Fly tipping near the clothes banks at the Acomb Wood Drive shopping area has now been removed. The Council acted promptly to address the issue following our report last week. There is space in the banks for more clothes now.
Fly tipping gone
Potholes report confirms York has a major problem and it is getting worse
A report on highway maintenance in the City reveals that the value of the current back log of maintenance is approximately one hundred and twelve million (£112 million) based on the current condition and cost of repairs.
The figure confirms what many residents had feared. The condition of York’s roads and footpaths is continuing to decline
A separate annex reveals that, in most parts of the City, between 3% and 10% of carriageways are rated as “structurally impaired”. These are “very poor”, the lowest condition rating.
The percentage of roads classified as “very poor” has increased in every ward in the City during the last 3 years.
The figures also confirm that the City’s roads have not recovered from the draconian maintenance cuts imposed by the then Labour administration in 2012.
More recently the new LibDem/Green led Council has substantially increased the resources allocated to highway maintenance.
The figure also includes a delegated budget to be determined at ward level. There is little evidence that this money has so far been invested*.
The report says that from 1st April 2019 until 26th November 2019, the council has completed “16,646.3 m² of pothole repairs, this equates to 520 m² per week, this is 29.71 m² per day, per gang”.
This can be compared with the same period in 2018 when the council completed “7,586.4 m² of pothole repairs, this equates to 237 m² per week, with training etc. that was 18.9 m² per gang, per day”
Some of the parties vying for votes at the General Election are promising to fill in all potholes. Government funding has been consistently low in recent years.
We doubt that central government appreciates the scale of the backlog in maintenance work which currently exists
*Each ward also has a share of a £500,000 fund earmarked for improvements for “cyclists and pedestrians”. So far suggestions from residents for the use of this fund – for example to reduce ponding problems on routes across amenity areas – have produced little positive response from officials
Fly posters beginning to irritate residents
With the York Council having made some recent progress in getting to grips with the problem of graffiti in parts of the City, it is disappointing to see an upsurge in fly posting.
Fly posters have always been a problem with fairs, circuses and music venues among the main culprits.
But now the City centre is being covered in stickers.
These are mainly from fringe political groups. Ironically one of the main offenders is a climate change group who seem to be blissfully unaware of the environmental costs of removing the stickers
Given the move towards digital communications , there really is no justification for despoiling the City’s historic core in this way in the 21st century.
The Council, police and amenity societies need to take a stand against this trend.
Empty Council properties
The York Councils decision to spend over £2 million adding further properties to its investment portfolio has produced a backlash.
Critics have pointed to the ongoing delays in bring empty properties into use. Six months ago, a Freedom of information (FOI) request revealed a long list of under-used Council buildings. These included Oakhaven, Ashbank, Willow House, the Guildhall and, of course, 29 Castlegate.
The latter is one of the prime properties in the City centre and was valued at £575,000 in 2016. Since then there have been further increases in property prices in the City.
A further FOI tried to discover what progress has been made in selling the property following a decision by the York Civic Trust to pull out of a purchase deal 12 months ago. The FOI has been rejected (see right) on the grounds that there are ongoing commercial discussions taking place. It fails to reveal who is talking to whom about the empty property. No attempt has been made to let the property for temporary use in the busy Christmas period (it includes a frontage onto the Coppergate shopping centre).
At last week’s Executive meeting, Councillors were challenged over their stewardship of the Council’s property estate.
They responded by claiming that the portfolio was “worth £335m and produced an income of £5.8m a year”.
This claim has prompted a further FOI request. A local resident now wants to see a list of all Council owned commercial properties, their value and the net income that each produces.
This is the kind of information that should be routinely provided for the Councils “scrutiny” committee. A six monthly review of investment returns is the least that taxpayers would expect to be published for public review.
Sadly, this no longer happens at the York Council.
The delays in disposing of empty property is now a major issue for the authority. It some cases there may be good reasons for the delays but, if so, then there must be more transparency about the process*.
If the Council cannot effectively manage its estate, then there are companies in the City who would be delighted to help.
*The Council has agreed to receive a staffing report on a 6-monthly basis. The reports will cover FTE numbers, Equality Data, Absence and Well Being, Starters and Leavers, reasons for leaving (i.e. retirement, redundancy, dismissal, settlement agreement) and Agency staff numbers.
Crowds add to litter problems in York
Its not just the transport systems that have been under pressure in York this weekend.
People have been pointing to issues with street cleansing in the City centre. Can’t be easy for Council staff and the BID team to keep on top of the problems with such high volumes of pedestrians around (not to mention the security zones).
Even in suburban areas we’ve been finding examples of full bins and badly littered streets. All have been reported for Council attention.
