Housing management shambles in York

Standards seem to be slipping in the social housing sector in York with one JRHT tenant seeking crowd funding to repair damage caused by a leaking pipe.

The incident occurred on the Trusts flagship Derwenthorpe estate where the district heating system has proved to be problematic.

*Crowd funding appeal following flooding damage*

One local source says that the absence of isolating valves at some individual properties means that flooding problems have occurred which might have been avoided.

The incident perhaps points up a potential negative side for those in the forefront of adopting new technologies.

The York Council regards itself as an innovator and is spending huge sums on building “green” homes. While some features (insulation, solar power) are well established and beneficial, others have not been tested for long term durability in varying climatic conditions.

The rather wobbly logic behind the programme might in part be traced to a lack of professional leadership. The Council has not had anyone in charge of its housing operations since the beginning of the year.

A recent appointee to the post gave backword and it remains unclear where responsibility now lies for the day to day management of York’s 8000 strong council housing portfolio.

There are are growing problems in some estates.

In the Foxwood area, seven homes are currently empty. One bungalow was vacated by an older person when they went into a care home 3 years ago. The property has still not been relet even on a temporary basis.

Another bungalow has been undergoing repairs since it was vacated 9 months ago.

It also appears that the mistake made last year, of introducing a reactive cleansing service, has reappeared.

During the last lockdown the older “barrowman” approach was reintroduced . Cleaners were responsible for tidying a specific geographical area. There were notable improvements in cleanliness standards.

That system has now apparently been scrapped, with cleaners now only reacting to reports of issues.

Some estate manager posts are unfilled and the Council has failed to update its register of garages which are available to rent.

All in all, an area of concern.

Public service update from York Council

Its good to see that some departments at the York Council are providing updates on public service standards. Even better, that some Councillors have chosen to brief the information on to Parish Councils and Residents Associations.

For those living in areas where Councillors maybe less “on the ball”, there follows a summary of the information provided.

“Grass Cutting

The changing weather we saw this summer led to fluctuations in the rate of grass growth, which led to standards dropping below the normal at times, but generally our resources coped, we are part way through the last cut of the year on most types of grass areas.

Hedge Cutting

We are part way through the last of three cuts to hedges in snickets and communal housing areas.

Spring Bedding

We have just started the planting of over 18,000 spring bedding plants in the parks, gardens and tubs across the city, these will provide welcoming colour in spring, as visitors continue to return to the city.

Street Cleansing

Summer was certainly a very challenging time for this part of our service, mainly due to the change in use of some of our open spaces and the bins in and around them.

These areas were at times covered in litter and debris due to the irresponsible actions of some residents and visitors who seemed to think that just because we were no longer in lock down, they had the right to treat the city and our staff with contempt, by leaving ‘rubbish’ strewn across these areas, something I’ve never seen before on a sustained basis.

However our team, with the help of additional resources and the Enforcement team managed to return the city to its normal standard as soon as possible on a daily basis.

We also managed to assist the Minster with their litter clearance whilst their staff were furloughed.

Highway Weed Control

I think I can say with confidence that this year’s programme of weed control has been a success we have received very few complaints and re-growth between treatments did not exceed what we would normally have expected to see.

Leaf Clearance

We are now at that time of the year when not only do some members of the public throw litter about, but Mother Nature joins in, in the form of leaves!

We will be commencing our leaf clearance programme on Monday 26^th October, and this is scheduled to take place for the next six to eight weeks (if my crystal ball is correct!)

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 to 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 if Councillors could do 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 and we will attend to them”.

Good work from the Council there.

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Report broken glass

There seems to be a lot of broken glass around at present. This may be a result of the high winds having blown over recycling boxes.

Whatever the cause, we hope that residents will report problems with broken glass.

Glass can pose a particular risk for animals, children and cyclists, so its worth taking a few minutes to either to sweep it up or put in a report via https://www.york.gov.uk/ReportProblems

Broken glass on Chesneys Field cycle path reported today

Litter in York: performance stats overdue

The fine weather is likely to mean increased work for York’s street cleaning teams.

Last August the number of reports about street cleansing issues (which includes dog fouling) hit an all time record high.

The Council hasn’t updated its open data page since then, but anecdotal evidence suggests that – at least in some suburbs – problems continue at a high level.