The trees are coming

The scale of the York Council’s afforestation plans are becoming clearer.

A meeting taking place next week will hear that increasing York’s tree cover from the current 10.76% of the total area to 13% (national average) by 2050 would require 608 ha of new cover, or 21 ha per year.

York currently has 2,926 ha of tree canopy cover, representing 10.8%
of its total area. 60% of this canopy cover is made up of trees outside
woodlands.

The report says, “the rate of viable delivery imposes a significant constraint on new canopy cover. The York Community Woodland project (Knapton Forest) in West York aims to deliver 50-60 ha of new tree cover over the next two years.

A 13% target for 2050 would require a similar level of growth every two years“.

City of York Council is a member of the White Rose Forest (WRF)
partnership which aims to provide tree canopy across large parts of Yorkshire.

The WRF project assumes an ambition for a 13% target for tree canopy cover by 2050, equating to around 22-27 ha per annum. This target would result in “an annual carbon sequestration rate at 2050 of circa 9,000tCO2 per year; equivalent to around 1% of the regions total CO2 emissions between 2020-2050“.

As with the Knapton Forest project, there has been no public consultation on the plan. The costs are unknown although, based on the Knapton land values, they could mean a taxpayers bill for several hundred million pounds.

The report doesn’t assess the scope for increasing tree canopy cover on existing amenity areas or private gardens.

The effect on food production is also unclear. The areas selected for afforestation are mainly grade 2 agricultural land.

They cover large areas near Poppleton, Skelton and Elvington.

Footpath obstructed

Such a shame that the York Council seems once again to have taken its eye off the ball. While endlessly agonising about – and focusing expenditure on – pedestrian activities in the City centre, the suburbs remain neglected.

One public footpath on the A59 near Poppleton is now blocked by overhanging branches. The same stretch had a similar problem last year. Pedestrians are forced to walk on what can be a busy carriageway. Makes a nonsence of “social distancing”

Nearby by weeds are growing in the gutters on the road and in the underpass at the junction with the A1237.

The council doesn’t seem to have an inspection regime in place which identifies issues (even those that reoccur regularly) before they become an inconvenience to residents.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of a Bank Holiday

The Good

Good work by volunteers has seen attractive flower beds established at the Foxwood Community Centre. The beds are “bee friendly”. Residents are being urged to recognise the needs of pollinators when selecting their border plants this year. Lists can be found on the RHS wen site and can be downloaded from these links;

Garden Plants click

Wildflowers click

Most garden centres have now reopened. In addition the Poppleton Community Railway Nursery charity is continuing to offer a service click for their catalogue There will be someone on the nursery at these times Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9.30 to 3.30. and Thursday 9.30 to 1.00. To avoid disappointment you can ring the nursery mobile 07800 501382 or the land line 01904 797623

Flower beds at the Foxwood Community Centre

The Bad

Less impressive has been the response in dealing with obstructions to foot and cycle paths. The Tadcaster Road cycle path has been reported on several occasions. As a result of weed and hedge overgrowth, it has now been reduced to less than 1 metre wide in some places (making “social distancing” more difficult).

Similar problem on another main access route into the City. The path on the A59 near Poppleton is obstructed forcing users to walk or cycle on the highway.

The Ugly

Sadly there has been an increase in fly tipping. Below is a country lane near Tadcaster photographed today (Monday). The tipping has been reported to the Selby District Council.

Coronavirus York updates; 19th May 2020

Poppleton CV testing results are still secret

The York Council’s Director of Public Health has said tonight that neither the Local Authority or the local NHS are being told what the results of the CV tests taking place at Poppleton have been. They do not know how many tests have proved to be positive. She blames the government for not sharing the information which is being gathered under contract by Deloitte

Deaths

3 more patients with coronavirus have died at York Hospital. The fatalities takes the total number of Covid-19 related deaths reported at the hospital to 116 so far. Another 77 such patients are reported to have died at Scarborough Hospital, taking the overall total of deaths at the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to 193.

Coronavirus York updates; 15th May 2020

Police fines

926 fines were issued by North Yorkshire Police between March 27 and May 11 for alleged breaches of the coronavirus lockdown laws. 179 of these were in York.

Virus transmission rates highest in Yorkshire

YORKSHIRE has the highest coronavirus transmission rate in England. Both the North East and Yorkshire have a transmission rate of 0.8 – the highest in England. It means that for every 10 people who are infected, they are likely to pass it on to eight other people. London’s average rate, meanwhile, has fallen to 0.4.

