The five new bungalows being built by the York Council on Newbury Avenue are now several weeks late. The contract was supposed to be completed in earlySeptember.
Work still going on at the bungalow site on Newbury Avenue
The contract at the site has a value of £3/4 million.
The development was a controversial one because the Council declined to make adequate alternative off street parking space available for the former renters of the garages which used to occupy the site.
The development was delayed last year following a mix up over the relocation of a telecoms cabinet.
Mixed outlook on several outstanding public service issues in west York
We’ve reported a broken utility sign at the top of Grange LaneExposed cables have been tied to street signs in Milner Street for several weeks now.Graffiti and litter continue to blight the Grange Lane snickets We’ve suggested that hard core be used to make footpaths in the Grange Lane Westfield Park usable in wet weatherNew record holder for the largest weed award. This 3 metre monster in Dijon Avenue next to a telegraph pole. Loose rubbish continues to blight the rear of Front StreetOvergrown snicket on Gale Lane becoming a crime concern. We”ve asked the Ward Councillors to act.Reported yet again litter, detritus and weeds on the Tithe Close snicket. Issue recorded by the Council as “solved” Clearly not!Weeds flourishing on Hotham Avenue….and Foxwood Lane….and School Street
….But weeds cleared from Dijon Avenue garage area by Council. Now looks very tidy.
After several stable years, we have seen some criticism recently of some bus services in the City. Changes to the number 12 service were poorly publicised following a late decision by the York Council to step in and save part of the service
Passengers in west York have criticised for a long time the lack of “real time” bus arrival information screens in the area.
Bus reliability stats, provided by tracking technology, are not shared with passengers, although a “one off” sample survey – due to be conducted in a few days time – does produce a snap shot of reliability.
One area that the York Council can help passengers with is the “bus stop experience”.
Unfortunately bus shelters, provided by the Council around 10 years ago, are now looking distinctly shabby.
The Foxwood Lane bus shelter has been re-purposed as an Arboretum. Weeds dangle from the gutters, and strangle the interior. The shelter is never cleaned, the perspex is opaque and the paint continues to peal. The nearby shelter on Askham Lane is no better. At least the sight lines from the shelter are better this year as the Council actually cut part of the adjacent hedge in the spring. You can just about still see if a bus is on its way. Unfortunately they didn’t trim the hedge at the back of the shelter making cleaning and routine maintenance impossible. It is now very scruffy.At least the weeds are held at bay on this Windsor Garth shelter. But it is rusting badly and also sports opaque windows.
The York council plans a £250,000 make-over of playgrounds in York. Their plans will be discussed at a meeting next week. The initiative is welcome, but the timetable produced means that improvements in our parks will not be evident until late next year.
Many of York’s playgrounds are poorly maintained with litter, weeds and dog fouling common problems
Standards in many parks and playgrounds have declined in recent years. They have been an easy target for Council expenditure cuts. As a result, it has been left to volunteers to undertake minor refurbishment work while items of broken equipment have often remained unusable for months on end.
The Liberal Democrats – who are now part of the leadership of the Council – advocated for many years that at least one piece of equipment at each major playground should be renewed each year. This would have ensured that there was something novel to engage children’s interest on a regular basis while avoiding the whole-scale decline, and eventual expensive renewal, of complete play areas. This approach seems set to be abandoned by the new Council leadership.
We agree with the report, which has been written by officials, when it says “Whilst the number and geographical spread of equipped playgrounds is therefore generally good, their play value is more varied. This reflects their age and sporadic local and national investment that has been available”.
The report promises an “audit” of all playgrounds with a view to identifying “urgent investment needs e.g. replacement swings, seats, surfacing repairs”. The budget for this work will be £150,000. Thereport lists the qualifying play areas but omits some such as the one in Dickson Park on Tedder Road.
More controversial, is an allocation of £100,000 as a “challenge fund” for larger refurbishment schemes. One feature of these is that matching funding will be expected from parishes or social housing providers. In theory the fund will be available in non parished areas but the examples of fund raising quoted in the report (Poppleton, West Bank Park) refer to typical “Middle England” neighbourhoods where fund raising for new amenities is relatively easy.
It’s potentially bad news for areas like Westfield (the statistically poorest part of the City) which also has a high proportion of under 16’s in its population
The area has suffered badly as a result of recent Council decisions which have seen the removal of open spaces, sports facilities and the multi user games area at Kingsway West and Lowfields.
