Contractors at the new centre for disabled children on Ascot Way were piling yesterday. The site is only a few metres from the school so it is unfortunate that the nosiest work couldn’t be completed before the new school term started.
The residents association at their meeting on Wednesday are likely to be demanding answers to questions about why work on the replacement off street games facilities for young people haven’t been started yet.
Residents were promised 6 months ago that an all weather surface would be provided at Thanet Road together with an outdoor gym.
Neither has appeared although the Kingsway MUGA was closed some 3 months ago
The Council has now replied to our complaint about inadequate weed control on public areas this summer.
They candidly accept now that the spraying has not been satisfactory.
They are now commencing a re-spray. The spray will include a colouring agent which will show which areas have received attention.
Weeds on the A59 have not been treated
This will be supplemented by Council staff who will work on areas not included on the contract. The areas near Poppleton on the A59 are a high priority.
Another problem has developed with obstructions to public cycle and footpaths.
Again the path on the A59 is one that is blocked
Path near Poppleton is still blocked
Brambles over growing the cycle path on Tadcaster Road may become a safety issue with darker nights coming.Bushes are impeding access to the Hob Moor cycle trackHedges blocking the cycle path at the rear of Hob Stones still haven’t been cut backSomeone has spent some time on this graffiti near the southern by pass But less time on this!
The Council’s scrutiny committees will begin to receive
reports this month from the new Executive councillors.
The expectation will be that a line will be drawn in the sand
and a new suite of measurable outcomes will be published.
Street sweeping poor
At the moment residents must rely on “Open Data” pages to try to check on progress. They represent a confusing array of stats with some key service areas barely covered.
The public will want to know what the trends are in volumes?
Are the demands on the Council’s resources increasing or are they stable?
Whether it be numbers
of schoolchildren or elderly people requiring support, these are key figures.
Blocked gullies
The volume of waste being presented is an example of important information, as are jobless and job
vacancy numbers. Complaint and issue numbers
provide a clue to residents’ concerns.
“How many?” “how often?” “where?” are all legitimate
questions
Going beyond these how is the Council responding?
What are the customer satisfaction numbers?
How quickly does the Council respond?
How effective is the response?
What are the root causes of repeat problems and
how has the Council responded?
No weed control
Two reports to a scrutiny meeting next week offer little
insight. They include no numbers.
Anyone expecting the York Council’s Executive to take decisive action, to address declining public service standards at their meeting yesterday, will have been disappointed.
Despite a plea from Independent Councillor Mark Warters that a team be set up to deal with outstanding complaints, the Councils leadership remained tight lipped.
Cllr Warters was echoing a similar call from a growing number of Liberal Democrat supporters in the City
Many residents may conclude that there is something seriously wrong at West Offices.
Not only is there no timetable for addressing outstanding issues, but communications with residents are poor while many local Councillors (not all) fail to roll their sleeves up and tackle issues directly in their wards.
The York Council is no longer a “can do” organisation. It’s become a “maybe things will get better next year” type authority.
That won’t do. Its the kind of complacent attitude that has prompted a rise in more extreme political ideologies elsewhere in the country and abroad. It needs to be reversed, and quickly.
Not everything is bad, of course. Some individual Council officials are making limited progress in improving our streets as we show here.
The drainage channel on Foxwood Lane has been clearedThe Field Lane cycle track has been cleared of obstructionsBut for every success there is a failure. The footpath on Hull Road remains obstructed despite pedestrians being forced onto the busy highwayand weeds still haven’t been treated even on streets where Councillors actually live!New issues are emerging each day. This footpath on Field Lane, near the Hull Road junction, is now obstructed.Not the Councils responsibility, but there has been a build up of litter on the Teal Drive “pocket park”. Reopened 6 weeks ago, it is being well used but it does need routine cleansing (or a litter bin). Reported to JRHT.
The Press and other local media outlets are running stories
today about excessive weed growth on paths and in drainage channels in the City.
The local Tories are criticising the Lib Dem/Green administration for the problems.
The published stories give the impression that the Tories have been actively campaigning
on the issue.
That is misleading.
Problems with the effectiveness of the weed spraying contract
became apparent in May. As the contract was relatively new, and responsible executive
members were busy changing roles post the local elections, It seemed fair to
allow a few weeks for things to settle down and for the chemical treatments to
take effect.