Bad week for congestion in York
There has been a lot of congestion in York over the last week or so. With many visitors coming for the Christmas markets and the “Winter Wonderland” the influx is potentially good news for the local economy.
But transport systems have capacity limits and these were reached at times with the Designer Centre car parks effectively full and Park and Ride services compromised.
Queues at the hospital car park have caused delays on bus services while even cyclists have found it difficult to find vacant City centre cycle racks.
Add in the arrival of General Election campaigners eager to be filmed with a backdrop of crowds of people and the new security barriers, which hinder movement in areas like St Helen’s Square, and things have turned decidedly awkward even for pedestrians.
So, what’s to be done?
We have criticised the Council before about its failure to utilise modern technology to ease travel woes. The real time parking space availability map was removed from their web site last year.
Many of the parking space availability signs which can be seen on arterial roads didn’t work for a long time.
A promised link through GPS to car navigation systems – which would help to direct vehicles to car parks where there were spaces – has not materialised.
As a result, vehicles still circle the City looking for spaces, which sometimes don’t exist, adding to congestion and pollution levels.
The York Council needs to raise its game.
On busy days, it should be tweeting updates on at least an hourly basis. Variable message signs on approach roads should be similarly updated. Local Radio has a part to play.
It would be relatively easy to add a CCTV link displaying the conditions at key locations to the Council web site. North Yorkshire already do this (albeit mainly to provide information on road conditions)
Modern problems need modern solutions.
Sadly at the moment there seems to be little sign of urgency at West Offices on the need to further improve traffic management in the City.
Greg Dyke to take over at “Make it York”
The “Make it York” (MIY) Quango is to get a new chair with former York University Chancellor Greg Dyke set to replace Jane Gibson.
A council report says, “an open, objective and rigorous recruitment process was undertaken supported by specialist head-hunters, Perrett Laver. The role was advertised through the Guardian jobs. Over 100 individuals were involved and these were shortlisted down to a final four. Following an interview with a panel of city stakeholders Mr Dyke emerged as the preferred candidate”
Mr Dyke holds non-executive roles with the London Film School (Chair), Trafalgar Entertainment Group (Chair), BAFTA (Vice President) and was previously Chair of the Football Association, the Ambassador Theatre Group and the British Film Institute amongst others.
His executive career included spells as Chief Executive of London Weekend Television and Director General of the BBC. He knows the city well having been Chancellor of the University of York for 11 years, and has very senior-level experience of working across a number of sectors.
The new Chair will join the organisation at a difficult time. Other tourism bodies (MIY supervises the work of “Visit York”) like “Welcome to Yorkshire” have been criticised for having a cavalier approach to the use of public funds.
MIY itself has been involved in wrangles with local traders and is often accused of a lack of transparency in its processes.
It is 100% owned by the City of York Council.
A review of governance arrangement is overdue.
Graffiti and full litter bins in Acomb reported
We understand that responsibility for implementing the new graffiti removal process has been reassigned within the York Council.
Those reporting incidents “on line” CLICK receive an immediate reference number which makes any necessary follow up easier.
The jury is still out on the effectiveness of the Council new graffiti policy although the responsible executive member does not seem to have taken any action to highlight concerns to the police, while the Council still no longer routinely takes action to apply anti graffiti coatings at vulnerable locations.
Nine men sentenced for urinating in public to pay £2,700
York Magistrates have ordered nine men to pay total costs of £2,772 for urinating in public, following joint action by City of York Council and North Yorkshire Police to tackle anti-social behaviour.
On Tuesday 5 November 2019, York Magistrates heard that Emlyn Thomas (aged 37 of Sutton Way, York) was seen, visibly intoxicated, by a BID Ranger at 9:10pm on Friday 9 August 2019. Mr Thomas was found, a short while later, urinating in the doorway of an Estate Agents on Micklegate, York.
Mr Thomas failed to attend court or submit a plea and was found guilty in his absence. He was fined £40 with a £32 surcharge.
Lyndon Johnson (aged 57 of Bishops Court, York) was also seen by a BID Ranger, urinating in Tower Gardens, York, at 8:55pm on Friday 2 August 2019. Mr Johnson pleaded guilty by post and was fined £80, ordered to pay costs of £144 and a surcharge of £32.
Simon Stone (aged 32 of Teal Drive, York) was found by a police officer urinating in a doorway on Coney Street, York, at 1:10am on Saturday 3 August 2019. Mr Stone pleaded guilty by post and was fined £80, ordered to pay costs of £144 and a surcharge of £32.
