The closure of Tudor Road for 2/3 weeks means that the number 4 bus service will be further diverted (it recently was rerouted via Ridgeway) .
We understand that the diversion will be
Sat 13th – Sun 28th Jun
Tudor Rd closed at Gale Lane end during sewer connection works for new housing development.
Suggested diversion for service 4 Gale Lane, Front Street, Green Lane both ways then to Acomb Green terminus. Inbound Ridgeway, Askham Lane, right into Gale Lane then right into Cornlands Road
We were unable to collect household waste from Railway View and Moor Grove in Dringhouses due to blocked access.
We were unable to collect recycling waste from areas of Fulford and Hull Road due to vehicle breakdowns.
We’ll attempt to collect all this waste on Tuesday 9 June. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.
We’ve been unable to collect garden waste from areas of Fulford, Naburn, Hull Road and Bishopthorpe.
We’ll attempt to collect missed garden waste from Bishopthorpe on Tuesday 9 June, and the rest on the evening of Monday 8 June, but may not be able to revisit until later in the week. Please leave your green bin out and we’ll get to you as soon as we can.
Council, staff were working over the weekend to reduce the accumulated waste collection backlog. An update report has not yet been published but it seems that there is still some waste on the streets of villages like Dunnington.
There one resident reported yesterday that recycling has been on the street since last Tuesday.
All in all, there seems to be something wrong with this, the most basic of public services, which cannot entirely be explained by social distancing and the COVID crisis. The Council’s web site https://www.york.gov.uk/WasteCollectionUpdates often quotes “capacity” issues and “vehicle breakdowns” as the major reasons for unreliability.
So what has senior management been doing to address the problem? Apart from ordering 12 new refuse collection vehicles, there seems to have been little by way of reaction.
The Council’s “Head of Waste” is an official called Shaun Morley. He was appointed last November but has had a very low profile since then. He describes himself as “Interim Transformation Director/Head of Waste at City of York Council”. He is also a Director of a company, SRM Waste Management, which is based in the Shetland Isles. At Company’s House his occupation is listed as “a consultant”.
Senior appointments at the Council – whether permanent or temporary – have to be recorded. We can find nothing on any Council report which explains what the current waste management structure is much less who is supposed to be responsible for what (and at what cost).
Councillors need to satisfy themselves that there is a clear line of responsibility, that key performance indicators are being monitored and that there is a transparent exception reporting process.
It seems to us that workers in the Councils waste collection activity area have generally performed well particularly over the COVID lockdown period.
It increasingly appears that this may be despite, rather than because of, senior management decisions.
As lock-down eases, concerns about the condition of some housing estates are starting to emerge.
The Council’s lettings and void repairs staff have made slow progress on getting empty properties back into use. As a result some long term empty properties have deteriorated. No management information has been published by the Council recently so the scale of the problem is unclear.
Even some “prime” site bungalows (usually very attractive to those on the waiting list for homes) have been empty for 6 months or longer.
While cleansing standards have generally improved during lockdown (fewer people around and individual staff members focused on local areas) there have been problems with dumping. Scheduled skip visits, funded through ward committees, didn’t happen and replacement visits have yet to be scheduled.
We were unable to collect all household waste from Ashley Park Avenue and Hazel Garth due to capacity issues.
We’ll return for these collections on Thursday 4 June. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.
We were unable to collect recycling from parts of Dringhouses and Acomb due to current restrictions due to coronavirus.
We’ll return for these collections on Thursday 4 June. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.
We were unable to collect garden waste from a number of streets in the following areas due to capacity issues:
We will attempt to collect missed garden waste, including missed waste from Osbaldwick and Woodthorpe by Thursday 4 June, but may not be able to revisit until later in the week. Please leave your green bin out and we’ll get to you as soon as we can.
The Council has published its Tuesday update on missed bin emptying and recycling collections.
It reveals failings across all types of waste collection and neighbourhoods. It is no longer promising to empty bins on the next day, but is asking residnts to continue to leave their bins out.
Although COVID social distancing requirements have influenced recycling collection performance the Council blames “capacity issues” for most of the delays.
As the first collection of garden waste has been completed, the expectation was that the second lift would have been smaller. However, it maybe that residents, who stored green waste in line with Council instructions during the lock-down period, are now filling up the bins again.
It is impossible to judge whether volume is an issue unless the Council starts to publish again the tonnage of waste – by category – that it is dealing with each week.
The Councils management must provide more information on waste management including the level of demand for booking spaces at the household waste sites and the level of use of the bulky waste removal service.
Waste service reliability was already problematic before the Coronavirus crisis hit, with an unprecedented level of failed collections during the later part of 2019.
Residents deserve to know when they can expect a reliable service to be restored?
