Now Private Eye magazine highlights scale of muddle over York Council grass cutting policies.

Seems the York Council is being criticised from all sides with even Private Eye magazine taking time to comment on another bizarre mistake.

It seems that Council – or more likely one of its contractors – has cut a wildflower verge just as the carefully cultivated plants were beginning to bloom.

Something similar happened in Foxwood, where the Council failed to cut the Foxwood Park wildflower meadow in the spring. Without regular maitenance the wildflowers have little chance of getting established.

A request, for a 1 metre wide footpath to be cut round the perimeter of the madow, has also been ignored. The path would have allowed park users to avoid trampling down the wildflowers.

Elsewhere residents have criticised the Council for failing to cut back hazadous weeds on public footpaths (see below).

The Council claims that its new “no cut” policies are aiding biodiversty.

In reality, the reverse is the case. Dominant weeds like nettes are smothering the very types of flowers which are most important for pollinators.

Those currently in charge seem to have honed their environmental credentials from the most cursory use of Google search.

Getting the balance of nature right is complicated. It is also expensive and not something therefore that the Council leadership are likely to embrace with any enthusiasm

Adding insult to injury, the Council are currently bombarding social media with”Get York Buzzing” propaganda messages. They show a staggering lack of self awareness

Earlier: Is this a record? Examples of poor public service standards in – York 6th June 2024

2 metre high thistle on residential verge in Kingsway West.

Potentially hazardous weeds like these are supposed to be treated by the York Council, but the strimmg and weed control programme has been chaotic this year

There are many other examples of poor maintenance standards around the City

Westfield

Osbaldwick

Westfield

Westfield

Lowfield Green

Rawcliffe – cycle access obstructed

Holgate weeds

Westfield weeds

Holgate verges uncut

So what public service maintenance standards should we expect?

The York Council long ago stopped publishing “customer contracts”.

These – a Labour idea in the 1990s – set out a written statement saying what basic service standards residents could expect.

Performance targets were listed.

An annual performance report was published indicating outcomes. A summary was circulated to each household.

Now, performance measures are largely opaque for the average resident. The quality of many street level services can only judged by what residents personally witness.

Criticisms of grass cutting and weed control have tended to focus on the City centre this week, although some suburban areas have also seen a sharp decline in standards.

So what do residents, who live in wards where Labour Councillors have been elected for many years, expect to get in return for their unwavering loyality?

The current Councillor responsible for public service standards is Jenny Kent. She has represented the Holgate area for just over a year and lives in the ward in St Pauls Square.

St Pauls Square does indeed provide an exemplar for public space standards. The inner garden area manages to combine both a pleasant environment, suitable for sitting out, with informal natural planting. It is not however, maintained by the Council.

St Pauls Square garden area

Just round the corner in St Cecelia Place are some Council flats. Standards there are very different with substantial weed growth on the boundaries. Verges get only a cursory cut.

There is a stark contrast between wealthier areas and their neighbours

Perhaps standards are better in the terraced areas of Leeman Road?

Residents here had made representations on weed growth problems in the past They were among the guinea pig areas which received only two applications of hard surface weed killer last year (instead of three).

For many the trial was not a success yet the decision taken in February was to apply weed killer only twice this year. across the whole City.

Four months later and we are still waiting for the first application.

Amenity areas not cut

Weeds growing in gutters

Weeds growing up the side of houses

Those who want to see more wildflower planting have also missed an opportunity. Cow parsley has now reached a record height of over 2 metres adjacent to the Leeman Road cycle track. The weeds have grown between the cracks in the paving.

Had the paving been removed first then an attactive wildflower bed might have been created.

Leeman Road cycle track. Dominated by docks and cow parsley

Elsewhere decling standards are also a matter of concern.. Many verges are overgrown.

The Council promised to strim round trees, street signs and furniture instead of using weed killer.

No work has taken place.

Beckfield Lane roundabout overgrown – affecting sight lines

Danebury Drive posts need strimmng

Hamilton Drive East bollards also need strimming

Almsford Road carriageway covered in potholes

and finally what of the disabled? . Are they among those most at risk as standards fall?.

Wheelers face a nettle obstacle course near Windsor Garth

Access to Hob Moor is obstructed

Mobility gate at Hob Stones blocked

It seems that declining service standards are affecting the whole of the City!

Plan to build on part of Acomb school playing field

The York Council has received a planning application which would see a new scout hut built on open space to the side of Acomb School.

The application would see much of the open space retained albeit not for public access.

The application has the support of the Acomb school. The Trust which runs the schoo is understood to have offered a 100 year lease of the land to the 1st Hogate Scout Group.

The Scout Group has been successful over recent years and has outgrown its present accommodation.

The proposal may attract some comment as traffic issues near the school have already prompted protests from some parents and residents.

A full description of the proposals can be viewed by clicking here

Conflict over plans for traffic calming on New Lane Holgate

A meeting next week will decide how to respond to a 124-signature petition which asked for traffic calming measures to be introduced on New Lane, Acomb.

New Lane has had a 20 mph speed limit for over 10 years.

The situation is confused by a later survey, undertaken by Council officials, who found that the majority of respondents who live on New Lane didn’t want speed humps installed.

