Foxwood Residents Association and Foxwood in Bloom have planted 5000 crocus bulbs throughout the area today.

Foxwood in bloom writes;

“Locations include Huntsman’s Walk, Otterwood Lane and Foxwood Lane at the junction with Gale Lane.

Our grateful thanks to the young men from the Community Payback scheme who helped us.

We are already looking at other areas for planting in 2013 and if there is an area near you which would benefit from planting, please let Shirley Gumley tel 793437 know.

Crocus planting in grass verges is preferred to daffodils as the crocus bulbs die down before the first grass cut”.

It appear that the “20’s plenty” campaigners may take the law into their own hands. They are reported to be seeking training in the use of hand held speed guns.

For several years the Council and police have supported what is called a “community speed watch” system which allows local residents to use equipment which measures the speed of traffic on a local road. In the main, these were used to remind drivers of a 30 mph limit. They had the advantage of “prompting” drivers that they might have drifted over the speed limit.

However while the universal 30 mph speed limit is well understood and respected by most drivers, the proposed city wide 20 mph limit has, on the other hand, attracted a lot of opposition.

It is difficult to imagine anything more likely to inflame the situation than self appointed vigilantes seeking to intimidate drivers by pointing speed guns at them.

The police have already said that they will not be able to allocate additional resources to enforce 20 mph limits and have required the Council to make them “self enforcing”. With speed humps ruled out, and the Council slow to install more Vehicle Activated Speed signs, only limited signage and build outs are being provided. Yet the Council expects to spend £600,000 implementing the new limits.

The potential flash points at the moment seem to be the new limits on main arterial routes like Bishopthorpe Road. These are wide roads where a 30 mph limit is appropriate for most of their length.

On the part of Bishopthorpe Road between Norfolk Street and the urban boundary, virtually every vehicle using it, earlier this week, was travelling in the speed range 25 -30 mph.

Because of road works, traffic signals and congestion the speeds on the rest of Bishopthorpe Road (nearer the City centre) were less than 15 mph – which is similar to the average speed recorded in the South Bank area generally; mainly because of the number of cars parked “on street”.

More controversial will be any attempt to introduce the new limit in the Dringhouses, Westfield and Acomb areas where modern road layouts predominate.

One way that residents could express their views would be in the Police and Crime Commissioner elections taking place on November 15th. The Labour candidate Ruth Potter is one of the main supporters of the citywide 20 mph speed limit.

Should she fail to be elected, then the police might be expected to take a more sceptical approach to the York Councils speed limit policies.

Meanwhile the only opportunity being offered to residents to voice their opinions on the extension of 20 mph limits will come at Ward Committee meetings. These meeting are now very poorly attended partly because the Labour Council no longer sends out agendas to each household giving people details of times and venues.

The only meeting that has been scheduled, where the 20 mph limit is on the agenda, is Dringhouses & Woodthorpe Ward Committee Thursday, 29th November, 2012 7.30 pm Proposed venue: Woodthorpe Primary School, Summerfield Road, York

No consultation meetings have been arranged in the Westfield or Acomb Wards.

The award-winning leisure centre “Energise” located on Cornlands Road has doubled the size of its gym.

The gym now accommodates 95 users – previously 56 – at any one time, and has extra space to improve access for disabled users.

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The government have allocated York £22,000 to conduct a contaminated land study on the former tip sites which lie between Foxwood Lane and Gale Lane.

The sites were used early in the last century for the dumping of waste and, although cleaned up prior to the developments in the Chesney Field area, it is now necessary to check that any remaining waste remains inert.

The whole of the Chesney Field playing fields were levelled and grassed in the early 90’s.

In other parts of the country some build up of methane and other gases have been found and it is this type of risk that any survey will seek to identify.

No issues have been reported on the land and the check is purely precautionary. A similar study was completed on similarly classified land near Westfield Place without any issues being revealed.

Residents are likely to witness some activity in the area over the next few months. It is possible that some bore holes will be drilled.

Crash site

Police are appealing for witnesses following a collision on Rivelin Way, Clifton Moor, York.

The collision occurred on Saturday 20 October at round 1pm when a red Vauxhall Corsa and a black Audi A3 collided.