It seems that it may also be last in the queue for improved
play facilities.
Nearly £400,000 extra funding has been secured by the council to help more people off the streets and into accommodation and support more quickly.
£253,000 has been awarded for 2019/20 from the Rough Sleeping Initiative to try and offer each individual sleeping on the streets the tailored support they need to help them into lasting accommodation.
In addition, £139,000 Rapid Rehousing Pathway funding has been secured to help people into accommodation and support. This is done by a specialist team of workers, known as Rough Sleeper Housing Navigators, enhancing current support by reacting rapidly to any reports of people sleeping rough as well as providing ongoing intensive support to rough sleepers.
People’s life expectancy plummets from 83 to 47 years when they live on the streets, so this funding will be used to support ongoing work to prevent people resorting to sleeping outdoors while developing new ways of addressing the individual needs of each person.
Whether it’s mental health support, dealing with drug or alcohol abuse, relationship breakdown or poverty, the right support at the right pace is given to try and help each individual into suitable accommodation and services. Once working with us and our partners in the city, we can look to address each person’s needs including getting benefits in place, training for work, money and tenancy management, before helping them into stable accommodation.
“It also complements the additional resource we invested in extending the Housing First model. This provides high levels of support to help people with complex needs such as substance abuse and mental ill health to live independently and to avoid them ending up back on the street.
“We have also provided more 24/7 supported housing which is actually what some people need. The council invested £130,000 in July in developing this new programme, working with health service partners.”
Anyone able and wanting to support this and our partners’ work by giving their time or sharing their skills with people going through resettlement, can contact For more information, please visit www.york.gov.uk/roughsleeping.
If you see someone sleeping outdoors, please call the StreetLinknational rough sleeper reporting line on 0300 5000 914. They will notify us so we can offer help.
Cllr Denise Craghill, executive member for housing and safer communities said: “We are doing everything we can to develop new ways of getting people in off the streets and this is a welcome addition to our continuing work to prevent homelessness in the first place and to help more people out of rough sleeping. It reflects the team helping more people into accommodation and reducing the number of rough sleepers in the city from 29 in 2017 to nine in 2018.
It emerged today that the York Council has already handed over £18,498.70 this year to the contractor charged with controlling weed growth in the City.
The figure conflicts with assurances given at a public review meeting held earlier in the week when the impression was given that payments were being withheld because of poor performance.
The contract states that treated areas must be “98%” free of weed growth. Clearly this isn’t the case in most of the City. In additional several major roads and areas were omitted by the Council – in error – from the contract. These areas, including parts of theA59 and A1237, are still not showing any “die back” as a result of the promised “third treatment”
The meeting on Monday was largely indecisive. A further
review is promised but it appears that the existing contract isn’t being
terminated.
There are no plans to undertake weed control activities in
at least a “trial” sector of the City using the Councils own workforce. This would
have allowed work quality claims to be tested.
The latest revelations are likely to lead to renewed calls
for greater transparency on the activities of the Councils’ partners. One
Councillor (Mark Warters) has already asked for copies of weed control activity
worksheets for his ward to be published. In addition, many residents believe that
the results of contract supervisory checks should be made public. These issues may
be subject to a Freedom of Information request.
A list of suggested initiatives was presented by residents to the meeting (above right). A response is awaited.
City of York Council is raising awareness of doorstep crime ahead of Doorstop Crime Awareness Week between 14 and 18 October.
The authority is working in partnership with colleagues from across the Yorkshire and Humber region as well as trading standards to provide advice to residents during the week.
The council is reaching out to provide a range of support and advice during the week to help those who are most targeted. Criminals are known to target the elderly and vulnerable by unsolicited door knocks or putting leaflets through their doors.
The following support will be provided during the week:
Meet us for advice at a city centre bus stop:
Trading standards officers will be based at city centre bus stops throughout the week, including outside the Theatre Royal on St Leonard’s Place (Tuesday and Friday) or Stonebow (Monday, Wed and Friday), to provide face-to-face advice between 9am and 10.30am.
Drop your leaflets into one of our collection boxes:
We know criminals use leaflets to pose as legitimate traders. Some of the bogus claims to lure vulnerable or unsuspecting residents into agreeing to unnecessary discounts are often promoted as ‘OAP discounts, ‘established family businesses and ‘skilled tradesman’.
