More progress with Foxwood Project clean up campaign

Corlett Court paths have now been edged
as have those in Morrell Court. Some of the landscaping stones are due to be removed this month
& Spurr Court
We’ve reported the leaning tree on Herman Walk. We are concerned that the high winds could bring it down.
The winds have also caused litter to accumulated under some hedges. Reported by us today
as have potholes on the carriageway at the Foxwood shops on Beagle Ridge Drive

Council set to trim some grassed amenity areas

In response to a Freedom of Information request, the York Council has issued a list of grassed areas that it hopes to “edge” this year.

The areas are all in the ownership of the housing and leisure departments. The list can be downloaded from here,

The request came after the Foxwood Residents Association appointed contractors to tidy up amenity area paths in their area. “The Foxwood Project” involves work on grassed areas like the Thanet Road Sports area. It is now well advanced, although recent rain has hindered progress.

Grassed verges reman a concern both in Foxwood and in other parts of west York. These haven’t been included in a formal programme of work for several years following maintenance funding cuts. The result is that several verges have now extended over adjacent public footpaths causing obstructions. Residents in the Ridgeway area recently petitioned for their paths to be “edged”.

Disappearing footpaths

The Council says that it is drawing up a programme of verge work and that it hopes to include Foxwood Lane and Bellhouse Way in the programme.

It is understood that the Council has used “community payback” schemes to make limited progress on the backlog of work.

In our view contractors need to be brought in to tackle the worst of the problem verges.

They’re a particular hazard for older pedestrians where adjacent hedges are also overgrown.

More on York Community Stadium parking arrangements

Following a lively exchange on social media the former Chairman of the York Knights rugby team has shared a plan showing the layout of car parking spaces at the new Community Stadium

The plan confirms that there will be 55 parking spaces in an “east” car park which will be for the exclusive use of match officials, Directors, staff and players. & will be allocated for the disabled. A further 25 disabled spaces are allocated in a “north” car park

268 spaces are being provided to service the cinema, restaurant, leisure and community users. It is unclear how these will be reserved for these users on match days.

The main on site “match day” parking allocation is for 400 spaces. It is claimed these spaces will be for “permit holders”. It is unclear how much these permits will cost or whether they will be available for casual fans and “away” supporters

Adjacent is the Park and Ride site with a further 434 spaces. It is this area that the Council have announced will be subject to a £10 parking charge (although sources within the Council say this decision is being reviewed).

Meanwhile 250 people have now signed the petition objecting to the £10 charge. The organisers have still not said to whom and when they hope to present the petition.

Foxwood project gets off to good start

Work has started on tidying up the edges of green areas in Foxwood. Contractors employed by the Residents Association have started work edging paths on the Thanet Road sports area (public section).

The Dickson Park paths were edged earlier in the year.

The contractors will work their way on through the area over the next few days.

Backing for the project has come from the Jewson “Building Better Communities” Fund with a top up from the Westfield Ward committee.

We have asked the Councils highway department to see if they can edge the verges in Foxwood Lane and Bellhouse Way.

We hope that all residents will make a point of trimming back hedges from public footpaths before the bird nesting season starts.

Next up will be our “Spring Clean” programme. Tomorrow (Saturday 9th March) a skip and recycling truck will be located near the Rogers Court parking area. Please note that the facilities are for the use of residents only and that the vehicles will leave as soon as they’re full.

Later in the month we will be joining in the “Great British Spring Clean” programme.

  • Saturday 30 March  – 10.30am – noon meet at Foxwood Lane/Beagle Ridge Drive shops to tidy this area
  • Sunday 7 April – 2pm – 4pm – meet at pumping station on Foxwood Lane to clear Chesney Fields
  • Sunday 14 April – 2pm – 4pm – meet at junction of Herman Walk with Sherringham Drive
  • Monday 15 April – 10.30am – noon – meet at Acomb Wood shops

Edging Herman Walk

Edging pumping station

Edging Thanet Road sports area

 

Traffic Speed on Wetherby Road

Speed sign on Wetheby Road which needs replacing

A meeting next week will consider a Council officials response to residents’ concerns about speeding traffic on Wetherby Road. The report follows the collection of a petition which asked for

  • the reinstatement and modernisation of both flashing speed warning signs on the road
  • the police to site their speed camera van in the built-up area on Wetherby Road on an occasional basis.

