Highways schemes approved by Council

More minor highways improvement schemes have been approved under the York Councils delegated ward budgets.

They are located in the Dringhouses, Fulford and Osbaldwick wards. A list can be viewed by clicking here

The process and method of prioritisation of the use of the £1 million available budget is obscure. No comprehensive list of the improvements approved and implemented in each part of the City has been published on the Councils web site. Requests for improvements to footpaths and roads in the Westfield area have produced little response.

Bus shelters need upgrading

Even in Fulford, where funds are being allocated, some may wonder whether an investment in replacing opaque panels in local bus shelters might have deserved some consideration? Instead two prominent shelters look shabby or are overgrown by vegetation.

It is a similar picture on the west of the City.

Footpaths in the area near Fulford Ings are muddy in places making cycle access difficult. Some discrete use of chippings would improve the route from Millennium Way to the Designer Outlet, helping to promote benign forms of travel.

The delegation of funding decisions to local communities is a step in the right direction but currently allocation processes look to be a combination of patrimony and chance.

Flooding report – February 2020 wettest on record

£4.9 million cost for pumping station to protect Fordlands Road area.

It cost the City of York council £180,000 to respond to and recover from the floods which took place in the City in February.  This was the wettest February on record, with the most flood warnings issued in any one day across England. Rainfall fell on already saturated ground increasing the impacts.

The Council will consider a report on the problem at a meeting next week.

There is some debate about the apparently conflicting advice issued by local agencies and the information included on government river gauge web sites.

Generally flood defences held well although there were issues in the Fulford/Fordlands Road/Germany Beck area. A separate report on flood prevention plans for that area can be read by clicking here.

The preferred option would include the construction of a £4.9 million pumping station. If funding for the project can be found the work could start on construction next summer.

The meeting will also consider the latest Environment Agency report on its flood prevention works programme

Environment Agency Work Programme 2020

Latest on missed bin emptying

Latest waste service update Monday 8 June
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We were unable to collect household waste from Railway View and Moor Grove in Dringhouses due to blocked access.

We were unable to collect recycling waste from areas of Fulford and Hull Road due to vehicle breakdowns.

We’ll attempt to collect all this waste on Tuesday 9 June. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.

We’ve been unable to collect garden waste from areas of Fulford, Naburn, Hull Road and Bishopthorpe.

We’ll attempt to collect missed garden waste from Bishopthorpe on Tuesday 9 June, and the rest on the evening of Monday 8 June, but may not be able to revisit until later in the week. Please leave your green bin out and we’ll get to you as soon as we can.

Missed bin collections in York – backlog growing

The missed bins from yesterday and due for collection in Haxby, Huntington, Fulford and and Bishopthorpe today weren’t collected. This is put down to continuing staffing and vehicle reliability issues.

Skelton was also missed today

The Council says that it will try to empty all outstanding waste and garden bins tomorrow (Saturday)

It does increasingly seem that the bin emptying service, which was often regarded in public satisfaction surveys as the most appreciated local service provided by the Council, is now in decline.

Bin emptying arrangements failing in York.

Residents demand answers

Bin emptying arrangements have been plagued with problems over the last few days.

According to the Councils web site many bins in Fulford and Bishopthorpe weren’t emptied today. The Council blames staff sickness and vehicle problems for the poor service.

Missed bin collections Friday and Monday

Last week several neighbourhoods suffered delayed collections. These included parts of Strensall, Haxby, Wigginton, Acomb, Huntington and Heworth.

On Friday garden waste collections didn’t take place in Poppleton.

Residents were told to leave their bins out for emptying on Saturday but they were missed again.

Incredibly the Council has failed to issue a media statement explaining the delays, apologising and indicating when they expect to catch up with their collection schedule.

The responsible Executive member is aware of the problems

Back to the drawing board as court rules Fulford care home planning permission invalid?

Plans to replace the Fordland’s care home with a new building – to be run by Octopus Healthcare – have been thrown into confusion after a judge ruled that the planning permission is invalid.

As the existing care home (now empty) had operated on the site for many years, the case revolved around whether the planning committee was correctly advised on the level of unmet demand for care beds in the area.

Officials say there is an estimated shortfall of 663 residential and extra care places for over 75’s by 2020 and a 1,490 shortfall by 2030.

Residents who opposed the new building felt that it was overbearing.

In is rather novel in York for objections to elderly persons accommodation to cause a row. Usually it is specialist student accommodation plans that raise peoples wrath.