We reported serval dozen problem areas including the
longstanding weed problem on the parapets of the Ouse Bridg,e together with a
build-up of silt on many traffic islands.
Nothing much seemed to happen. As usual with this sort of report
there was no feedback from the Council to those who had highlighted the problems.
There was still no response from Council officials. Councillors
were notified but the only response came from Mark Warters who was having problems
in his Osbaldwick ward.
6 more weeks passed and we felt we had no option but to make a formal complaint (see below). This was tabled on 15th August. It was copied to the Councils leadership.
An official replied on 21st August blaming the weather for the problems.
The complaint was escalated on 22nd August and we await a further response.
The Council’s leadership did announce yesterday (Wednesday) that they would conduct a review of weed control processes at a meeting which will be held in October. What happens in the interim remains unclear.
We are quite clear that a blitz on weeds and overgrown hedges, using mechanical removal methods, is needed urgently.
One other aspect that needs to be clarified is the responsibility for keeping former trunk roads like the A59 clear. Highways England confirmed that it was down to local authorities to deal with these highways. Yet the Council’s current weed control contract seems to exclude these roads (they have certainly not been sprayed).
We have submitted a Freedom of Information request in an attempt to clarify the situation.
Ironically a review of performance indicators, being considered by the Councils Executive later today, pointedly puts no focus on the appearance of the City’s streets.
While the Tories are being opportunistic in highlighting the current weed problems, they might have a point if a Council, committed at the recent election to raising street level public service standards, failed to address quickly and effectively significant failures when they have been identified.
The York Business Improvement District(BID) team is reminding residents that additional cycle parking facilities were provided earlier in the year. Funded by the BID, the security hoops can be found at the following locations
# Blake Street
# High Petergate
# Spark: York Piccadilly
# Lord Mayors Walk
#Esplanade
#Deangate
#St Maurice’s Road
#George Street
#Castlegate Area
The overall capacity of city centre cycle parking was increased by 10%. Along with this the BID brought seven new signposts showing a map of the cities cycle routes and all the available cycle parking.
Each of the cycle racks features information and maps
detailing cycle routes and parking around the city centre.
York BID’s Street Rangers
also play a role in ensuring that as much bike parking is available as possible, by
monitoring bikes that have been abandoned throughout all
of the city’s cycle parking facilities.
“There is a high demand for dedicated cycle
racks, so we regularly look out for bikes that have been left for long periods of
time, and work with City of York Council to remove those that go unclaimed,”
Tags are attached to any bicycle that appears
to have been abandoned, and if it not moved after a month, it is taken away for
storage for a further month, before any unclaimed bikes are recycled and sold.
A cycling map can be downloaded from this link (click)
Residents have called on local Councillors to intervene to ensure that weeds growing on local paths and gutters are cleared. Today’s weather, damp and warm, is likely to see the problem get worse over the weekend.
Weeds are obstructing footpaths, gullies and garage areas in the Westfield Ward
In the little Green Lane garage area grass is now growing through the recently resurfaced forecourt. It is a similar situation in Windsor Garth
The weather also means that hedges will be growing more quickly. We’ve reported this bramble bush which is obstructing the public footpath near the entrance to Hob Moor school Although the Council says that they have removed litter from the Tithe Close snicket, this doesn’t seem to be the case. Similar situation on The Reeves snicketThe only thing that the Council seems to be doing quickly this summer is knocking down parts of west York. This is all that is now left of the Windsor House elderly persons home. There is some mud on local roads which needs to be monitored. Still no sign of the replacement for the children’s games area at Hob Moor. Contractors using the old all weather games area for storage are at least polite!
The bitmac footpaths on the odd numbered side of Askham Lane need to be resurfaced. The paths are cracking up and are gradually being eroded by the adjoining verge. The York Council has promised to invest heavily this year in getting roads and paths back into a safe condition. More hedges are now obstructing local paths and cycle tracks. These are in the Gale Lane/Thanet Road area. All have been reported to the Council.In the same area, weeds are overgrowing the public footpath while the verges haven’t been properly cut this year. Again, we have asked the Council to take action.Its not just west York that is suffering from the blight of weeds. Councillors on the east of the City are reporting similar problems in villages like Dunnington
