We reported earlier in the summer that several traffic island had become overgrown. This was partly due to an accumulation of silt. It appears that the islands were not being hand-swept.
The Council is now beginning to catch up with a programme aimed at clearing the islands of detritus. Those on Foxwood Lane, for example, are now looking tidy.
A more structured approach to street cleansing is needed though as some islands, including those on the A1237, are not being routinely cleansed
Street cleansing standards on the Chapelfields estate do vary a lot.
Elsewhere the Foxwood Residents Association is set to discuss street cleansing standards in their neighbourhood at their monthly meeting which is being held tomorrow. Residents have questioned whether the sweeping frequencies, promised by the Council on its web site, are actually being undertaken.
Maps showing how often individual streets should be manually or mechanically cleansed are published on the Councils web site.
The Council have removed weeds and overhanging branches from the little Green Lane garage area. We had asked for the work to be done earlier in the summer when the area was becoming overgrown.
We hope that in future the area will be routinely kept clear of weeds, detritus and obstacles.
Mixed outlook on several outstanding public service issues in west York
We’ve reported a broken utility sign at the top of Grange LaneExposed cables have been tied to street signs in Milner Street for several weeks now.Graffiti and litter continue to blight the Grange Lane snickets We’ve suggested that hard core be used to make footpaths in the Grange Lane Westfield Park usable in wet weatherNew record holder for the largest weed award. This 3 metre monster in Dijon Avenue next to a telegraph pole. Loose rubbish continues to blight the rear of Front StreetOvergrown snicket on Gale Lane becoming a crime concern. We”ve asked the Ward Councillors to act.Reported yet again litter, detritus and weeds on the Tithe Close snicket. Issue recorded by the Council as “solved” Clearly not!Weeds flourishing on Hotham Avenue….and Foxwood Lane….and School Street
….But weeds cleared from Dijon Avenue garage area by Council. Now looks very tidy.
After several stable years, we have seen some criticism recently of some bus services in the City. Changes to the number 12 service were poorly publicised following a late decision by the York Council to step in and save part of the service
Passengers in west York have criticised for a long time the lack of “real time” bus arrival information screens in the area.
Bus reliability stats, provided by tracking technology, are not shared with passengers, although a “one off” sample survey – due to be conducted in a few days time – does produce a snap shot of reliability.
One area that the York Council can help passengers with is the “bus stop experience”.
Unfortunately bus shelters, provided by the Council around 10 years ago, are now looking distinctly shabby.
The Foxwood Lane bus shelter has been re-purposed as an Arboretum. Weeds dangle from the gutters, and strangle the interior. The shelter is never cleaned, the perspex is opaque and the paint continues to peal. The nearby shelter on Askham Lane is no better. At least the sight lines from the shelter are better this year as the Council actually cut part of the adjacent hedge in the spring. You can just about still see if a bus is on its way. Unfortunately they didn’t trim the hedge at the back of the shelter making cleaning and routine maintenance impossible. It is now very scruffy.At least the weeds are held at bay on this Windsor Garth shelter. But it is rusting badly and also sports opaque windows.
Some signs today that the York Council has finally woken up
to the decline in street environment standards. Two new staff will be employed
to remove graffiti form public areas. The cost will be over £40,000.
This is “failure cost” of course.
Taxpayers will be annoyed that they are having to fund a
reaction to an unlawful activity. There has been precious little evidence that any
attempt has been made to identify, prosecute and seek compensation from those
responsible.
Nevertheless, we cannot tolerate graffiti, which blights the
environment so it is a positive move by the Council.
Hopefully we will soon also see effective action now to deal
with other issues like weed blight, over grown hedges/trees and litter.
Litter problems in sub urban areas – and particularly
Council estates – are getting worse. A combination of poor management and cuts
to staffing levels have created a “perfect storm”.
Residents Associations, who have raised concerns about the
situation on our Council estates, have received no response from those responsible.
If action is not taken quickly then formal complaints about the
insensitivity of some officials and Councillors will not doubt, follow.
The latest footfall figures, reproduced by the BID team, reveal that there has been a 4% drop in visitor numbers so far this year. It is even worse on a year on year basis and is below the county average
That is a poor platform on which to approach the, normally busy, run up to Christmas.
In Acomb, the picture is slightly different with some traders reporting steady business trends. This is despite the lamentable performance recently of the Council in keeping open spaces, gutters and the areas around trees and street furniture free of weeds and litter.
Weeds still choke trees and seats on Front Street
The picture in residential areas is also disappointing with weeds disfiguring many streets
More evidence of neglect of our cycle routes. Two of the direction signs on the cycle link between Thanet Road and Sherringham Drive have been removed.
Time to use some of the Councils large cycling budget to get the signs replaced and to get the white lines repainted?
Missing sign at the Thanet Road junction. Delineating while lines have almost disappeared. Similar problem at the Wains Road linkAnyone getting as far as Sherringham Drive will find the path still covered in weeds with overgrown hedges making progress difficult.
Winter will be with us soon now and with it the risk of icy weather. Frost damage, to a poorly maintained highway surface, can be devastating making expensive reconstruction work inevitable.
Residents are being urged to report any potholes so that they can receive attention. There is rightly some scepticism amongst residents with reported highway defects often marked up with paint but then seemingly left for months before work is undertaken
It looks like the improvements to the weed killing programme on hard surfaces have failed to materialise.
A “third” application of weed killer was to have been applied to drainage gullies, footpaths, forecourts and other areas during the last 4 weeks.
While there have been improvements to some traffic islands (the build up of silt on Longfield Lane, Foxwood Lane and Gale Lane has been removed) the vast majority of the A1237 is remains overgrown.
The A59, Water Lane and Jockey Lane – all reported months ago – remain untreated.
There will be some serious questions to be answered at the meeting.
Keeping estates clean and tidy until recently was the responsibility of estate workers. There was one in each major neighbourhood. They were sometimes styled as estate “handymen” and part of their duties was to repair minor items of street furniture. They were funded from rents.
They helped to keep neighbourhoods in good condition and would
often be seen in the area proactively dealing with issues.
The Council recently decided to get rid of the role with responsibilities
transferred to a mobile team. Since the
change, there has been a noticeable drop in standards. This seems mainly to be due
to the fact that, rather than routinely patrol areas looking to address issues before
they were widely noticed, the new approach is mainly “reactive”.
That is the staff respond to complaints.
Many will remember fondly the last decade when the Council, for
a time, employed “lengthsmen” to give local roads that extra bit of care. They achieved
more in improving standards than mechanical sweeping alone could provide.
That sadly also is a now thing of the past.
The drop in standards has been an increasing concern for residents
associations. The issue has been drawn to the attention of Executive Councillors
who have responsibility for service quality. There has been little response so
far.
Unless the Council publishes an acceptable service standard contract
for activities like these – the core of its work as a public authority – then
it is likely that volunteer efforts will tail off.
That would be a great shame as whole communities would suffer.
