River and stream clean up plans for York

Yorkshire Water have revealed heir improvement programme for watercourses in the York area. They will be discussed by a York Council committee next week.

“I” newspaper campaign

The pollution of watercourses has been a major issue in the current General Election campaign. The “I” newspaper has so far got the unequivocal support of the LibDems, the Green party and dozens of other organisations for its Clean Rivers manifesto

In York last week two Labour Councillors blamed neighbouring residents for discharging raw sewage into Osbaldwick Beck in the Tang Hall/Hull Road park area.. They said that was the cause of the “stink” that comes from the watercourse.

Others have claimed that inappropriate conservation measures have led to excessive weed growth. This has slowed the current causing stagnant pools to form. These are responsible of the “stink”. Residents have also criticised the remodelling of the beck as it deters informal recreational use.

Whatever the truth of the matter may be the causes of the problems need to be resolved.

The Council report tries to explain who is responsible for the quality of watercourses in the City.

The organisations with roles that influence river quality are:

· Ofwat, as a none-ministerial government department set the standards and targets to measure water and sewerage companies’ performance.

· Environment Agency are responsible for monitoring river quality and resource management and can take enforcement action to ensure polluters or those abusing water resource needs are punished and any harm is remedied. Water quality standards are set by the Environment Agency and river quality monitoring is carried out routinely and in response to reports of incidents of environmental harm. Environment Agency officers inspect agricultural and sewerage sites to identify potential pollution impacts and provide or contribute to guidance to identify improved practices to minimise future risks.

· Yorkshire Water’s sewerage network discharges treated effluent and combined sewer overflows to our rivers at controlled standards, volumes and frequencies. Future improvements to overflows will be required in response to Governments Storm Overflows Reduction Plan. Yorkshire Water actively develop and join partnerships across their administrative area to work with partners to improve our rivers.

· Catchment Partnerships and rivers trusts deliver a wide range of projects and programmes to better manage our rivers and provide improved habitats, many galvanise volunteer support but also receive funding and grants from central government to host catchment officers and deliver other key functions.

· City of York Council do not have any direct responsibilities that contribute towards the management of water quality in our rivers. Harm is minimised through effective delivery of our Local Planning Authority role, management of fly tipping on our riverbanks, visits to businesses to inform commercial waste disposal best practice and the delivery of our highway drainage functions.

· Property owners and businesses are responsible for private drainage from their properties and must ensure that they connect to the sewerage system or other agreed point of discharge in an agreed way. Cross connections from homes or businesses into surface water drainage systems can cause polluting inputs into the receiving drainage system. Many drainage systems have historic cross connections that can often be difficult to investigate and resolve.

Ultimately the Environment Agency are responsible for river quality it is their responsibility to hold polluters to account, not the Council”.

 Yorkshire Water have 66 combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in York,

Further information on plans and responsibilities can be found by clicking this link

For their part Yorkshire Water report on their planned investment programmes (click)

“We have three types of sewers in our network: foul sewers, surface water sewers and combined sewers. Foul sewers carry waste from properties including from toilets, sinks, showers and washing machines. Surface water sewers contain rainwater which runs off impermeable areas such as paving, roofs and highways. Combined sewers have a mixture of foul and surface water. Foul and combined sewers transport wastewater to the nearest wastewater treatment works where it is cleaned and safely returned to the environment. Surface water sewers usually drain directly into a local watercourse without the need for any treatment.

We all know rainfall in Yorkshire can be unpredictable, so when the networks we operate were constructed, in the main prior to privatisation of the water sector, storm overflows were installed to act as a relief valve for heavy rainfall events. Overflows reduce the pressure on combined sewers and stop the system from backing up and flooding homes and gardens. Most of our storm overflows have preliminary treatment such as screens or storm settlement before they operate.

This asset management period (AMP7), we had already planned to invest £147m directly in reducing discharges from our network. In 2022 we announced £180m of additional investment, with £c.99m of new investment form our shareholders, to reduce Yorkshire Water’s use of combined storm overflows. The target of this investment is to reduce discharges by at least 20% from our 2021 baseline figures. We are using 2021 figures because this was the latest complete data set at the time of announcing the additional investment.

To ensure this investment has the largest impact, we have been undertaking ground surveys, feasibility studies and detailed design and have identified over 130 sites for investment.

