That was the week that was in York in pictures

York Council needs to have a plan to remedy high profile problems.

“Bottle” bridge is back

Fresh set of bottles and cans disfigure Ouse Bridge in York. It should be possible to fine the culprits, there are CCTV cameras in the area.
Nearby this years crop of parapet weeds are now in flower. No attempt has been made by the Council to remove them despite fears that they may affect the structural stability of the bridge. The issue was first reported in May but the Council has still not responded
We’ve some sympathy with the Council’s grass cutters who have struggled with wet weather this week. Means that several verges, like this is Kingsthorpe, are now overgrown
The grass cutters task isn’t made any easier if garden waste and other material is dumped on verges!
A lot of highway trees are now showing signs of “sucker” growth round the lower trunks. These can cause a problem with sight lines.
Easier to control is weed growth around street furniture. Many lampposts haven’t been strimmed or treated with weed killer this summer.
Footpath widths are gradually being reduced following the failure of the Council to undertake any edging work over the winter period. There are calls now for the weed control function to be taken back “in house” by the Council next summer. The staff employed could be used on verge edging and tree maintenance work during the winter period.
Narrow footpath width and poor surface on Kingsway West forcing pedestrians to walk on verge
Thanks to the Councils Community Safety Unit at the York Council who agreed on Thursday to have the accumulated rubbish in the little Green lane garage area removed.
It’s not just in west York that problems with weed growth on traffic islands is a significant issue. Above from Cllr Mark Warters illustrates the problem on the A166.

Developers try to overturn Moor Lane planning ruling

……..as Spark finally submit proposals for cladding their shipping container village

City of York Council has received notification from the Planning Inspectorate that the applicant for the Moor Lane planning application (18/02687/OUTM) has appealed the Council’s decision to refuse the outline permission for up to 516 residential units.

The Planning Inspectorate has notified the Council that the Inquiry will start on 12th November 2019 and it is anticipated that the Inquiry will sit for 12 days.

The Council will send notification of the appeal to any person who was notified or consulted about the application and any other interested persons who made representations.

If however the representation was part of a petition, each individual on the petition will not be notified by the Council.

Spark

Separately the Spark container village people have finally submitted details of their plans to provide cladding on the development frontage.

cladding plans

They say,  “We propose to attach to this frame a secondary timber structural frame which will be over clad with treated softwood or Siberian Larch battens of 50mm width running vertically with a 50mm gap forming a continuous wrap and palisade along the external boundary. The timber cladding will be overplanted with Clematis growing from planters situated at first floor level”.

The development reaches the end of its 3 year lease next June. We doubt very much whether even fast growing clematis will make much difference to its appearance during the intervening months.

NB. The Council has so far failed to say how much “profit share” they enjoyed from the Spark lease last year.

Weather brings bumper free harvest of berries

Still problems with hedges and trees blocking cycle and footpaths

The weather has had one positive influence. Brambles have flourished and their is an abundant free harvest available at places like little Hob Moor.
Unfortunately the adjacent cycle track on little Hob Moor can now be added to the list of obstructed paths. We’ve suggested to the Council that they need to organise a “task force” to go round removing overgrown branches and weeds from paths. They’ll also need to monitor highway trees as several are now banging on the sides and roofs of double deck buses as they pass.
A task group might also usefully clean off signage which is now unreadable. This sign is intended to help disabled users to access Hob Moor.

This sign is on Bellhouse Way
One piece of good news though is that the bramble bush which was blocking the little Green Lane footpath near the school entrance has been cut back.

BID funds more cycle parking spaces in central York

cycle-rack-esplanade-york

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)

Exam results. Advice and support in York

Another successful year for A level students in York

Provisional results for York schools’ sixth forms and York College show that the very high standards of previous years have been maintained, and indicate that A Level results in the city remain consistently amongst the best in the country.

York school sixth forms – All Saints RC, Archbishop Holgate’s CE, Fulford, Huntington and Joseph Rowntree – and York College – are reporting strong results including ‘best ever’ performances.

Overall results are showing increases in the number of students achieving the highest grades, the overall A*-E pass rate is above the national average and both the proportion of students achieving A* and A grades and the overall A*-E pass rate are above the national averages reported today.