“All scheduled household waste collections have been made, including waste from Wigginton, Haxby and Strensall.
We were unable to collect recycling from a number of areas due to operational restrictions to do with Covid-19.
This recycling will be collected on Saturday 30 May or Monday 1 June. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.
We were unable to collect garden waste from a number of terraced areas due to the large amount to be collected and capacity issues.
This recycling will be collected on Saturday 30 May or Monday 1 June. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.
All outstanding garden waste and recycling waste from earlier in the week has been collected”.
The Council is using social media to promote cycling as a way to get to work when the lock-down ends. Many workplaces, offices and shops are expected to reopen during the next fortnight, putting added pressure on a compromised public transport system.
Cycling – particularly at this time of year – may be an option for some people.
But there is little evidence that the Council is addressing everyday barriers to cycling
These days foot-pads aren’t the biggest threat.
The contraflow cycle lane installed on Bishopthorpe Road is an unnecessary hazard. Inexperienced cyclists trying to use it may indeed be intimidated, making them more likely to use other transport modes. (There is an alternative, quiet, route via Vine Street)
Meanwhile on the Tadcaster Road cycle path “social distancing” signs have appeared near the railway bridge. Fair enough, if a problem has been identified. Clearly more families are now walking or cycling to the Askham Bog nature reserve although social distancing on that site is also problematic.
Yet scarcely 300 metres further along the cycle path, its width is now reduced to less than 1 metre. Overhanging branches and weed growth are to blame (the weeds are actually now breaking up the bitmac surface) ..
A relatively easy issue to deal with but, despite reports to the Council, no work has been undertaken.
Better news further down Tadcaster Road with highway resurfacing works now ahead of schedule. The smoother carriageway surface is much safer for users of 2 wheeled transport.
More bad news on refuse collection in York. There are delays in collecting recycling, emptying green bins and removing some household waste across significant parts of the City
Some recycling has been out on the streets for 3 days now.
The Council says that it will work through today and tomorrow (Saturday) to clear the backlog.
The Council has also been urged to provide an update on the capacity and use of its bulky waste removal service which was restarted last week.
Similar information about the availability of “booking slots” at household waste sites like Hazel Court might help to reduce demands on the collection service.
The Council has said,
“We were unable to collect household waste from small areas of Haxby, Wigginton and Strensall.
This household waste will be collected on Friday 29 May. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.
We were unable to collect recycling from Rufforth, Clifton and Huntington due to operational restrictions to do with Covid-19.
We’ve been unable to return for recycling collections from Tuesday 26 May and Wednesday 27 May.
All this recycling waste will be collected on Friday 29 May or Saturday 30 May. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.
We were unable to collect garden waste from from Haxby, Earswick and Huntington due to the large amounts being collected.
This garden waste will be collected on Friday 29 May. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.
We’ve been unable to return to St Aldred’s Mews due to access issues and will return as soon as we are able. We’ve also been unable to return for garden waste collections from Wednesday 27 May. We’re returning for this waste in Acomb and Heworth on Thursday evening”
Council update published
We were unable to collect household waste from the following areas due to access issues:
We were unable to collect household waste from the following areas due to capcity issues:
This household waste will be collected on Thursday 21 May. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.
We were able to recollect all outstanding household waste from Tuesday 19 May.
We were unable to collect recycling from a number of areas due to capacity issues.
Missed recycling collections will be collected as soon as possible. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.
We were unable to collect garden waste from a number of streets in the following wards due to capcity issues:
We will attempt to collect missed garden waste on Thursday 21 May, but may not be able to revisit until later in the week. Please leave greens bin out and we’ll get to you as soon as we can”
EARLIER: For the first time in several months the York Council failed to update its refuse collection report page yesterday. This prompted speculation that there were too many roads missed to be able to list them all.
The failure to list those streets where bins hadn’t been emptied also prompted questions about whether the promised “next day” emptying will actually take place.
There is a danger of a bow wave of failures extending into next week. Residents who have been storing green waste in gardens, pending the resumption of the emptying service, may already have refilled their bins.
For a Council which has been quick to issue “sound bite” media releases even when it had little of interest to report, this communications failure – on a key public service which everyone uses – is disappointing.
As well as the backlog in green bin emptying (put down to heavy bins) social distancing measures are blamed for a growing backlog in collecting recycling.
Recycling in over 10 streets in the Westfield/Foxwood area alone was not collected yesterday
Previously the Council had blamed vehicle failures and capacity issues for problems with the waste collection reliabily.
There have been calls for a change in top management at the Council or even for the service to be outsourced (AMEY provide the service in the Selby area)
Ironically, at the peak of the corona virus scare, household waste and recycling collection systems worked well.