Assets in York identified for investment include:

• • Fishergate
• • Layerthorpe
• • Coney Street
• • Kexby Wastewater Treatment Works
• • Wheldrake (known as Courtneys)
• • Elvington
• • Fulford
• • Lower Poppleton
• • Riverside Gardens

In August 2022 the Government published their Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan, which includes 3 key targets; investment in Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and nature reserves, investment in bathing waters, an overall target that storm overflows will not discharge above an average of 10 rainfall events per year by 2050.

Storm overflows including in our business plan for investment next AMP in York are:

• • Bootham Hospital
• • Foss Bank
• • Foss Island Road
• • Fulford Main Street
• • Heworth Green
• • Huntington Road
• • Lendal Hill
• • Marygate Landing
• • Marygate Lane
• • Queen Street Bridge
• • Queen Staith
• • Skeldergate
• • York Landing Lane”

Click to read ful report

Yorkshire reservoirs are full heading into summer

Not surprisingly, given the rainfall seen over recent months , reservoir levels in Yorkshire are at record high levels. This means that the water shortage, last seen in the summer of 2022, hould not reoccur this year

Some concerns had been raised following reports that some reservoirs in thr south east of the country had not replenished because of the high levels of pullution (sewage) in the feeder rivers.

Yorkshire Water reservoir levels, Click for more details

Continuing low pollution levels in York

The latest pollution analysis will be published here shortly

The latest figures (for today) show that pollution levels continue to be very low in the City

click to view source data

PM2 levels in Gillygate

Pollution levels falling in York

NO and particulate pollution levels have been low at key monitoring sites across York so far this year

click to update

York Council targets campaign against residents who use wood burning stoves for heating

“Fuel for Thought” launched on coldest day of the year!

The council has launched its new ‘Fuel for Thought’ campaign this week, raising awareness of the dangers of burning wood and other solid fuels in the home.

The campaign highlights that burning solid fuels in stoves and open fireplaces releases tiny, harmful particles in the smoke (known as fine particulate matter, PM2.5 for short) that cause air pollution both inside and outside the home. This can damage the health of those exposed, especially vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly and those with underlying conditions such as asthma and emphysema.

York currently meets the legal requirements for PM2.5, although the Council claims “there are no safe levels, and everyone is at risk”.

The Council also claims that “long-term exposure to PM2.5 contributed to 1 in 22 deaths in York in 2021″.

“Whilst other air pollutants have been steadily declining, downward trends in particulate pollution across York are not as obvious.

Although it might appear more cost-effective to use a wood stove or fireplace with rising energy costs this winter, this is not necessarily the case. Research undertaken by environmental charity ‘Global Action Plan’ showed that wood burners are more expensive than both gas boilers and air source heat pumps in almost every scenario. The research showed that burning wood also has hidden costs for everyone in society”.

The ‘Fuel for Thought campaign’ aims to highlight the healthier and more cost-effective ways of heating homes, and, if unavoidable, the safest and most efficient ways of using your wood burner. Funded by DEFRA, the campaign will run until February 2024. Visit our website to find out more: https://www.york.gov.uk/FuelForThought

CYC is currently seeking feedback on air quality in York and specifically on the measures to improve air quality proposed in its draft Fourth Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP4).  The plan outlines the action the council will take to further improve air quality over the next 5 years, to go beyond health-based National Air Quality Objectives in all areas and work towards meeting World Health Organisation (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines. This consultation can be found at https://www.york.gov.uk/consultations#air and closes on 4th Feb 2024

York Council air quality consultation

The Council is conducting another consultation. This time its on air quality.

Did you know that burning solid fuels at home (for example, use of wood burning stoves or open fires) can affect your health and the health of your family?

The Council consultation web page says Air quality campaign consultation

If you’re concerned about air pollution in your neighbourhood, now’s your chance to do something about it.

We’re on a mission to make the air cleaner in York, and we’re doing this by listening to residents to find out what you know and what you don’t know.

If you’ve got 10 minutes to spare, please get involved and complete our online survey. Everything is anonymous, and your answers will be used to shape our air quality campaign which is being rolled out later this year.

AIR QUALITY CAMPAIGN CONSULTATION SURVEY (click)

Consultation closes Sunday 3 September 2023.“

As with the earlier City Centre access consultation, this one seems a little muddled. Those seeking to answer the questions will find them more like a general knowledge quiz than an attempt to discover local trends and how they might be changed.

