North Yorkshire Police to discuss increase in crime levels tomorrow

A meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) will hear how the  Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner intends to tackle an increase in crime levels in the area.  The meeting will be told that there some 3837 crimes reported during September.

Across the whole of North Yorkshire, including York, the Guildhall Ward had the largest number of crimes (212).

 In York it was followed by Huntington (91) and Westfield (79).

The largest proportion of crimes in York relate to violence (457), followed by theft (390), arson/criminal damage (153) and burglary (120). Perhaps surprisingly only 47 drug offences were reported.

Overall across the county there has been a 2.5% increase in crime levels this year so far compared to 12 months ago. Over the last two years the increase has been 16%. The biggest increase has been in public order offences. Violence against the person offences have increased from 5504 in 2017 to 7747 this year (up 40%)

There has been an increase in shoplifting in York this year. Recorded anti-social behaviour has however shown a reduction (-17%)

The scale of the problems with the Police switchboard are revealed.

222 calls to 999 were abandoned during August.

 There is a similar picture on 101 calls where 6050 were abandoned during July.

Time to answer on both channels improved during September.

The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and police staff deserve credit for producing figures which can be accessed via the web. Click here   The sheer size of the county, and its diversity, make it difficult to produce performance stats which are both accessible and relevant to local neighbourhoods.

There is some good work going on at neighbourhood level with police in west York proactively checking security issues this week

There will, however, be niggling doubts about some aspects of crime prevention.

Lack of reports of drug related crime is probably not the right way to access the scale of that issue.

Equally worrying is the failure of the force to recruit up to its budgeted staff numbers. There were estill over 30 vacancies for police officers in the force in September. The police don’t expect to hit their target number (1450 officers) until December. There are also 36 vacancies for PCSOs.

Performance stats for the Fire service can be viewed by clicking here

Call for government to invest in the East Coast Main Line to improve reliability

• The East Coast Main Line is a key strategic rail route, stretching more than 500 miles, from Inverness and Aberdeen, through key stops at Edinburgh, Newcastle and York to London

East Coast Main Line

Councillors are calling on the UK and Scottish governments to secure funding for Network Rail to improve reliability with significant economic benefits

The Consortium of East Coast Mainline Authorities (ECMA) is calling on the UK and Scottish governments to invest in the East Coast Main Line, after research conducted on behalf of ECMA identified over £60 million of economic benefits per year through punctuality and reliability improvements on the line.

A third of the UK population lives within 20 minutes of an East Coast Main Line station and together they deliver 41% of the UK’s GDP.  However, constraints on the line can lead to significant disruption and in 2018, 12 major incidents occurred costing the UK economy £46.28 million. Each major incident equates to a full loss of service per day and this unreliability is one of the contributing factors to the Public Performance Measure* (PPM) of the East Coast Main Line dropping below 80% for the first time in 10 years.

Localised and smaller incidents can also cause significant disruption across the rail network but if the number of delays on the line over 10 minutes were halved, this would deliver an additional £62.8 million per annum to the wider economy.

In June 2018, the Government announced £780 million of investment for the East Coast Main Line in Control Period 6 (2019-2024), which will reduce journey times on key flows and provide new direct links to some cities and towns. However, the majority of this work will be completed by 2021 with no current plans for further improvements or resources to fund them.

ECMA members are calling on the government to identify additional funding to help tackle issues of capacity and resilience on the line, with Network Rail indicating that they have the capacity to undertake further work to improve the East Coast Main Line from 2021, if they can secure additional funding. 

Cllr Keith Aspden, Leader of City of York Council and Chair of ECMA, said:

“Investment in the East Coast Main Line will deliver economic benefits across the country from the Highlands to Hertfordshire and means customers benefit from better reliability and greater resilience.

“Currently, the line is vulnerable to major disruptions which is why ECMA is calling on the UK and Scottish governments to secure addition funding for Network Rail to deliver a more reliable rail network for customers.”

Cllr Andy D’Agorne, Deputy Leader of City of York Council and Executive Member for Transport, said:

“York’s rail connectivity is a key asset to the city’s residents and businesses and a world-class transport hub which contributes significantly to our city’s economy. The ability to visit and do business with cities like London or Edinburgh in a day is a substantial benefit to the region which relies on this infrastructure being fit for purpose.

“It is vital that this much needed, sustainable transport network is given the care and investment it deserves to serve the populations up and down the country for years to come.”