With the worst offenders repeatedly targeting their victims time and again.
Residents are encouraged to drop off any leaflets they think fall into this category for our trading standards teams to review. Drop off points are provided at the following locations, or email them to trading.standards@york.gov.uk
City of York Council’s West Offices
Age UK on Bishopthorpe Road, Burton Stone Lane and Fourth Avenue in Tang Hall
Bell Farm Social Hall, Roche Avenue
Foxwood Community Centre
Sainsbury’s, Monks Cross
Costcutter, Wheldrake
Burnholme Community Hub, Baf Bargain Lane, Heworth
The Old Butcher’s Coffee Shop, Dunnington
St Hilda’s Parish Church, Tang Hall Lane
The Folk Hall, Hawthorne Terrace, New Earswick
Fulford Library, Heslington Lane
FACTS: Know your rights:
If you agree to have work done (that is over £42), whilst the trader is in your home (whether they are invited or they call around uninvited) the trader is usually required to provide you with certain information regarding the contract such as a description of the work, the price and their contact details.
In general you should also be given information regarding a 14 day cooling off period to allow you to decide if you wish to go ahead with the work.
If the trader starts the work within this 14 day period, your right to cancel does not disappear however you may be required to pay for any work done up to the date of cancellation.
There are a number of exceptions to the above – including certain types of bespoke work. If you would like specific advice please contact the Citizen’s Advice Consumer Helpline on 03454 04 05 06 for more information.
Trading Standards would always recommend that residents do not deal on the doorstep and be wary of anyone rushing them to make a decision – genuine traders will not mind if you do not make a decision straightaway.
Cllr Andrew Waller, Executive Member for Economy and Strategic Planning, said: “Trading Standards Officers regularly receive reports of people cold calling residents to sell goods and services. In some cases we know residents have felt pressurised into parting with vast sums of money for unnecessary and poor quality products.
“We know that crimes of this nature are under-reported, and so we urge anyone with concerns or information to get in touch by contacting the Citizens Advice Consumer helpline on 03454 040506.”
A dog owner who failed to microchip, control and prevent dogs from straying, was given a total of £3k to pay by York Magistrates on Tuesday 10 October 2019.
Alaskan Malamute
Lloyd Hunter (aged 37 of Boroughbridge Road, York) was convicted in his absence to offences of failing to correctly microchip two Alaskan Malamutes, transferring a third Alaskan Malamute to another person with an incorrect microchip, and failure to comply with a community protection notice on two occasions.
Between July and October 2018, the dogs were regularly reported to City of York Council after straying onto neighbouring properties, including a children’s nursery. The council also discovered the dogs had incorrectly registered microchips.
Mr Hunter was issued multiple notices in October 2018 that required him to register the animals correctly with a relevant database operator, as well as a warning to keep his dogs under control.
Following further complaints in November 2018, Mr Hunter was issued with a Community Protection Notice requiring him to secure his property and ensure that his dogs were kept under proper control.
On 1 January 2019, a stray Alaskan Malamute that Mr Hunter had reportedly sold to a friend, was found to be still registered to the original owner, who Mr Hunter had purchased the dog from a few years earlier.
Another dog in Mr Hunter’s possession was also found straying by a local resident and returned on 12 June 2019, after the dog escaped and ran across the A1237.
The previous month, on 31 May 2019, Mr Hunter was walking three Alaskan Malamutes in Millennium Gardens, Nether Poppleton, when the dogs ran out of sight and attacked a Cockapoo. The dogs were off the lead and left the Cockapoo with injuries requiring over one week of veterinary treatment.
In interview during the investigation, Mr Hunter said that he was unaware of any injuries to the Cockapoo at the time of the incident, and also bought a stronger lead to prevent further escapes from his property. He also stated that he mistakenly registered his dogs through a discounted database, which is not recognised by local authorities.
Mr Hunter was convicted in his absence having failed to attend court. He was ordered to pay fines of £1,790, costs of £1,334.28 and a victim surcharge of £66.
Cllr Denise Craghill, Executive Member for Housing and Safer Neighbourhoods, said: “Responsible dog owners ensure that their animals are kept under control when out in public and properly secured when at home.”
“Since the law changed in 2015 all dogs must not only have identification tags, but they must also be microchipped with all details recorded on a relevant database operator. A list of these database operators can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/get-your-dog-microchipped.”
