The Council have removed weeds and overhanging branches from the little Green Lane garage area. We had asked for the work to be done earlier in the summer when the area was becoming overgrown.
We hope that in future the area will be routinely kept clear of weeds, detritus and obstacles.
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 early September.
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
….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.
Below are the latest planning applications received by the York Council for the Westfield ward.
Full details can be found by clicking the application reference
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7 Bachelor Hill York YO24 3BD
Single storey rear extension
Ref. No: 19/02030/FUL
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Former Lowfield School Dijon Avenue York
Non-material amendment to permitted application 17/02428/FULM – Alterations to bedrooms, house types, elevations, roof mounted PV, masterplan, FFL’s & boundary treatments
Ref. No: 19/01856/NONMAT
This application contains a large number of details changes to the Lowfield plans. Some were submitted as long ago as August but have not been subject to local consultation. Many are minor in nature or will have little impact on the existing local community. Some are more far reaching including a proposal to remove the existing perimeter metal railings and replace with a wooden boarded fence.. Leaving aside the additional costs involved in such a proposal, the railings are valued by some neighbouring house owners as they offer good security. They also allow wild animals such as hedgehogs to move freely around the neighbourhood. We think that individual neighbours should have been consulted on these changes.
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Representations can be made in favour of, or in objection to, any application via the Planning on line web site. http://planningaccess.york.gov.uk/online-applications/
NB. The Council now no longer routinely consults neighbours by letter when an application is received
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.
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. The report 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.
Nice to see the play equipment in the playground on Foxwood Lane being spruced up today. According to social media the volunteers who did the work were from the Food Standards Agency.
We’re hoping that the Council will ensure that repairs to playgrounds generally are undertaken quickly.
In addition it would be nice to see at least one piece of play equipment renewed each year. This would give children something new to look forward to while minimising the upheaval of complete modernisation every 20 years.