In a letter sent to the Department for Transport and Transport Scotland, members of ECMA are calling on the governments to invest in the East Coast Main Line, and in particular:

  • Deliver the promised infrastructure improvements to allow the full delivery of the 2021 timetable
  • Secure additional funding for Network Rail to invest in East Coast Mail Line reliability improvements
  • Ring-fence Network Rail’s future funding for the East Coast Main Line improvements in Control Period 7 (2024-29)

Time to tackle the hedges

We were pleased to here that the JoRo housing team have agreed to trim back hedges from Bellhouse Way near their Woodlands estate. The path there is obstructed as it is further round near The Gallops, although the problem there involves a more hazardous thorn hedge.

Some of the hedges to the rear of Foxwood Lane are also obstructing footpaths.

The Council will be dealing with these issues

JRHT will trim back hedges near their Woodlands estate
Gathering of milk bottles where the slide used to be on the Teal Drive playground. We’ve requested a tidy up
Thorn hedges like this one near The Gallops junction are a safety risk as darker nights approach
Householders are being asked to cut hedges back form public footpaths
With heavy rainfall expected, it is important to report blocked drainage gullies. This is a particular issue at the moment because of increased leaf fall and inadequate weed clearance during the summer months. Blockages can result in localised flooding

Guildhall contract – further details

York Guildhall

The cost of the redevelopment contract for the Guildhall has been confirmed as £15.4 million. This covers only construction work.

To this must be added supervision, legal and fitting out expenses.

The contract was awarded to Vinci Construction on 16th September 2019.

It is expected that the total will be around £20 million but with substantial annual running costs.

The main use will be as a serviced office location although some Council use will be retained.

Still some action needed to clean up York streets.

Sorry to see that weed growth on the east of the City hasn’t been cleared some 3 months after first being reported. Mainly thistles growing in gutters and drainage channels. May (or may not) die back as winter gets a grip. But all is not yet fixed with many public service standards in the City still not up to standard.

Malton Road
Jockey Lane

£352,475 spent on waste collection IT system

The York Council has agreed to spend over £1/3 million on an “integrated Waste Management System & In-Cab Solution” computer system for its waste collection operation.

Missed bin collections in York occur on most days

The contract was let in July to Webaspx

The system gets only a passing reference in a report being considered today on waste collection options.

There has been no report or business case presented to an executive decision session to indicate the expected benefits of the new computer system.

The waste collection service has been subject to considerable criticism recently with bins not being emptied on virtually every day of the week.

The main cause of the fall in service standards have been an aging and unreliable fleet. On some occasions the amount of recycling put out has exceeded the capacity of the existing vehicles.

The Council has remained tight lipped about when (or even if) new refuse lorries will arrive in the City.

Monks Cross chaotic

Anyone thinking of going shopping at Monks Cross should beware of the redevelopment work that is going on . The area around Boots is particularly chaotic this week with no accessible bicycle parking and facilities for pedestrians less than ideal.

Possibly a short term boost for City Centre and Front Street traders.

Hopefully the bosses at Monk Cross will get things sorted out before the IMAX cinema opens in December.

Large development on York Green Belt agreed

Homes to be built on former Civil Service Sports Ground

Miller Homes have won a planning appeal which will see 266 homes built on Green Belt land. The site lies between Millfield Lane and Boroughbridge Road. 30% of the homes to be built will be classified as “affordable”

The results of the planning appeal went against the views of local conservationists . Consequently a key greenfield site will be lost following the ruling by the planning inspector.

The decision will effectively sever the green wedge which currently separates the City from Poppleton.

The York Council did not resist the appeal which was made against “non determination”. The application had been outstanding since 2014

Objectors had hoped to put their case to the inspectors who will be looking at the Councils draft Local Plan over the next few weeks.

The inspector concluded that there would be a “considerable loss of openness if the proposal was agreed”.

Conditions imposed by Inspector

The decision – taken with the plan to develop the former school and sugar factory sites on Boroughbridge Road – will have a major impact on transport in the area.

Hopes that more land would be allocated for open space and a park have received a major setback.

The Inspector concluded  “that very special circumstances exist to justify inappropriate development in the Green Belt”.

It is unclear how the costs of the inquiry will be met.

Weed spraying inspection lists obtained by York Councillor

Osbaldwick Councillor Mark Warters has obtained a copy of the schedules used to check on the progress being made with weed control spraying in York this summer.

Inspection report extract

They reveal that only a small proportion of roads were checked by local officials. A substantial payment has been made to the contractors based on this evidence.

Surprisingly those that were checked apparently showed signs of weed “die back”. This contrasts with some of the photographic evidence accumulated by local residents.

The list confirms that many streets and surrounding areas were not included on the spraying lists.

The main issue now relates to how next years weed control programme will be managed.

Contrasting views on the effectiveness of weed control programmes in the Westfield area