Adam Sutton (aged 29 of Portsmouth Road, Thames Ditton) was seen by police officers, urinating against an alleyway opposite Knavesmire Public House, York, in the vicinity of a large crowd, at 5:30pm on Saturday 27 July 2019. Mr Sutton apologised for his actions and pleaded guilty by post. He was fined £350, ordered to pay costs of £144 and a surcharge of £32.
On Tuesday 19 November 2019, York Magistrates heard that Lewis Greenwood (aged 27 of Ploughmans Croft, Bradford) was seen by a police officer, urinating against a tree on the Knavesmire, York, at 5:15pm on Tuesday 21 August 2019. Mr Greenwood pleaded guilty by post and was fined £146, ordered to pay cost of £171 and a surcharge of £32.
Josh Raynor (aged 20 of Badgley Lane, Pudsey) was seen by a police officer, urinating against a wall between two businesses on Coney Street, York, at 10:30pm on Saturday 7 September 2019. Mr Raynor apologised for his actions during the incident and pleaded guilty by post. He was fined £109, ordered to pay cost of £171 and a surcharge of £32.
Craig Russell (aged 26 of Mayfield Drive, Armadale, Scotland) was spotted by police officers, urinating against the wall of St Martin’s Le Grand Church, Coney Street, York, at 10:50pm on Saturday 24 August 2019. Mr Russell pleaded guilty by post and was fined £128, ordered to pay costs of £171 and a surcharge of £32.
Daniel Boyle (aged 26 of Front Street, Acomb, York) was seen by police officers, urinating against the door of a business on Church Street, York, at around 1am on Saturday 14 September 2019. Mr Boyle apologised for his actions immediately and pleaded guilty by post. He was fined £158, ordered to pay cost of £171 and a surcharge of £32.
Tom Jeffrey (aged 32 of Thatch Leach, Oldham) was found by police officers, urinating in an area opposite the allotments on Albermarle Road, York, at around 6:30pm on Saturday 27 July 2019. Mr Jeffrey pleaded guilty by post and was fined £173, ordered to pay costs of £171 and a surcharge of £32.
Tom Brittain, Assistant Director for Housing & Community Safety, said: “Thanks to our neighbourhood enforcement officers and our colleagues at North Yorkshire Police and York BID for the continued joint effort to tackle anti-social behaviour in York.
“While we welcome people to York to enjoy the city, we will take action against people who spoil the city. All licensed premised are required to provide toilets for customers. To find out where your nearest toilet is, visit: www.york.gov.uk/map/PublicToilets.”
Inspector Andy Godfrey of York Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “Urinating in public is offensive, unhygienic and illegal. It puts an additional burden on the council’s services as well as spoiling the city centre for others. These convictions should serve as a warning to anyone who thinks they can get away with it. We’ll continue to work with the City of York Council to keep York a safe and pleasant place to visit.”
Indoor tennis centre seeks planning permission in York
York St John University is seeking planning permission to replace the existing two outdoor tennis/netball courts with thee indoor tennis courts at the Mille Crux Sports Park at Haxby Road.
The application site comprises of an area occupied by two macadam surfaced outdoor courts to the east of the existing Hub building and sports hall. The courts are used for netball and tennis and are enclosed by 3m fencing and illuminated by 6 floodlights on 10m high masts. The site also includes a strip of playing field to the south of the courts and a section of the footpath to the north of the courts.
The application, which is recommended for approval, is being considered by the local planning committee on 5th December
York St John say they will implement a broad ranging Tennis Development Plan that will help support and maximising tennis participation at the facility for University students and local players of all ages and ability. The Plan will ensure the new facility will secure year round benefits to tennis in York across a wide range of areas, including;
- A student tennis programme providing sessions for players of all standard from recreational tennis to BUCS team matches
- An indoor coaching programme encompassing mini and junior tennis through to adult coaching
- Development of effective links with local schools, providing opportunities for children to try tennis, and participate in programmes and competitions
- Establishing weekly disability coaching sessions and competitions in connection with the York Disability Tennis Network
- Enhance existing tennis programmes/clubs in the area, including the provision of access to local clubs through the winter
- Providing an all year round competition venue, giving players within York and the surrounding area more competitive opportunities and providing a central venue for events
- Providing a facility to host coaching education courses, and establishing and managing a workforce with the skills to facilitate tennis development
The university have worked in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association and the scheme has been partially funded by them.
The Council says that it is considered appropriate to attach a condition securing adequate community use of the facilities.
Principal (Royal York) Hotel set to expand
The same meeting will hear an application from the Principal Hotel on Station Road to erect a 4-storey extension to create 45 bedrooms and reception/entrance space, reconfigured car parking and landscaping.
This application is also recommended for approval although the York Civic Trust has recorded an objection
