days.

The proposal that a PROW exists was lodged, by the local residents association, with the Council in 2018. It was supported by “evidence of use” forms supplied by many local people. The route links Foxwood Lane to Osprey Close and forms part of a popular walking and exercise route for residents. It also offers a short cut from Acomb Wood to Acomb via Askham Lane.

The meeting will consider the progress being made on several PROW applications including those in Dunnington, Heslington, Naburn, Heworth, Westfield (Acomb Moor), and three orders in Skelton. The report says “publicity for the making of these orders will be happening at the time of the decision session or shortly after”.

The Council last considered the issue in November 2019 at which point they determined to make an order.

Nothing has happened since, with the Council blaming inadequate staff resources for the delay. In the interim – for the first time in over 30 years – the field on Foxwood Lane was put to crop.

An attempt was also made to block the access to the moor. This followed years of neglect of the stile structure. A tree truck was used to obstruct an access which had been in use for over 40 years.

With the pandemic making outside exercise an even more important aspect of daily life, informal access arrangements sprang up at several points along the field boundary. The path around the field (but not across it) continued to be well used.

However, access for the less ambient and disabled became impossible.

The Council failed to take any enforcement action against the owners.

The Council will now make the order and there will be a period of 6 weeks during which objections can be lodged. If any are unresolved, the matter would be referred to the Secretary of State for a final decision.

All in all, the Councils effectiveness in dealing with this issue has been less than impressive. Lets hope that some progress can be made quickly now and that access arrangements to the moor can be regularised.

*The meeting is open to the public. Representations can be made by Email to the responsible executive Councillor (cllr.adagorne@york.gov.uk) or in person (to register, contact Robert Flintoft Telephone – (01904) 555704 Email – robert.flintoft@york.gov.uk).

Cycle paths still obstructed

Mixed news about getting local paths cleared of overgrowth

*The SUSTRANs cycle track near Riccall has now been cut back. Unfortunately the section of track in Bishopthorpe (near Coggan Way) is still overgrown with nettles in places*

Meanwhile the York Council is now claiming that they are not responsible for keeping the cycle track, which is located next to the slip road from the A64, clear of obstructions. The Council did actually cleared similar problems this time last year.

We will be very disappointed if this turns out to be a jurisdiction stand off between the York Council and Highway Yorkshire. The latter is responsible for maintaining the cycle path along the side of the trunk road.

Too many blocked cycle paths

It happens each year, but we are still waiting for improvements to maintenance standards on local cycle routes.

The media were asking earlier in the week why people are put off cycling?

One reason is poor infrastructure maintenance.

Cycle paths are particualrly vulnerable to overgrowth causing obstructions. It the growth is nettles or thorn bushes then some may simply tur back.

These are some current examples of obstructions