The driver of the Corsa, a 19-year-old man from York, and the driver of the Audi, a 43-year-old man from York, sustained minor injuries during the collision and were taken to York District Hospital for treatment.

Both vehicles, a brick wall and a lamppost sustained substantial damaged during the collision.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to the collision to contact them, along with anyone saw either vehicle travelling through the Clifton area prior to the collision.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact PC Mark Patterson at Clifton Moor Police station. Please call 101, select option 2 and ask for Mark Patterson. Or you can email him at mark.patterson@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk

Chesney's Field

Vandals have damaged the popular “zip wire” play equipment on Foxwood Lane. The wire has now been removed and may take several months to repair.

Chesneys field has been subject to increasing amounts of vandalism over recent months with bins damaged and litter strewn across the grassed area.

Part of the blame for the problems is put down to the lack of Community Ranger patrols over the last couple of years.

The patrols were scrapped by Labour when they cut ward committee budgets and prevented residents from having a say on how the remaining funds were prioritised.

Workers, pupils and residents in York have spent the last three weeks walking enough miles to take them from Land’s End to John O’Groats 19.4 times as part of City of York Council’s i-Travel initiative.

The York Walking Challenge results are in and participants to this popular annual event clocked up an impressive 16,962 miles on foot. This is the equivalent of burning off 2950 muffins and saving 2934 kg of CO2

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The City of York Council has issued a media release saying that it “is asking traders, shoppers and visitors for their initial thoughts on plans to secure a flourishing future for the historic Newgate Market and its contribution to the city’s retail offering.

This preliminary consultation will involve all traders, including businesses inside and adjacent to the market, working groups and shoppers both local and visiting. It also links to city-wide projects such as Reinvigorate York and Smarter York which are focussing on the appearance and quality of the city.

Dependent on the outcome of the consultation, a bid could be made to the council’s Economic Infrastructure Fund (EIF) which aims to kick-start critical economic infrastructure projects that may not otherwise receive external funding support. If successful, and subject to further consultation on a more refined vision, the visibility and overall appearance of the market could be enhanced in line with an ambitious improvement plan.

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With the Chancellor of the Exchequer having to pay to upgrade his ticket to first class on a crowded train – much to the amusement of the media and Labour opposition MPs – we thought that we’d check on the travel preferences of York’s two local MPs.

As we’ve said before, Parliamentary expenses are now much more transparent and can be accessed by anyone by clicking here: http://www.parliamentary-standards.org.uk/

We can only hope that the shambolic register of interests published by the City of York Council can soon achieve the same standards of accuracy.

The latest figures available for MPs travel claims cover the 2011/12 financial year.

They reveal that Hugh Bayley (Labour York Central) claimed for First class rail travel on 23 of the 34 journeys undertook. In total his rail travel claims came to £4439

By contrast Julian Sturdy (Conservative, York Outer) submitted 22 rail claims none of which were for First class travel. In total taxpayers were asked to refund £2276 for Mr Sturdy’s rail travel.

We don’t think that using First class travel is a capital offence but, at times of austerity, taxpayers will expect all public servants to exercise prudence. The refunds claimed – for the same York to London return journey – varied from £89 to £234

Other types of expense claims revealed on the returns include:

• Petrol: Bayley £ 4029 Sturdy £1059

• Car parking: Bayley £864 Sturdy £880

• Congestion charge: Bayley £113 Sturdy 0

• Bus fares: Bayley £2.40 Sturdy: 0

• Taxi: Bayley £76 Sturdy: £58

• Bicycle: £70 Sturdy: 0

• Total Travel: Bayley £11,216* Sturdy £4862

(*includes £513 for “food and drink”)

Poseur table

Our report on Saturday that the council had ordered 19 “poser” tables for its new offices has prompted an enquiry about whether they mean “poseur”* tables.

We think that they do.

The tables can cost from £40 to over £500.

We are also told that the decision to order 63 coffee tables has nothing to do with the new job one Cabinet member is alleged to have taken selling coffee on the market or indeed the tearful claim by the Council Leader that he is paying more tax than Starbucks!

*English dictionary definition: “Poseur – somebody who tries to impress others by behaving in an affected way”