Action being taken to deal with footpath, dumping and other issues in west York

Work on levelling footpaths on Front Street has started. A Ward Committee funded scheme aimed at providing level access from the Gale Farm Court area into the shopping area for those using disability scooters.

Litter at the top of Foxwood Lane has been reported

& the weather inevitably means that vehicles parking on verges will damage them. We hope that work on providing a lay-by on Askham Lane will start shortly

Shocking pictures of dumping to the rear of shops on Front Street. Cllr Sue Hunter is following up the issue.

Complaints are increasing about lack of maintenance of the Leeman Road Nature Reserve. There has been a lot of dumping, tree detritus blights surrounding streets and some public footpaths are obstructed.

 

Appeal for witnesses following an assault in Acomb Front Street

11-15 Front Street

Officers are appealing for witnesses and information following an assault in Acomb which happened in the early hours of yesterday, Friday 29 December 2017.

Police received reports of an altercation involving a number of men and women outside Boyes on Front Street Acomb, shortly before 12.40am.

Upon arrival, officers found five men and four women to be involved in the altercation and an assault had also taken place.

A 23 year old man has sustained injuries after being punched and kicked, and a 33 year old man has sustained an injury to his head and hand.

Two men from York, aged 23 and 33, were arrested in connection with the incident. Both men have been released under investigation while enquiries continue.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or who has any information is asked to contact police. Dial 101, press 2 and ask to speak to York Investigation Hub.

Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Please quote reference number 12170231267 when passing on any information.

Front Street greengrocer fined and banned

Ordered to pay £9,600 for hygiene and waste offences

 A greengrocer has been ordered to pay a total £9,624.32 having been found guilty of 12 food hygiene and waste disposal offences at his shop.

On 3 November 2017, York Magistrates Court found Gary Anderson (aged 54) of Northfield Lane, Riccall, guilty in his absence of a number of offences relating to food hygiene, environmental health and waste disposal at his shop on Front Street, Acomb.

These included not acting to prevent a rat infestation, presenting food not fit for human consumption, displaying an incorrect food hygiene rating and failing to dispose of waste correctly.

At the hearing on 3 November, a warrant was issued for his arrest and he was taken into custody yesterday (23 November 2017).

At Friday’s hearing, York Magistrates imposed £300 fines for each of four offences to which Anderson had pleaded guilty. The Magistrates also imposed £400 fines for each of eight offences which Anderson was found guilty of at trial. While recognising that Anderson had spent a day in custody, he was also ordered to pay a court surcharge of £170.

The Magistrates deemed the one day’s detention Anderson had spent in the court cells served for having missed the trial on 3 November. The fines totalled £4,4000.

A Hygiene Prohibition Order was also made preventing Anderson from participating in the management of any food business for an unlimited period.

The Magistrates told Anderson: “It is reasonable the public should not have to foot the costs of the investigation and order you pay the full prosecution costs.” These totalled £5,054.32.

The Magistrates added: “This is a very serious breach of the regulations, putting the public at risk. You were clearly given advice and chose to disregard it and continued doing so for many months”

The shop has since closed.

Advice on food hygiene is available at www.york.gov.uk/FoodSafetyStandards or by calling (01904) 551525. Please report incorrect waste disposal by calling (01904) 551551.

Front Street greengrocer faces arrest

Shop could close following food safety investigation

The Press are reporting that the owner of the greengrocers shop on Front Street could be banned from the food industry following a food inspection which found rats in the building.

An appalling series of photographs of the shop have been published.

“Food hygiene officer Kerry Bell told the court she found rat droppings on the shop floor and food display shelves, broken food packages and signs that rats had been eating the food inside them at Gary Michael Anderson’s greengrocers.

The shop, in the main shopping street in Acomb, York, stank and had mouldy blackberries, satsumas and bananas for sale”.

“Magistrates praised the two council departments for their work. During the investigation, the council closed the shop premises until they were properly cleaned, the waste food removed and the rats were eliminated, but allowed Anderson to sell from the pavement outside provided all stock was kept in his van overnight”.

Bench chairman Ian Nicholson said: “He persistently refused to take measures to protect customers.

“We found a flagrant disregard of the law over a protracted period. Multiple attempts were made to assist Mr Anderson, which he largely ignored.

“This is an appalling example of putting other businesses at risk, and we suspect the public too.”

They heard evidence that the rats left their traces in the upper room of a neighbouring charity shop that was used by elderly volunteers to sort through public donations.

York Council to sell Bootham Row car parking spaces

New threat to sell off Council housing land

Land at Bootham Row to be sold

The York Council’s Executive is being recommended to sell off 5 car parking spaces at Bootham Row car park. The land (see map) also accommodates motorcycle parking.

The Council is hoping to raise £155,000 from a local developer who hopes to remodel 27 Bootham.

The car parking spaces generate over £7000 a year for taxpayers

Coming at a time when pressure on City centre car parks is being blamed for the accelerating decline in the City centre retail economy, the plan is bound to raise eyebrows. It is reminiscent of the plan, hatched in 2011 by the then Labour led Council administration, which proposed to sell off the nearby Union Terrace car park. That idea collapsed after being heavily criticised by both residents and traders.

Housing land sale

More alarming is the publication of a lofty document which seeks to justify a new “Asset Management Strategy”. It is due to be discussed by the Council’s Executive on 28th September.

The report claims that the last strategy, launched in 2011, has been a success.

Amongst the credulous statements that Councillors are being asked to believe, are claims that that the York Central and Castle Gateway sites “have been made more economically active” (In fact very little progress has been made on either project over the last 6 years).

The report goes on to claim that older people’s accommodation has been improved. Again, the reality is that the project is running 4 years behind schedule.

Sanderson House community centre

Most bizarre is a claim that leasing community centres to local organisations  “have allowed voluntary groups to flourish, increase activity, improve outcomes and attract external funding”. The reality, at least at the two community centres in the Westfield area, is that volunteers have been given a crushing burden to handle with minimal Council support.  Most ad hoc leisure events at the centres have stopped with most bookings now being from third parties (which the management committees have to accept simply to pay for running costs)

The Council has similarly jettisoned its commitment to many local sports facilities.

The report talks vaguely of joint use arrangement with other public-sector providers such as GPs.

It seems likely that the Council intends to target staff who work in neighbourhood buildings potentially repeating the disastrous policy – from a customer service perspective – of closing facilities like the Acomb Housing office and the Beckfield Lane recycling centre.

Derelict site behind Acomb Explore Library

The report says that 5 (unidentified) Housing department owned sites will either be sold or freed up for redevelopment.

The report pointedly fails to identify the location of these sites.

There are of course pieces of Council owned land which are crying out for development.

These include the land to the rear of the Acomb Library, which was schedule as an extension providing “one stop shop” facilities – with residential accommodation above – over 8 years ago.

We are still waiting to see some progress.

Blow as Front Street business closes

Front Street

Cartridge World, who had a high street presence in Acomb for over 15 years, closed for the final time yesterday. The business is moving “on line” with future orders being serviced from their Harrogate office.

The franchised store specialised in recycling ink and toner cartridges providing a significant discount on the new price. At one point the business had three branches in York.

Ironically the company blames “on line” ordering for the demise of its local shops. Several companies offer “next day” delivery for cartridges ordered via the internet.

It is unclear whether this decision and others like it, will reduce the proportion of cartridges reused. A return to the “use and jettison” days would be a step backward for the environment.

Future ordering details can be found at www.cartridgeworld.co.uk