Good to see that the nettles which were overgoing the public footpath on Foxwood Lane have been cut back by the Council. The weeds had been reported for attention following an incident when a passing toddler was badly stung.
Cllr Sinmon Daubeney tells us that the next round of weed killing in local gutters will commence on 1st July. It may take around 3 weeks to complete the whole City.
This is useful information for residents to have and could usefully be added to the Councils social media channels along with progress reports on grass cutting, pothole filling, waste collection and other local public services.
Foxwood Park wildflower meadow
The meadow wild flowers that were planted by local residents association volunteers last year are now blooming in the Foxwood Park. They make a useful contribution to the areas pollinator strategy.
Ashbourne Way, Thoresby Road and Ashford Place
We’ve asked the Council to sweep the gutters in Asbourne Way, remove litter for an area in Thoresby Road and fill in a long standing pothole in Ashford Place
We were pleased to see that some public service in the Westfield area have improved over the last 7 days.
The Council have responded promptly to reports of problems with litter and fly tipping.
Most amenity areas have now had a, long overdue, visit from the mower although the length of the cuttings has itself caused a problem. They will look much tidier if they get a scheduled second cut within the next 3 weeks.
Elsewhere, several of the blocked drainage channels on the Chapelfields estate have been cleaned. These were mainly located on the inside of the traffic build outs.
They need to be swept regularly to avoid a build up of detritus and weeds.
Before and after. Drainage gullies cleared.
Some progress in cleaning channels on Barkston Avenue but but warning post will need to be replaced.
The Front Street shopping area was looking tidier yesterday.
We’re still waiting to learn of the results of the survey into the future of the area. An improvement budget of £1/2 million has been promised.
However, it is good to see that the back lane between Front Street and Beaconsfield Street is currently largely free of weeds and litter.
Beaconsfield Street back lane and Front Street
One remaining issue remains the reliability of the waste collection service. The Council says that it has recruited two new drivers and that this should ease the problem in future.
The Foxwood Residents Associartion is delivering a “Fox” newsletter to every househod in the area.
It includes an interesting article on he history of brick making on land now called Chesney’s Field. The article reveals that several buildings in Acomb used bricks from the works. Many are still standing.
Brick making started in 1880 and continued well into the 20th century.
The area was leveled 30 years ago and is currently well used by sports teams and for children’s play.
We understand that chidren from Hob Moor school are planning to “adopt” part of Chesney’s Field and help to keep it clean
We hope that the Council will improve its grass cutting performance.. It is not just parts of Chesney’s field which are becoming overgrown. The sports pitches, in particular, need regular mowing if they are to be used by young people during the summer holidays.
It seems that, despite all the delays, the position for those wanting to park at the new Community Stadium car park remains confused
Although “Better Leisure” tell drivers on their web site to buy a match day ticket in advance from either the Knights or (later in the summer) York City FC, there appears to be no on-line purchase option currently available. This could lead to unnecessary parking in nearby residential areas although many will no doubt restrict their stay to the 2 hour maximum currently enforced across the site.
Any issues need to be sorted out quickly now. Not everyone is yet comfortable with using public transport while car parking income from the 400 allocated match day spaces, is needed to help balance the books on the hugely expensive project.
New bus shelter (left) Temporary bus stop still in use (right)
Good to see that the replacement bus shelter in Ascot Way has finally arrived. It was supposed to be available from the autumn when the adjacent building works were completed. Looks very tidy.
The actual bus stop has not yet been moved back to its original location and is still located round the corner.
Disappointing to see that the Ashford Place street sign has not been realigned. It continues to point to part of Windsor Garth. It was reported for attention over 2 months ago. Similarly potholes on Ashford Place itself – also reported some time ago – have still not been marked up for attention.
Foxwood Community Centre wildflower garden
Better news in Foxwood where volunteers have planted up wildflowers as part of a campaign to help pollinators (bees etc.). Good display now outside the community centre and in part of the Foxwood park.
The easing of lockdown restrictions offers the Council an opportunity to try to restore public service standards at least to the level seen in previous, pre-pandemic, years.
Some services are under particular pressure with potholes taking far too long to fill in.
Potholes in Ashford Place, reported several months ago, have still not been filled
Similarly estate management standards have fallen. At this time of year a regular checks needs to be made to ensure that roads and paths are not blocked and that access road surfaces are kept clear of moss and detritus.
Access roads need to be kept free of obstructions
One of the reasons for the decline may be the failure of the Council to fill three of its Housing Management posts. These are the posts that manage individual Council housing estates. They are very much the public face of the Council in their local neighbourhoods.
At least one of the posts has been vacant since last year.
Yet it does not appear among the 57 job vacancies currently being advertised by the Council, none of which are in the housing department. City of York Council Jobs (click)
Simon Daubeney clean up at Foxwood shops
Lack of budget cannot be an excuse for inaction . The housing account makes a surplus of several million pounds each year.
Elsewhere, local Councillor Simon Daubeney undertook a welcome clean up at the Foxwood shops on Saturday.
He will have found and reported the overturned salt bin.
The area has been subject recently to increased levels of vandalism.
The residents association have suspended maintenance of the planters following damage to the plants.
A Great British Spring Clean litter pick is scheduled to take place on Saturday 12th June.
It is disappointing to see that some potholes – many deep enough to pose a hazard for cyclists – are not being filled in quickly by the Council.
Residents were told that an additional pothole filling team would reduce the time taken to deal with this issue, but apparently this isn’t the case.
We hope that the Council is on top of seasonal issues with path side nettles and thorn bushes. These are a hazard for pedestrians. They need to be treated before they obstruct public footpaths
Most routine issues like those below should receive attention within a few days. If not, we recommend that you ask your local Councillors to pursue them.
We’ve reported obstructed footpaths on Askham Lane, potholes at the top of Foxwood Lane and litter on Tithe Close
One of the positive actions taken by the present Council was its decision to delegate to local Ward Councillors a budget to be spent repairing local roads and footpaths.
The Councils main repairs budget – which is inadequate to maintain standards – is focused on the busiest highways.
Some sub-urban roads haven’t been resurfaced for over 60 years.
Against that background, local Councillors have found it increasingly difficult to justify to local residents the growing number of potholes and ruts often found on local roads.
In 2019, they were given a modest “pot” which could be used to address the worst of the complaints.
It has taken a long time for the programme to get going, but now a series of “decisions” on how the funding will be spent are finding their way on to the Councils web site.
It has to be said that the process is largely impenetrable with no central schemes list being updated (and viewable by residents).
The latest list of proposals covers several wards. The investment decisions are likely to be of more interest to local taxpayers than many more high profile issues which seem to exercise the Councils media relations team.
In Westfield, the local Councillors have opted to allocated £20,000 towards the repair of back lanes in the Beaconsfield Street, Milner Street and Gladstone Street area.
They are right to do so.
A resurfacing programme, which was started some 20 years ago, stalled leaving the lanes very uneven and with a patchwork appearance. The lanes are mostly paved with traditional setts. These are very hard wearing but hugely expensive to relay.
We suspect that the available budget will allow only the worst of the uneven stretches of lane to be resurfaced probably using a bitmac overlay.
One other consequence is likely to be that the poor condition of the main highways in the area will become more apparent. School Street has been a particular embarrassment for some years.
Back lanes and carriageways are in poor condition in parts of Acomb.
Hopefully more funding will be found for the resurfacing of minor roads in future years.