The original petition, presented to the Council in 2022 by a local Labour Councillor (Kalum Taylor), asked for speed calming measures to be constructed. A copy of the petition has not been published by the council so it is impossible to say whether the signators lived on or near New Lane.

A meeting in September 2022 was told that there was scope for better signage (20 mph repeater signs) on the street.

The signs would cost £2000 against the estimated £46,000 bill for traffic calming

The report reveals that there has been only one injury accident on the lane in recent year – a vehicle rear-end shunt which was not caused by excessive speed.

A report being considered on Tuesday will hear that a survey of New Lane residents revealed that the majority do not want speed humps. They point out that the humps on Hamilton Drive do not prevent speeding and thatn speed humps are a source of noise and vibration at neighbouring properties

They also cite the school’s park and stroll facility at the Rugby Club as a more significant source of pedestrian/vehicle conflict.

The report reveals that mean speeds were in the low 20s and were typical of many 20 mph limited roads. The majority of motorists exceeding the speed limt did so during the early hours of the morning. Traffic levels on the street are low.

The officer recommendation is to introduce 20 mph repeater signs.

Oakhaven – planning application finally submitted

The Former Oakhaven elderly persons home has been empty and largely unused for 5 years. The closure of the home was controversial with the relatives of those resident there told that the site was needed for “immediate redevelopment”.

The site is ideally located near the extensive range of services and facilities offered by the Front Street shopping area.

A “final” deadline for the sale of the land to a private care operator (Burlington) was set for February 2021.. It was not met.

Now a planning application covering the redevelopment of site has been submitted. It remains anyone’s guess how long it will be before the land is redeveloped, even if permission is granted .

Along with the vacant elderly persons home plot at the Lowfields development, the delays on this site remain one of the Council’s major embarrassments.

Click to view application details

Latest waste service update York Council

Wednesday 1 July

We were unable to collect all household waste from Acomb due to a vehicle breakdown.

We were unable to collect all recycling waste from parts of Acomb and Dringhouses due to vehicle capacity.

We were unable to collect all garden waste from parts of Holgate due to vehicle breakdowns.

All these will be recollected on Thursday 2 July. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am. 

Latest waste service update

Council will be working today (Saturday) to ease collection backlog.

Continuing on Monday

“All scheduled household waste collections have been made, including waste from Wigginton, Haxby and Strensall.

We were unable to collect recycling from a number of areas due to operational restrictions to do with Covid-19.

• Strensall
• Haxby
• Clifton
• Rawcliffe

This recycling will be collected on Saturday 30 May or Monday 1 June. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.

We were unable to collect garden waste from a number of terraced areas due to the large amount to be collected and capacity issues.

• Leeman Road
• Huntington
• Earswick
• Haxby
• Clifton
• Skelton
• Hessay
• Rufforth
• Clifton Moor

This recycling will be collected on Saturday 30 May or Monday 1 June. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.

All outstanding garden waste and recycling waste from earlier in the week has been collected”.

Traffic signals to be upgraded on Holgate road junction

Works will start on Monday 24 February and are expected to be fully completed by Thursday 12 March, working between 9am and 4pm Monday to Friday and 8am and 4pm at weekends.

The scheme at the junction will include replacing outdated traffic (pedestrian crossing) signals with new, more reliable ones and installing a new puffin style pedestrian crossing.

The five year traffic signal asset renewal programme was given the green light by the council in November 2015 at a public meeting.

The total replacement programme will cost £2.620m over six years and will be funded through the capital programme budget and the existing Local Transport Plan budget.

Residents are urged to plan ahead, allow more time for their journeys on these routes and to consider alternatives and to use public transport where possible.

To allow for the works to be undertaken safely it will be necessary to close a lane and operate temporary traffic signals during part of the work. This also means that Watson Street will be under signal control also.

A controlled crossing will be provided during construction to allow pedestrians to cross the road safely.

Pedestrian routes and access to all businesses and properties will be retained throughout the duration of the works.  It will be necessary to temporarily close footways in the works area at certain times during the works and footway diversion routes will be put in place.

Although every attempt will be made to keep delays to a minimum, motorists are expected to experience delays while the works are underway  Those using the junction are urged to plan ahead, allow more time for journeys on these routes and to consider alternatives and to use public transport where possible.

For any enquiries regarding these works please email: tsar@york.gov.uk

Graffiti reported in Holgate & Fishergate areas

The Council’s new graffiti removal system seems to be working well. We’ve reported a couple of instances this weekend

Telecoms junction box in Beech Avenue

Railway Terrace/Wilton Rise railway footbridge needs cleaning up.

Graffiti next to cycle path near Millennium Bridge

Die Horibilis

Been a horrible day for the Council with many more missed bin collections.

Recycling collections were missed in Haxby, New Earswick, Strensall and Wigginton.

Green waste bins weren’t emptied in Haxby, Wigginton and Strensall. The bins not emptied in Woodthorpe on Tuesday still haven’t been collected.

Household waste wasn’t collected in part of Holgate (blocked access).

Sources inside the Council point to continuing difficulties in recruiting staff including drivers. There has still not been any statement from the Council leadership about this issue or why replacement vehicles haven’t been introduced into the fleet.