One of the flashing signs (on the odd numbered, Acomb Ward, side of the road) has been missing for over 2 years. It was faulty and the expectations were that it would be repaired and returned to its site.

Now officials say that speeds are lower on Wetherby Road and that, if a sign is too be provided, then it will have to be funded through the delegated budget held by Acomb Ward Councillors.  They go on to say that they approached the Councillors for the Acomb Ward (Cllrs Keith Myers and Stuart Barnes) in 2017 asking them to fund a replacement, but received no response. A new ward budget will be available from 1st April 2019 so the request could be renewed.

The report claims that vehicle speeds on the built-up section of Wetherby Road have reduced since the buffer 40 mph limit was introduced on the “rural” section 2 years ago.

Before and after speeds were recorded and are reproduced in a table (below).

Speed check results

As might be expected they show a small reduction in the speed of vehicles in the urban area (Eastbound), although speeds on the rural stretch actually increased.

The “after” figures were, however, taken in August 2017 before work on enlarging the ring road roundabout had been completed. One of the main reasons why residents collected the petition was a concern that the easier access across and from the A1237 would lead to increased speeds.

We think that the Acomb Ward Councillors should agree to fund a replacement speed sign.

new style speed signs

Elsewhere, at the same meeting, officials are recommending that the newer type of speed sign, which shows the actual speed of an approaching vehicle, should be trialled in the City. Unfortunately the sites identified, for the trial introduction of the signs, are all in eastern York. This type of sign is in common use elsewhere in Yorkshire and beyond.

The Council should agree to add Wetherby Road to the trial locations.

In additional they should support residents calls for the occasional “deterrent” siting of the camera van on the urban section of Wetherby Road

Empty Chapelfields garage to be brought back into use after 12 month delay

Bramham Road empty garage

It looks like the long term empty garage in Bramham Road may finally be brought back into use.

It was reported as being empty and in need of repair over 12 months ago. Following a complaint about delays, repairs to the roof and stonework were completed.

The Council says that an order was placed with a local contractor to replace the door but the work was never completed.

It seems that no one followed this up until we reported the garage again a few months ago.

We’re now told that a new order for the door has been given to a contractor. It is expected to be repaired shortly and brought back into use in April.

There is a long waiting list of tenants in Chapelfields wanting to rent Council garages.

Nearby streets are sometimes choked with parked cars and there have also been ongoing delays in the provision of additional parking laybys on the estate.

Surface water flooding in York: Final report published

The final report in the flooding which took place in the City on 13th August 2018 has been published.

click to read

More than 40mm of rain fell on large areas of the City in just over 15 minutes on the 13th August 2018, the intense nature of the storm led to significant areas of the cities road network being impacted by standing water and drainage systems were unable to cope.

Several properties were internally flooded and outbuildings and gardens of a greater number of properties were similarly affected.

Surface water flooding occurs when rainfall exceeds the capacity of open or piped systems or cannot soak into the ground. It typically occurs because of high intensity rainfall and can be aggravated by pipe or ditch blockage.

A map showing areas potentially vulnerable to surface water funding can be found here https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/long-term-flood-risk/map

Click to view surface water vulnerability map of York

The York Council report is well written and makes several suggestions for improvements It refers to ongoing problems in Haxby but more generally highlights the gully reconstruction and cleaning programme that has been taking place over recent months.

The August event, when 120mm/hr of rainfall were recorded, is exceptional. Any event like this will cause some surface water accumulation but the City is now better prepared to deal with heavy rainfall in future.

One of the recommendations in the report is that network of digital rain meters is installed across the city.