Double yellow lines coming to a street near you?

The Foxwood Residents Association say on their Facebook site that they have responded to a notice placed on a lamppost which advertised plans for double yellow lines on Askham Croft.

They uncovered some maps (below) which give residents more details of what is planned in the Westfield Ward.

*Proposals affect Askham Croft, Gale Lane, Askham Lane, Ridgeway and Grange Lane*

It may be that these plans are relatively uncontroversial.

However, it appears that dozens of other changes to parking restrictions affecting the whole City have also been tabled. We doubt whether local communities will read the lamppost notices in their areas and so may be unaware that they only have until the middle of May to register any observations.

We think that, as a minimum, the Council should alert residents to the proposals using their social media channels.

They should also publish a plain English version together with a map on their web site.

Click the graphic below to download a (not very user friendly) list.

Some streets cleaner

Good to see that progress has been made in clearing moss and detritus from the Grange Lane – Chapelfields Road snicket. Nearby hydrants sign – damaged 2 years ago – has still not been repaired

and the lane to the rear of the Front Street/ Beaconsfield Street is tidier than it has been for some time

Latest planning applications for the Westfield Ward

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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2 Grange Lane York YO26 5DR

Erection of detached garden building to rear

Ref. No: 20/01143/FUL

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124 Wetherby Road Acomb York YO26 5BY

Erection of single storey extension extending 4.40 metres beyond the rear wall of the original house, with a height to the eaves of 2.80 metres and a total height of 3.80 metres

Ref. No: 20/00943/LHE

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Representations can be made in favour of, or in objection to, any application via the Planning online web site. http://planningaccess.york.gov.uk/online-applications/

The Council now no longer routinely consults neighbours by letter when an application is received

Impeded paths blamed on damp weather vegetation growth

Grange Lane/Parker Avenue snicket is gradually getting narrower!

Trees are now blocking part of the path which links Kingsway West and Green Lane. Pedestrians are forced to walk on the grass. The trees are in the compound of the Council’s building contractor.

& another Council garage forecourt area apparently missed of the weed killing list. This one on Windsor Garth

Issues in west York reported – paths, flooding and verge damage

Uneven paths on Ridgeway
Trip hazard on Askham Lane
and another on Askham Lane
Not surprisingly with the recent weather there is a lot of ponding on paths. This one on Grange Lane
and this on Chapelfields Road
A lot of verges being wrecked by inconsiderate drivers.

Issues reported in west York today

Verges need tidying up and damaged equipment replaced.

Another one for the new graffiti removal team

Acomb Moor damaged stile still not repaired. We understand that local Councillors are dealing

Dumping and litter blights nature area

“Investment in waste and environment services to include additional staffing on waste rounds, improved city centre cleaning and effective weed control”. That’s what the York Council is promising in their newly published budget for next year.

In total – over two years – an additional £1 million will be found for a new system of “neighbourhood working”.

This, says the Council, will “improve the waste collection service to residents by increasing the number of green waste collections, adding two extra green waste collections each March from 2021 onwards.

The pilot of 3 free replacement boxes per property will continue and be made permanent.

The Council will develop neighbourhood working models across public realm and waste to better respond to the communities needs building on the success of local management, ownership and responsibility elsewhere in the council.

The Council will work with York Business Improvement District to review how city centre cleansing can be improved. The resilience of the services will be improved by removing the reliance on fixed term staff.

In addition they will invest in the weed control service to increase the areas treated and, in response to the world wide ongoing challenge about the use of glyphosate, will trial alternative methods for dealing with weeds such as foams etc”.

The proposal is short on detail but improvements in cleaning services can’t come soon enough for some sub-urban areas.

Several amenity areas are now overwhelmed by fly tipping and litter.

The Westfield/Grange Lane park and adjacent nature area is a case in point and is particularly bad at present.

Westfield Park which is located between Grange Lane and Westfield Place

York Council using wrong type of weed killer?

As problems with the weed control programme in the City intensify, one Councillor has discovered that contractors may have been using the wrong type of weed killer.

The approved weed-killer is Glyphosate (Roundup). This has proved to be ineffective against many types of weeds including Horses (Mares) Tail and willow-herb.

Now Cllr Mark Warters has found that use of the “Diamond” formulation on Mares Tail in his ward has had good results. He is urging the Council to use it in the future.

The news comes as residents wait to hear when – or even if – the Council is going to organise a clean up of the weeds and detritus which has grown up on the City’s streets this summer.

Although a report to an October meeting has been promised more urgent action is needed.

The expectation was that the executive Councillor with responsibility for street services would have reported on progress to the scrutiny meeting which is due to take place on 11^th September.

However a report to the meeting published yesterday pointedly makes no reference to the ongoing problems on our streets.

Askham Lane footpath gradually being eroded by grass

The footpath on Grange Lane is obstructed by nettles

The Walton Place/Grange Lane snicket is overgrown

Weed growth damaging the footpath on Sherringham Drive was reported 3 months ago

Metre high weeds overgrowing railings on Askham Lane

One of the underlying problems is poor street sweeping standards. These build outs on Gale Lane haven’t been cleaned for over 6 months. The resulting silt provides an ideal bed for weeds.

All these issues have been reported to the York Council for their attention

Spring clean anyone?

As we’ve pointed out over the last few days, many of our public open spaces are looking clean and tidy at the moment.

In west York parks and amenity areas provide an attractive informal opportunity for leisure although in the Westfield ward several are under threat of development.

But there are several areas where litter and fly tipping are a problem. In some cases, items dumped many months ago still haven’t been removed by the Council.

Time for some action we think.

Fortunately, there is an active residents association in the Foxwood area and they have promised to support a month of action in their neighbourhood.

Elsewhere in the Westfield ward residents are currently less well organised so some proactive management is required.

Actions speak louder than words

Shortly there will be local elections in the area. Some candidates are already delivering literature. Both Labour and the LibDems have been seen on the streets this weekend.

The Tories have resorted to employing a contractor to deliver their leaflets They candidly admit that they don’t actually have any candidates, with only a few weeks to go before nominations close.

But no matter. If the candidates or all parties want to impress why don’t they individually organise a “spring clean” in a problem area? This might help to make a favourable impression on voters as well as enhancing the local environment?

The Keep Britain Tidy organisation coordinates an annual Great British Spring Clean campaign. This year the campaign will run between 22nd March – 23rd April 2019 and will focus on removing single use plastics from our open spaces.

Please visit their web site for more details https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/great-british-spring-clean