City of York Council’s Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education will consider plans to provide an increase to York foster carers’ fees at a decision session next week (15 October).
Cllr Ian Cuthbertson will review recommendations made in an independent report into the council’s foster carers’ fee increase, which was commissioned following a decision to cease the uplift in January 2019.
The foster carers’ uplift had been annually linked to any rise in social workers’ salary, but this was ceased so that the funding could be used to provide an enhanced training and support package for foster carers.
The independent report was commissioned following feedback from York Area Foster Carer Association (YAFCA).
The executive member will be asked to consider a number of recommendations in the report, including implementing the fee uplift for foster carers on level one and two of the grading structure in 2019/20, holding an annual conference for foster carers, and also setting out a clear framework for future consultation and communication on decisions relating to the carers.
The decision session takes place on Tuesday 15 October at West Offices from 4pm and is open to members of the public or is available to watch later online from: www.york.gov.uk/webcasts
To find out more about the report, or to attend, visit:
Cllr Ian Cuthbertson, Executive Member for Children, Young people and Education, City of York Council, said: “Foster carers are an essential part of our support for some of York’s most vulnerable children and young people.
“We recognise the important contribution that foster carers make to our city and we are committed to working in partnership with them.”
There are currently 69 children across North Yorkshire and the Humber who are waiting for permanent, loving homes due to a shortage of people coming forward to adopt.
Unfortunately many potential adopters rule themselves out, due to myths and outdated beliefs about who can adopt and the qualities they need. During this year’s National Adoption Week, which takes place from 14-20 October, One Adoption North and Humber is urging all potential adopters to come to an information event or contact the agency to find out how they can create a forever family.
In addition to a series of information events across the region, One Adoption is hosting a live online question and answer session via social media on 14 October from 8-9pm. The Q&A, which will be hosted on the agency’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/oneadoption, will enable people who are thinking of adopting to get up-to-date and correct information about who can adopt, the adoption process and anything else they are curious about from adoption professionals.
Suzie Grove, head of One Adoption North and Humber (the regional adoption agency) said:
“We would love to hear from anyone interested in learning more about adoption. We need all kinds of different families to meet the varied needs of children across our region and particularly need adoptive parents for sibling groups of all sizes.
“People often assume that you have to be a certain type of person to adopt, but this isn’t the case. We want people who are committed to having a positive impact on a child’s life, and are devoted to providing them with a secure and loving home.”
The regional adoption agency for North Yorkshire and the Humber is also keen to ‘bust’ the myths which often put people off from taking the first step into adoption.
Suzie added:
“Our team has lots of experience helping people create a family and are always on hand to answer your questions. For instance, you don’t have to be married to adopt, we have some excellent single adopters, and we have approved lots of adopters from the LGBTQ+ community. People of any race or religion are welcome to apply as are people who have a disability or are an older parent. The only criteria is that you must be 21 years or older, have space in your home and a willingness to provide a safe and loving home for a child.
“We are so grateful for the wonderful adopters who have chosen to adopt with us but we always need more people to take that first step towards becoming a parent.”
People who are concerned that they may not get the support they need once they adopt can also be reassured. One Adoption parents are supported throughout the whole process by highly experienced, dedicated adoption support teams. There is a comprehensive programme of pre- and post-adoption training and support – from stay and play sessions to more in-depth workshops and a new peer mentoring scheme.
During National Adoption Week One Adoption North and Humber is holding a series of drop-in information events to help more people find out about the adoption process and the needs of children who are waiting to be adopted. These are:
Hull – Wednesday 16 October, 17:30 (The Guildhall, HU1 2AA)
York – Saturday 19 October 09:30-11:00 (West Offices, YO1 6GA)
These are in addition to the regular adoption information events held across the North Yorkshire and Humber region.
People who are interested in finding out more about adoption are advised to call 0345 305 2576 and talk to one of the friendly teams in each area or visit www.oneadoption.co.uk.
Cllr Ian Cuthbertson, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, City of York Council, said: “City of York Council is the host authority for One Adoption North and Humber, so I am really proud of the work we are doing together to speed up the adoption process for our children and help find the right adoptive parents for them more quickly. Our regional adoption agency is playing a vital role in improving the outcomes for some of the most vulnerable children in our care.”