The £10 million investment in the site would have provided 64 beds and created 64 full and part time jobs,

It is possible that the applicant may now simply reapply for permission with the correct care bed demand figures being reported to the committee.

However the planning opening date of mid 2019 now seems optimistic.

A64 / A19 Fulford interchange overnight closures for surfacing works

Works to resurface the A64 / A19 interchange, which supports the £2 million Department for Transport funded Pinch Point scheme in the area, will start next week.

A19 pinch point

A19 pinch point

The A64 / A19 Fulford interchange will be resurfaced over four consecutive nights from Tuesday 1 to Friday 4 September, with full road closures between the hours of 8pm and 6am.

All traffic diversions will be clearly signed in the area and are as follows:

  • North and south traffic on the A19: will be able to continue through the A64 junction using a single lane and working with traffic light control.
  • Southbound (towards Selby) A19 traffic wishing to travel east on the A64: will not be affected as the A64 slip road will continue to be open.
  • Southbound (towards Selby) A19 traffic wishing to travel west on the A64: will need to be diverted initially eastbound on the A64 via Grimston Bar to enable them to return westbound.
  • Northbound (towards York) A19 traffic wishing to travel both east and west on the A64: traffic from the south (Selby) wishing to travel on the A64 (in either direction) will be diverted via the inner ring road and Hull Road A1079.
  • A64 traffic wishing to use the A19: No direct access to the A19 at the A64/A19 junction. Traffic will be diverted via either Tadcaster Road A1036 or Hull Road A1079 and the inner ring.
  • A64 East-west traffic: east – west traffic on the A64 will not be affected.

• Designer Outlet and Park&Ride: Works will be outside of the Designer Outlet’s opening times, so there will be minimum impact on access to and from the shopping centre. P&R services will not be affected. Patrons and staff leaving the Designer Outlet after 8pm will need to exit via Naburn Lane as St. Nicholas Avenue will be closed after this time.

• Buses: Two routes will be slightly affected, including the 415 service timetabled to leave the Designer Outlet at 9.15pm to York and 9.50pm to Selby. Passengers will need to walk to the stops on A19 Selby Road or A19 near Lingcroft Lane (Persimmon).

Motorists travelling during the hours of the works should expect delays and are advised to plan their journey accordingly. For travel advice visit www.itravelyork.info

Full FAQs and plans of the Pinch Point scheme are available to view at: www.york.gov.uk/A19pinchpoint

The scheme is supported through approximately £2million Department for Transport funding, which City of York Council successfully bid for and secured from a share of a £170 million Government Pinch Point Fund in 2013.

The £2 million funding contributes towards the cost of the £4.7m overall project in this area which will help towards supporting local transport schemes that tackle congestion and support growth.

Main improvement works to the A19 south starts this month

Proposed extra lane for A19 pinch point

Proposed extra lane for A19 pinch point

The main improvement works to one of York’s busiest road interchanges, helping to tackle congestion and improve public transport reliability and journey times on the A19 south of York, which over 20,000 vehicles use daily*, starts Monday 11 May.

Full FAQs and plans are available to view at: www.york.gov.uk/A19pinchpoint

The Pinch Point scheme is supported through approximately £2million Department for Transport funding, which City of York Council successfully bid for and secured from a share of a £170 million Government Pinch Point Fund in 2013.

The £2million funding contributes towards the cost of the £4.7m overall project in this area which will help towards supporting local transport schemes that tackle congestion and support growth.
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Improvements to the A19 south near Fulford to start in April

Improvements to one of York’s busiest road interchanges, helping to tackle congestion and improve public transport reliability and journey times on the A19 south of York, which over 20,000 vehicles use daily* ,starts next month.

Proposed extra lane for A19 pinch point

Proposed extra lane for A19 pinch point

Full FAQs and plans are available to view at: www.york.gov.uk/A19pinchpoint

The Pinch Point scheme is supported through approximately £2million Department for Transport funding, which City of York Council successfully bid for and secured from a share of a £170 million Government Pinch Point Fund in 2013.

The £2million funding contributes towards the cost of the £4.7m overall project in this area which will help towards supporting local transport schemes that tackle congestion and support growth.

Improvements to the A19 south will benefit up to 10,000 motorists who use this route daily.

Phase one of the scheme will be split into sub-phases with the first starting week commencing 6 April for approximately four-weeks. This is expected to have minimal impact on traffic and is not located within close proximity to residents.
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