Early results for the schools show that across the board young people will be able to get to the universities of their choice, including those applying to Oxford and Cambridge universities and medical courses.

With A-Level and GCSE results days approaching, City of York Council is reminding young people across the city that there are several sources of support throughout this exciting yet challenging time.

There is support for people who may be seeking an apprenticeship or other employment opportunity, or who want to move into full time education. Young people who are concerned that their personal circumstances may make accessing education, employment or training more difficult could also benefit from advice.

People can find support across the city from:

  • Careers Advisers employed by our local sixth forms and colleges – help will be available when results are collected
  • City of York Council Learning and Work Advisers in our Young People’s Service at 30 Clarence Street; extra appointment slots and drop-ins are available and Advisers can support with searching for vacancies, developing your CV, completing applications and preparing for interviews. Tel: 01904 555400; www.yor-zone.org.uk/someone-to-help.htm
  • Council-led ‘York Apprenticeship Hub’ – find us on Facebook (York Apprenticeships) and Twitter (@York Apprentices); email us at York.apprenticeships@york.gov.uk; T: 01904 553732 for local apprenticeship vacancies; there are still around 100 opportunities in the city, and many more in  the region, across a range of sectors and job roles.
  • National Careers Service – for local employment and training opportunities; drop in to the York office at 18-19 Colliergate or call the national help-line 0800 100 900

Supporting local construction businesses in York

City of York Council is encouraging local construction businesses to bid for, and win, a contract to become a supplier with the council.

Local suppliers can find out more about the procurement process and how to tender for work with the council, through a free workshop taking place on Monday 19 August at West Offices.

Cllr Andrew Waller, Executive Member for Economy and Strategic Planning, at City of York Council, said: “This is a great opportunity for local construction businesses to find out about the procurement process and how they can access the council contracts.”

The procurement team will be on hand to talk through the procurement processes and how to tender for work including, information on:

  • Yortender, how to use the system
  • quality elements, what information we look out for
  • general procurement support
  • construction Line
  • upcoming work

The workshop will be split in two sessions, morning and afternoon. The morning session will begin at 9.30 till 12 noon and the afternoon session will begin at 1.30pm till 4pm.

Suppliers can either drop in at any time, or book a place with chloe.wilcox@york.gov.uk

Subcontractors can also attend but please email their details across in advance so the team is able to contact them and provide them the information of the event.

“Mares tail” arrives in west York

Thanks to Osbaldwick Councillor Mark Waters – a professional horticulturalist – we have identified one of the weeds that is damaging road and footpath surfaces on the west of the City

Horsetail (Equisetum arvense), often called mare’s tail, is an invasive, deep-rooted perennial weed that will spread quickly to form a dense carpet of foliage, crowding out less vigorous plants in beds and borders.

The RHS says that horsetail “is persistent, and several applications of a strong weed killer  – possibly over a number of years – may be necessary to completely eradicate the problem”

Horsetail has appeared in several areas in west York. These include the Council garage areas on Kingsway West and on little Green Lane.  It is already doing considerable damage to the  recently bitmaced forecourt access road at Green Lane.

We will now be formally submitting an official complaint about lack of action on weed growth in several areas. For example, weeds reported in early May on the Beaconsfield Street back lane have still not been cut back. It is a similar picture at many traffic islands

Fly tipping incident on Council owned land

Rubbish has been dumped on a Council garage area on Little Green Lane in Acomb

Some time ago we reported full BIFFA bins that were being stored on the Little Green Lane garage area. They were eventually removed.

Unfortunately another full bin has reappeared.

It has been joined by a large amount of fly tipping. Some of the rubbish is clearly domestic.

We have asked local Councillors to look into the problem.

Some residents believe that the waste has originated with the York Council itself or one of its contractors. An explanation is needed.

Arson attack on wheelie bin in Acomb

Lane between Gladstone Street and Beaconsfield Street is inaccessible for vehicles

A wheeled bin has been set on fire on a lane at the top of Green Lane, Acomb. The precise cause of the fire is unknown but some refuse has been deposited on the highway.

Steady rain has prevented the spread of any fire today

We have asked the York Council to arrange for an urgent clean up