Deaths

ONE more patient with coronavirus has died at a hospital within the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The one further death takes the total number of Covid-19 related fatalities within the trust to 187.The trust includes York Hospital and Scarborough

The lost test results

An opportunity on Tuesday to quiz York’s Director of Public Health about the missing results from the test centre at Poppleton.

It appears that results from a across the country have disappeared (see press cutting below) .

There has been a surprising lack of comment on the issue from local MPs and Councillors.

Residents are invited to watch and interact with the council’s next live #AskTheLeaders coronavirus question and answer session on City of York Council’s Facebook page on Tuesday 19 May, 5-6pm.

Residents can interact with the Q & A session on Tuesday by either submitting questions in advance by emailing them to YourQuestions@york.gov.uk or commenting on the live video on Facebook

Coronavirus York updates; 8th May 2020

Still no coronasvirus test results from Poppleton

The authorities still haven’t revealed how many of the tests carried out at their Poppleton centre have proved to be positive.

The national figures are being revealed each day. Yesterday 97,029 people were tested of whom 4649 (5%) had positive results.

Earlier in the week (5th May) North Yorkshire officials said that 4580 tests had been completed at Poppleton. They declined to reveal how many had proved to be positive.

If local results are in line with the national picture, then around 200 local people may have the virus.

Deaths

There have now been 95 deaths at York Hospital from coronavirus and 62 at Scarborough, making a total of 157 at York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust centres.

Coronavirus York updates: 4th May 2020

“Reveal York test numbers” plea

Authorities have been asked to update residents on the number of coronavirus tests conducted at the centre established at Poppleton. The centre has been testing NHS, care staff and other key workers but, after an initial surge, it is understood that demand for the service has reduced.

No figures have been published indicating the number and percentage of those checked who have been found to have the virus.

In other parts of the country, test centres have been moving on to offer the service to other vulnerable groups including the over 65’s.

Covid case numbers up in York

Meanwhile, figures issued ) by Public Health England show that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the City of York Council area has risen by 15, from 300 to 315

UPDATE PM FIVE more patients with coronavirus have died at hospitals run by York Hospital NHS Trust, taking the total number of fatalities to 140.

A59 weeds finally gone..leaf clearance starts,

Its taken over 4 months, but weed growth has finally been cleared from the drainage channels on the A59 near Poppleton. The work, undertaken yesterday by Council staff, has improved the appearance of this key entry into the City

A59 gutters clear of weeds (17th October 2019)

The only area left to treat is the slip road onto Longfield Lane.

It remains unclear how far the Councils weed control contractors have got with their “3rd application” of weed killer.

Attention will now switch to the autumn leaf removal programme. This is due to start on Monday. It will last for about 8 weeks.

Councillors have been briefed in the following terms,

“The leaf clearance will be undertaken using both mechanical and manual means.

We will have two trailer drawn leaf vacuums, our teams will use these to remove leaves from pavements and grass verges.

Our two large mechanical sweepers will be targeted at streets with trees, using the local knowledge of our staff, members and reports made by residents.

These leaves cannot be recycled because they are cleared from nearby or on the roads and are treated as contaminated waste.

As always we cannot see and clear every street at one time, so we would be grateful for the following

If you aware of leaves that are causing a ‘danger’ i.e. on a major footpath, near a school, elderly persons home etc. and are wet and slippery, please report these to member enquiries, if not a ‘danger’ please monitor and we will get there!

Once the main leaf fall is over, if there are leaves, which appear to have been missed, please pass these through member enquires.

You may be interested to know that the Communities and Equalities team, who work with volunteers across the city have recently ‘enrolled’ about a dozen volunteer leaf clearers.

They are also working with volunteers from Goodgym to clear leaves from large grassed areas in the parks and these are recycled in leaf bays within the parks”.

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

More on weed control in York

The Council has now replied to our complaint about inadequate weed control on public areas this summer.

They candidly accept now that the spraying has not been satisfactory.

They are now commencing a re-spray. The spray will include a colouring agent which will show which areas have received attention.

This will be supplemented by Council staff who will work on areas not included on the contract. The areas near Poppleton on the A59 are a high priority.

Another problem has developed with obstructions to public cycle and footpaths.

Again the path on the A59 is one that is blocked