Anyone who doesn’t have a wood-fired stove may feel a little left out. A ban on them is apparently being considered by London. Perhaps York intends to follow suit?

Surprisingly the opportunity to probe the future of domestic heating and in particular gas boiler use seems for some reason to be sidelined.

Art of compromise in York dead?

The exclusion of disabled blue badge holders from parts of York City centre may be the most political inept action taken by the York Council since it unilaterally tried to sell off the Union Terrace car park in 2012.

 It seems that flexibility and compromise was off the agenda from an early stage. Worryingly the opportunity to trial options was not adopted.

The York Councils leadership on this, and on some other issues, has adopted a stubborn approach.

The Groves

One traffic management scheme that is currently coming to the end of its “trial” excludes traffic from The Groves area. What look to be permanent “cul de sac” signs have recently been erected suggesting that “leaders” have already decided to make the extended trial permanent.

The scheme has been widely criticised, not for its intention of creating a quieter street environment, but because of its execution. Traffic congestion has increased on roads like Lord Mayors Walk with a  consequent rise in pollution levels and an impact on emergency vehicles and public transport. (not to mention car and van driver frustration).

Pleas for a compromise, where emergency vehicles and utilities (at least) would be able to go into and out of the Groves via the shortest route, have been ignored. There has been plenty of time to trial the use of a vehicle activated gate but the opportunity has now passed. Ahead we can see only resentment and confrontation between different interest groups, if the scheme is imposed on an unconvinced City.

University parking

We have seen correspondence from a (rightly) enraged local Councillor who has seen indiscriminate parking causing chaos on the streets of his ward in the wake of the introduction of a “ResPark” scheme in Badger Hill.

Labour and Green Councillors point to a planning decision of several years ago which required the University of York to reduce car journeys as a condition of a planning application which allowed the institution to expand.

The Councillors point to congestion and pollution as a reason for the condition. The subsequent “Travel Plan” drawn up by the University always lacked credibility. They never had the will, or possibly the means, to dictate how individuals might choose to travel to the campus. They have subsequently shown a marked lack of interest in the consequences for neighbours of the failed plan. They only offer the idea of extending ResPark schemes to an ever-increasing area of east York, pushing the problem into more and more communities.

They should reflect that the pandemic has changed peoples priorities and many potential bus users now chose, for safety reasons, to use personal transport. Bus use in the City is down by 25% compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The authorities should agree to revisit the planning conditions in the light of public lifestyle choices. The first step should be to talk to those who choose to park on streets like Tranby Avenue. Solutions can then be tailored to needs.

Clearly there are some quick fixes available. These might include

1. Relaxation of the ban on people, using Park and Ride sites like the one on Hull Road, from walking to their destinations. The park and ride sites are half full in the wake of the pandemic so there are no obvious losers to such an initiative.
2. Allow free use of University car parks (which again are mostly half empty at present) for anyone arriving and leaving outside the rush hours. This will address the concerns of those who fear added congestion and might help to spread the demand for road space.
3. Allow similar free use of university car parks for those driving EVs. This will address the concerns regarding pollution although use would be likely to be modest initially given the number of EVs currently on the road.

There is little evidence to suggest that the University, Council officials and Executive Councillors are even considering options.

NB. For completeness this report details some options for easing access problems for blue badge holders click

Blue badge access to City centre

The Council does have a difficulty in reconciling threats to public safety by terrorists and the need to be an inclusive City. It has bungled badly in making the ban on blue badge access permanent without at least trialing options.

Even its own proposals for a dedicated road train running through the area is months, possibly years, away. The Council should already have the results of a survey detailing the ultimate destination of those blue badge holders who used to park on Blake Street, Kings Square etc. That is important information that needs to be shared.

In a spirit of compromise, after the Christmas peak has died down, the Council could trial

1. Allowing blue badged access to the old parking areas on at least one day per week. That would indicate what the ongoing demand was for the service. (Clearly if 7000 blue badge holders tried to access the spaces at the same time then it would fail!).
2. Try an accredited access scheme, where the most severely disabled are able to get closer to their ultimate destination, possibly by being able to reserve an on street parking space using a digital solution.
3. Routing the railway museums “road train” through the City centre to link the dedicated blue badge spaces at the Castle car park. The existing train is not specifically designed for disabled use and is, of course, diesel powered, but a trial would provide valuable data on the potential use of a purpose designed “bus”. This happens on the continent where similar trains proceed through pedestrian areas at walking pace – sometimes preceded by someone walking in front waving a red flag. (This might be an ideal voluntary job for a Labour Councillor?)

