Milner Street/Gladstone Street one way system set to get nod

The Council received only 4 objections when the proposal to create a one way system in Milner Street/Gladstone Street was formally advertised recently.

It is now likely to be implemented in March

Also going ahead will be a 20 mph speed limit which will additionally include the Beaconsfield Street & Severus Street areas.

There were further complaints about indiscriminate car parking near the Fish and Chip shop on Green Lane.

Some drivers were taking a chance and waiting on double yellow lines.

Enforcement officers are operating in the area and drivers are advised to use a side street to park when they are visiting the shop.

Traffic speed on Wetherby Road

Traffic speeds on Wetherby Road have been checked again following the installation of speed warning signs 3 years ago.

The recorded average speed was 31 mph with 85% of drivers travelling below 35 mph. This is fairly typical for main arterial roads which have a 30 mph limit.. The highest recorded speed was 71 mph but this was registered at 5:30am and could have been an emergency vehicle responding to a call (the recording equipment cannot distinguish between different types of vehicle).

Cllr Sue Galloway made representations to a meeting which took place on 4th January when speed checks for several roads across the City, including Wetherby Road, were considered.

The meeting agreed to consider what additional engineering measures might be introduced to deter speeding. Unfortunately the Police continue to rule out the use of mobile speed cameras and installing humps, on a busy road, is unlikely to be popular with neighbouring property owners.

Call for better preparations for extreme weather

“A new resilience plan is needed for the City” says Strategy chief Cllr Steve Galloway in the wake of 6 weeks of “terrible weather”.

“I’ll be asking Council officials to work with partners to ensure that the City can deal better with extreme weather conditions in the future.

While a lot of attention was given to the Councils own snow and icy clearing capacity during a review of processes last summer, many difficulties have been experienced by other public services as a result of consistently low temperatures.

There were numerous complaints about failed water supplies. Some were experienced as a result of failures in the Yorkshire Water main supply pipes while others were a result of vulnerable domestic systems.

Now we are seeing emerging problems with bust pipes as the temperature rises.

We will all be watching how the thaw affects river levels in the City over the next few days.

All public service providers need to ensure that they have the capacity to deal with the demands that may be placed on their services even during holiday periods. It is particularly important that 2 way communications with affected customers are maintained.

It certainly wasn’t easy to communicate with Yorkshire Water and some Housing Associations over the last week. All public service bodies need to introduce a system where electronic communications can be dealt with 24/7 when necessary.

I will be asking Council officials to review the water supply and heating supplies in Council properties and to ensure that we are able to deal quickly with faults affecting vulnerable residents.

It may be that we need to invest more in lagging supply pipes in some of our properties and initiatives like this should also form part of a general review of the winter arrangements”.

Lidl store on Thanet Road

The store is expected open in February. Lidl have already advertised for staff.

The company won part of their planning appeal and will therefore be allowed to display two additional external signs on the building

The Hob Moor footpath access (to the former pool car park ) is being moved to a point adjacent to St James Place for safety reasons. A gate is being provided.

Changes to waste collection – Beaconsfield Street area

Residents will be aware of the consultation that the Council have been undertaking in Beaconsfield Street, Milner Street and Gladstone Street. The initiatives followed concerns expressed by some residents, on the LibDem “down your way” survey in July, about having to take residual waste sacks though their homes.

Residents received individual leaflets to their home addresses and they were asked to respond giving their preference for one of three options. The options were:

1. Present black bags at the front of their property (with a storage bin available on request)

2. Present a wheeled bin at the front of their property (NB. houses with forecourts)

3. Keep a wheeled bin on their property for presenting at a central collection point. Residents would have to wheel the bin to the collection point in the morning and return it when it had been emptied. Bins would have to be stored in back yards. Help would be available to move the bins for people with disabilities.

The closing date for the consultation was 16th August. The leaflet sent to residents said that if they did not respond then the Council would assume they were happy with the current arrangements.

The breakdown of responses for each street was as follows:

Beaconsfield Street: 73 properties were sent leaflets and the Council received 23 responses (32%). Of theses responses, 9 residents chose option 1, 7 chose option 2 and 7 chose option 3

Gladstone Street: 92 properties were sent leaflets and we received 26 responses (28%). Of these responses, 7 residents chose option 1, 2 chose option 2 and 17 chose option 3

Milner Street: 92 properties were sent leaflets and we received 33 responses (35%). Of these responses, 9 residents chose option 1, 2 chose option 2 and 22 chose option 3

On the basis of the returns above, there are a number of homes that require wheeled bins, and these are likely to be delivered around 10th September. The Council will write to individuals giving details.

If residents wish to change their preferred choice of collection arrangement before 10th September then they should contact the Council on 553226 or via the yourviewcounts@york.gov.uk Email address.

New Foxwood Playground Launched

Foxwood Playground

Assistant Chief Constable Tim Magwick joined local residents and Council staff at the launch of the new playground on Foxwood Lane today. The equipment is already proving to be very popular with children with an estimated 500 having already visited the playground. It is hoped that a similar facility will be provided on the Grange Lane park later in the year.

Local Councillor Steve Galloway said, ” The playground is proving to be very popular with children. Working with the local Neighbourhood Policing Team, the Council is trying to provide facilities which address some of the boredom issues raised by younger teenagers. I am grateful to the staff who have worked very had to provide this new facility which has the advantage of being both robust and challenging for active youngsters”

Local Roads & Footpaths Included In 2010/11 Resurfacing Programme

Last night the list of roads to be resurfaced by City of York Council over the next year was agreed by Liberal Democrat Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services, Councillor Ann Reid.

The list was boosted by an extra £1m investment in resurfacing that was agreed as part of the Liberal Democrat budget last month. The extra money was invested following the results of the public consultation which showed that the condition of roads and footpaths was the top priority for residents.

A number of roads and footpaths in Westfield have been included on the list, they are:

Roads
Hamilton Drive/Tudor Road Roundabout

Footpaths
Queenswood Grove(part)
Ridgeway(part)
Tithe Close
Parker Avenue
Hotham Avenue

It was also agreed that investigative work will take place with a view to carrying out surface water drainage improvements near the shops on Cornlands Road and on The Green (near Weatherby Road).

The programme, which was also included in the Lib Dem budget, has been ongoing for the last two years and aims to make minor improvements to drainage to help cut down on flooding caused by heavy rain.

Once details of when the work will take place are available I will post them here.