Action taken on verges

Good to see the Council out today cutting verges in the Foxwood area. Obviously there are a lot of very long cuttings now on paths and in gutters.

Parts of Manor Drive are overgrown. If the Council are planning to leave areas “wild” for nature conservation reasons, then they should consult with residents about their plans.

Elsewhere, problems with hedges obstructing paths are once again an issue. The hedges should have been trimmed during the winter. Above shows the shared use cycle/footpath along the A1237 near Poppleton. It is barely wide enough to allow two riders to pass by. The hedge makes it virtually impossible.

Its not just cycle paths that are vulnerable to overgrown hedges. This one in Hollyrood Drive obstructs the public footpath.

BIFFA bin taking root in Acomb?

A full BIFFA bin has been abandoned in the little Green Lane garage area in Acomb. It has been there for over 4 weeks. The bins is stuffed high with black bags.

The garage area is owned by the York Council but is rarely inspected and even more rarely cleaned up.

Hopefully whoever rented this bin will get it removed quickly.

Biffa bin abandoned in Green Lane garage area

We’ve reported black bags left next to the litter big on Hamilton Drive West

Some verges haven’t been cut this year and are looking untidy. We have reported those on Foxwood Lane and Bellhouse Way

Weeds are growing on the path and road at the end of Sherringham Drive. The Council has not yet published when it hopes to schedule weed treatments this summer.

Work has started on the demolition of Windsor House. There is still a lot of confusion about this project with additional costs scheduled to be discussed at a Council meeting taking place on 16th June. There has still been no update on the plans to relocate the children’s all weather play area.

Damage to grass verges – York Council response published

A group set up to consider what can be done to prevent damage to grass verges in York caused by indiscriminate parking has produced a draft report.

Damaged verges

The lengthy tome can be read by clicking here

It concludes that it is a difficult problem for which there is no easy answer (surprise, surprise!)

The Council is being recommend to take action against drivers who cause the damage with an electronic warning system being developed using the authorities new web based systems.

The report is weak in several areas not least in failing to identify the need to include surface hardening (matrix protection) as a requirement in any new developments. The system allows water to pass through the surface and therefore avoids drainage issues. It can also be retro-fitted to verges where parking space is obviously inadequate to meet modern needs.

There is a lack of management performance information included in the papers. Taxpayers should be told how many reports of damaged verges have been received each year by the Council and what the response has been and to what timescales. It remains unclear whether the problem is getting worse

There is no detailed response to the technology based solutions offered by the private sector.

Matrix protection for grassed areas.

There needs to be a programme for the provision of off street parking spaces (for example near blocks of flats), new lay-bys and subsidised dropped kerbs/verge crossovers. Good progress was being made on the latter programme during the last decade but the work has since tailed off.

It seems that the Council will continue to spend £35 per sq metre having damaged verges repaired and will use “community payback” labour to do some of the work.