Staffing crisis means litter bins not being emptied in west York
The York Council has fallen behind with litter and poop scoop bin emptying this week.
The failures are put down to staff sickness.
Many bins in the west of the City are now full to overflowing.
So far the Council has not issued any information about what it is doing to remedy the problems – which in warm weather – may have public health implications
Swift action promised by York Council following litter camplaints
The Council have promised to deal today with several problems that we reported yesterday using their “on line” system. https://www.york.gov.uk/reportproblems
Dog fouling Tithe Close snicket
Junk on Tedder Road footpath
Litter on Otterwood Lane snicket
Poor waste storage facilities and graffiti to rear of Front Street shops
Final bush and tree lopping before nesting season
Residents in west York have been completing hedge trimming work over the last few days.
Bushes which have obscured the view from the Askham Lane bus stop are being removed.
The Council has promised to cut back overhanging highway trees and the local ward committee has allocated a budget for the work.
Elsewhere Sheena Jackson and local residents have been giving the boundary hedge in the Foxwood park a final trim (below).
Arrangements are in place for the Great British Clean up next Saturday.
Join the Foxwood Residents Association as they “walk the bounds”
Action taken to clear fly tipping and litter
Good to see the Council taking prompt action to remove the fly tipping from Askham Lane
Also the long standing problem with graffiti on the Tithe Close snicket.
Other snickets have also been cleared of litter.
Slower progress in removing fly tipping from the Grange Lane park and in sweeping some gutters.
York Council launches appeal for “estate champions”
The York Council is seeking volunteers who will check the quality of local public services in their local estate or neighbourhood.
Although in much of the Westfield area, Residents Associations and local Councillors do routinely inspect the quality of public services we think that the more people who are involved the better.
So we hope that some will volunteer and feedback their experiences of getting problems rectified.
The speed of reaction by the Council to problems with dumping and litter has improved recently although there are still problems with some services such as the maintenance of communal garage areas and trimming hedges and trees.
Problems with road and footpath surfaces are a continuing issue as is dog fouling in some areas.
York Council getting to grips with street cleansing issues.
Some good progress has been made over the last week by the Council when responding to reports of litter and fallen leaves.
The new on line “report it” system seems to be working better now for cleansing issues. Click here to try it out.
Other types of issue are still best reported using “fix my street”
It’s not just the York City centre that needs some weed killer!
We do increasingly wonder whether either Councillors or officials actually routinely check the quality of public services in some parts of the City?
Take the cycle/footpath which links Water Lane to Hazelnut Grove and Rawcliffe beyond.
It is obstructed with nettles, brambles and weeds. It has clearly not been swept for months?
We hope that even if the York Council ignores issues like these, residents will report them using the Fix My Street web site (as we have done today). Regular maintenance can make a big difference to the local environment
Detritus on Water Lane cycle path
Nettles impede Water Lane cycle path
That was the week that was in pictures
Work started on resurfacing Front Street. The road will be closed again tomorrow (Sunday) to permit the completion of the work
Cllr Sheena Jackson has started a survey aimed at finding out what improved leisure facilities youngsters in the Foxwood area would like to see.
Cllr Sheena Jackson has been meeting with the Local Police Community Support Officers to discuss anti social behaviour issues in the area
& a quick litter pick by Sheena in the Tedder Road park
Lack of parking space on Windsor Garth is now a major issue. No sign yet of much needed matrix protection
Developers will take down a section of the railings around part of the Hob Stones development in the autumn. It is being replaced with an (ugly) close boarded fence (which is 4 metres high on the north side)
Unfortunately the Council has not updated the notices displayed on public noticeboards in the Kingsway area. There is a lot going on so this is a missed opportunity.
Road works starting on Windsor Garth link road upgrade on 30th August. Plan shows that speed tables will be repaired.
Deep clean needed on Windsor Garth
Recurrence of litter problems on Kingsway West/Green Lane snicket & kick about area
Bus stop paving on Hamilton Drive West disappearing under verge. Litter reported by Cllr Sue Hunter.
Damaged Gully cover Danesfort Ave to be re-aligned to avoid flooding
Weeds and detritus reported on Gale Lane lay-by. We’ve asked for road markings on the adjacent Stuart Road hammerhead to be repainted
Cllr Andrew Waller has reported an overhanging tree Thanet Road
Litter and detritus on Chesney’s Field snicket
All issues have been reported via https://www.fixmystreet.com/
Cleaner York report published
York Council looks like it will soon get to grips with improving cleanliness standards in the City.
Manual sweeping in the Acomb ward click to enlarge
A report, to be considered on 25th January, makes several recommendations, although the most significant may be that the management of street cleaning will be devolved to local Ward Committees.
The report does, however, say that the funds available for cleaning will be reduced.
The report says, “Cleansing will take place with a minimum frequency of quarterly and a maximum of daily, depending on the location. Although in some locations there will be a reduction in the frequency of visits by a large mechanical road sweeper the new schedules will allow the vehicle to be driven more slowly which will ensure improved removal of detritus. This will not only improve cleanliness standards but also remove the matter in which weeds are able to grow”.
Mechanical sweeping in the Acomb Ward click to view
The report notably fails to say what standards will apply to sub-urban shopping areas, public spaces and communal areas on estates. These are often the places which have the biggest litter problems
Litter and Poop scoop bins
The report makes a welcome proposal to increase the number of litter bins. The number of litter reports started to increase when the last Council removed several bins. (They responded by stopping the publication of statistics showing the number of complaints being received – see below).
Combined litter and poop scoop bins
The Council will also move over to combined litter/poop scoop bins. These are emptied by the same operative and end up in landfill.
Enforcement
Despite fly tipping costing the Council £69,000 to remove in 2014, only £2248 was recovered from fines. During the same year, 8 fixed penalty notices were issued for litter dropping and dog fouling.
Reporting problems
The Council is promising that its much delayed on line issue reporting system will finally become available in the summer.
It means that the current – dysfunctional – “report it “system and the outdated “Smarter York” app will be scrapped. The latter, introduced in a hurry in 2011 by a new Council administration, lacked the convenience and flexibility of commercial systems such as “Fix my Street”. The Smarter York app is currently costing the Council over £12,000 a year to maintain with use having dwindled to less than 4 a week.
We will see; but the Councils promise to soft launch the system, before promoting its use, is a welcome step forward.
The Council is also promising to launch a “One Planet” App which will allow residents to advertise surplus items for “exchange”. We assume that they mean what effectively would be a version of Freecycle. The system would also “receive alerts regarding which type of waste to present on which week and a scanning facility to indicate if an item is recyclable based on York’s collection policy”.
Performance indicators
Attached to the report is a welcome glimpse of the performance indicators “lost to view” a few years ago.
They aren’t complete but their publication is a welcome step forward by the current coalition administration (see below)
- Performance indicators