We are compiling our own list which we hope to publish here next week.
That was the week that was in photos
We are compiling our own list which we hope to publish here next week.
We are compiling our own list which we hope to publish here next week.
Weed spraying programme published by York Council
York Council contractors are spraying weeds across the City over the next 3 weeks. A programme has been published (below).
They are making an early start this year to try to avoid the problems of last year.
The contractors are scheduled to be in the Westfield and Dringhouses areas a week on Friday (16th April).
Weed control contractor sacked by York Council
The York Council has terminated the weed control contract which drew huge numbers of complaints during the summer months.
It became clear as early as June that something was sadly amiss.
It later turned out that many roads had been omitted from the contract.
Even those roads that were included rapidly became overgrown with weeds.
In the end local residents were forced to clear vegetation from locations where it posed a hazard. Later Council staff also joined in a clean up operation.
We only hope that any new contract includes both an input and an output specification and that it is properly supervised.
Foss Islands Road tidy up hope
We reported a few weeks ago that we hoped to persuade the York Council to get to grips with outstanding maintenance issues on Foss Islands Road. The main problem related to lack of care for the cultivated areas lying between the public highway and the private shops boundary.
We said at the time that we were confident that it was a Council responsibility to cut back and maintain the area between the public footpath and the carriageway.
The Council have now confirmed that this is the case.
Officials have suggested that this area is either wild flowered or reseeded and cut as with other roadside verges 10 times a year. Any remedial work will take place in the spring. The Council will however be giving it a general cut back early in the new year.
Unfortunately no one is admitting liability for maintaining the area outside the public footpath although it seems likely that the frontagers will have some responsibilities.
This busy part of the City is seen by hundreds of thousands of people each year.
It is clearly on view from the iconic City Walls.
It should be kept in a tidy condition.
Plea to sort out Foss Island Road maintenance problems
We reported earlier in the year that the verge and planted areas on Foss Islands Road needed to be cut back. They were overgrown with nettles, thistles and other weeds.
We expected that this issue would have been sorted by now but a visit today revealed that the problems continue. This is particularly disappointing in an area which is visible from the City Walls and which a large number of people see each week.
We have now formally approached the Council to determine who is responsible for maintenance and to what standards.
York Council tackling nettles.
Contractors were out today removing nettle growth from the side of the Foxwood Lane footpath.
The nettles had been a nuisance during the late summer period although not, this year, as bad as in some previous years.
Mechanical treatment – often by local farmers – is usually an efficient and economical way of controlling weeds and cutting back hedges.
Meanwhile a Freedom of Information request has revealed that this year weed control contractors have only been paid part of the £37,020.89 value of the contract. The response says that £18,498.70 has so far been paid during the current year.
The response does reveal the amounts paid to specialist weed control contractors over the last 9 years.
- 2019/20 – A. Morrison’s & Sons £37,020.89.
- 2018/19 – Munroe’s – £31,189
- 2017/18 – Munroe’s – £31,189
- 2016/17 – Munroe’s – £31,189
- 2015/16 – Munroe’s – £27,192
- 2014/15 – Dobsons – £68,538
- 2013/14 – Dobsons – £66,867
- 2012/13 – Nomix Enviro – £69,792
- 2011/12 – Nomix Enviro – £79,036
Interestingly the York Council, in the Spring, accepted a tender the value of which was only half that submitted in 2011.
It was later discovered that the list of streets to be treated was incomplete.
There have been chronic problems with weed control during the summer and, as we reported a few days ago, many streets still require attention.
Some streets missed again from weed control programme
With winter settling in, and leaves filling gutters and paths, we’ve had a look back at some roads that were subject to complaints about weed growth earlier in the summer.
Sadly in some cases the weeds are still there. The Council will need to use mechanical means to remove the remaining growth.
The weed and grass growth is mainly in drainage gullies but some paths are still obstructed.
Weed control spraying in Foxwood today
Two quad bikes were touring Foxwood today applying weedkiller to gutters and paths.
Better late than never you may say?
However, because they use a contact chemical the recent leaf fall may negate the effects in many streets.
Still some action needed to clean up York streets.
Sorry to see that weed growth on the east of the City hasn’t been cleared some 3 months after first being reported. Mainly thistles growing in gutters and drainage channels. May (or may not) die back as winter gets a grip. But all is not yet fixed with many public service standards in the City still not up to standard.
…..another garage area tidied up
The Council have removed weeds and overhanging branches from the little Green Lane garage area. We had asked for the work to be done earlier in the summer when the area was becoming overgrown.
We hope that in future the area will be routinely kept clear of weeds, detritus and obstacles.