Do we expect ideas like these to be trialled?

Sadly, in the day of conviction politicians who think that they can dictate to the population on lifestyle choices, we doubt whether compromise and flexibility is on the agenda?

They may however enjoy a renaissance after the next local elections in 18 months time.

Council says “Final consultation is beginning on The Groves’ low traffic trial”

The Council is doing another public opinion survey on the impact of The Groves road closures.

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However, no figures have been published which give an indication of the impact that closing routes through the Groves has had over the last 2 years. The trial has been dogged by delays and many of the original problems with the scheme have still to be resolved.

No safety audit was conducted before the trial began. Nor has one been published since.

Befiore and after traffic level figures on routes in and around the area were promised but nothing has emerged.

It remains unclear what the effect on emission levels has been on alternative routes although traffic has been back to its busiest for over 3 months now.

No instruments for measuring pollution levels were deployed either within The Groves or on the immediate alternative network.

Updated accident data has also not been published. The last published figures (see below) showed very low levels of accidents/collisions in The Groves itself with most problems occurring on the route onto which more traffic has now been diverted. ..

The impact on emergency services, deliveries, shops and schools remains unknown.

A Council media release reads, “A third and final consultation on The Groves’ low traffic trial will open on 22 October, and participants’ input is welcomed and will be added to a final report on the experiment.

The low traffic neighbourhood was temporarily put in place in response to local residents’ requests for better air quality, less traffic and the chance to build on the existing community spirit. Since early September 2020 when the trial began, it has been used by a wide variety of people and has been continually technically assessed.

Feedback on the trial is still being collated and now, one year on, views and experiences of the trial are being requested again to help complete the evaluation.

The findings from this survey will be reviewed alongside traffic survey data collated during the trial and other feedback received. This information will be used to prepare a report which will include a recommendation on the future of trial, which will be presented to senior councillors who will make a decision on it.

Local residents, businesses, schools, community groups and all road users are being invited to please consider the trial’s impact in more detail, and share their thoughts on it at www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/TheGrovesLTN/ (or through the trial page at www.york.gov.uk/TheGroves).

The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete and will run from 22 October until 14 November 2021″.

“It is crucial that the measures work for all residents, businesses and community organisations in the area. We’ve been engaging closely with residents and businesses and continue to do so with this latest consultation. Please do take part in the consultation at www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/TheGrovesLTN.”

Anyone who needs access to a computer to complete the survey can book to use one at any Explore library. Staff will be on hand to help give access to the survey online.

As an alternative to completing the questionnaire online, views on the trial can be emailed to thegrovestrial@york.gov.uk or can be posted to The Groves Trial, Network Management, City of York Council, West Offices, Station Rise, York YO1 6GA.

For more detail on the trial, visit www.york.gov.uk/TheGroves.

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Pollution levels still low in York

Air quality remains good, and pollution levels very low, on Gillygate and at other monitoring sites in the City.

Traffic levels are, however, higher than were recorded during lockdown 1 last spring. They are likely to increase further from Monday when there will be a general return to school.

It will be April before shops and offices reopen.

Council plans to reduce road capacity at the Gillygate/St Leonard’s Place/ Bootham junction seem ill timed and insufficiently thought through.

The plans could increase congestion by 30%. That would delay bus services including the vital park and ride links.

In the meantime, residents can monitor hour by hour pollution levels by clicking this link

Meanwhile we understand that the Council will delay its assessment of the effects of road closures in The Groves area.

A review was due in the spring.

They are right to delay as traffic volumes and movements have been untypical during the Lockdown period.

However, it does mean that a reassessment of some of the more questionable aspects of the scheme – such as contraflow cycle routes – will remain in place as traffic volumes and safety hazards increase.

There have been no queues involving deer or cattle in The Groves during recent months

Pollution fear over fires in east York

Concerns have been raised about fires which have been lit near the travellers site at Osbaldwick.

Although we have enjoyed better air quality in recent months, the gains made could be quickly lost of the York Council doesn’t get on top of the problem of uncontrolled burning.

As well as being a threat to health, smoke can cause visibility problems on highways.