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
Update 27/6/23 City of York Council has confirmed that the work has been extended until July 21 – but during the night only.
City of York Council will be carrying out essential maintenance works to bridges on the A1237, from Monday 29 May.
A1237 bridge repairs
Works will be carried out on the Rawcliffe Ings Bridge (over the River Ouse) and Millfield Railway Bridge (over the East Coast Main Line). The works will not impact railway services.
To help ease traffic flow, works will take place at night, between 8pm and 6am, working 7 days a week over a 5-week period. Weather permitting, the scheme will be completed by Monday 3 July 2023.
To help further ease traffic, and in order to carry out the work safely, the scheme will be split into four phases so that the single lane closure will only be in place on shorter sections of the carriageway at a time.
Work will be carried out under temporary traffic signals to minimise disruption and marshalls will be on-site during the works to assist pedestrians and cyclists.
During the day, provisions will be put in place to ensure the road is fully reopened (but covered by ramps to protect the surface). For safety reasons the speed limit will be reduced to 30mph from each roundabout for the full duration of the work.
An approximate £200k refurbishment, funded by the annual structures allocated highways budget, will include resurfacing sections of the bridge and drainage replacement. It will ensure that the structure of the bridge will be better protected.
Emergency services, cyclists and pedestrians will be permitted through the works at all times.
As with any construction work, there is likely to be a certain amount of disruption and inconvenience to the public. However, everything will be done to keep this to a minimum.
The council remains committed to an improved bridge crossing on the A1237 for both pedestrians and cyclists and this forms part of the scheme that the council has lodged with the Department for Transport.
These works form part of significant investment in the city over the next 10 years, including developments to build new homes and attract more well-paid jobs to the city.
For York’s transport network, this means work to achieve:
improvements and changes to roads, footpaths and cycle ways
developments to build new homes and attract more well-paid jobs to the city
more increased safety measures in York City centre
Residents and visitors are urged to plan ahead in advance, which could help to reduce time spent in traffic.
Get more information about current roadworks in York, or to get alerts on roadworks happening in your area here
York is one of the best cities for sustainable travel, which is central to our emerging Local Transport Strategy as well as our recently adopted Economic, Climate Change and Health and Wellbeing 10-year strategies.
The Council has cut back an overgrown bush on the cycle path link which goes under the A1237 near Poppleton. The route had been obstructed for over 6 months.
BeforeAfter
Similar progress has been made on removing obstructions from the cycle path on Manor Lane, Rawcliffe
BeforeAfterBeforeAfter
Not such good news on the cycle path along the A1237 where it crosses the river and railway line. The path remains restricted to a single file in several locations as a result of over and under-growth.
At one point self-seeded bushes growing next to the safety barrier have reached over 2 metres in height. They restrict the illumination of the path at night.
The path narrows on the Clifton sideand on the Poppleton side where bushes are now obstructing natural light
The Council have told us that the weeds growing on the A59 near the junction with Station Road at Poppleton will be treated as an part of the “routine programme”.
We don’t think so. The final application fo weed killer was completed several weeks ago.
This section of the gutter has just been overlooked (not for the first time). Weed growth of this sort potentially damages, or blocks, the drainage gulleys
A59/Station Road junction
Nearby a “day burning street light, reported several weeks ago and which the Council claimed to have fixed, is still burning.
Predictably, last week, work on several cycling improvements were shelved. Preliminary studies found some schemes (which, in truth, always looked to be a triumph of optimism over hard facts) to be either impractical or unaffordable.
Among them was the – worthy – proposal to widen the path across the river and railway on the A1237 near Poppleton.
The path is currently a shared use facility for much of its length although cyclists are advised to dismount when crossing the bridge itself. There is room for two cyclists to pass but HGVs can come intimidatingly close to users of the path.
Rawcliffe LibDem Councillors launched a petition in favour of change
Councillors in Rawcliffe argued for the project to continue in some way and the executive Councillor for Transport asked for a feasibility study to be undertaken on a stand alone bridge.
This seems to be an unlikely way forward.
The widened path at Scarborough Bridge in the City centre took 6 years to get off the drawing board and cost over £4.4 million. ….and that was for a joint use path which only crossed one river.
A route from the A 59 to Shipton Road, incorporating a stand alone bridge, could cost around £10 million. That is far beyond the transport budgets which are likely to be available in the near future.
Clearly there is scope for better signage on the route, but the most immediate improvement would be a relatively inexpensive one.
The path is currently obstructed by thorn bushes and nettles at several points.
It would seem to be sensible to prioritise cutting back the undergrowth to maximize the width of the existing path.
Indeed many will feel that this should be done routinely by the Council at vulnerable locations like these.
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.
The off road cycle paths in Rawcliffe are obstructed by overgrown trees and hedges. York Council must inspect the route and make sure that it is clear and safe.
The Council says that it will work today to try to clear the backlog of waste collection in the City.
The backlog has developed due to “social distancing” issues while garden waste volumes have been very high following the recent suspension of collections.
The Council web site says, “
Latest waste service update
Friday 15 May
All scheduled household waste collections have been made, including outstanding collections from Thursday 21 May.
We were unable to collect recycling from a number of areas due to operational restrictions to do with Covid-19.
Strensall
New Earswick
Haxby
Wigginton
Clifton
Rawcliffe
Nether Poppleton
Upper Poppleton
Guildhall
This recycling will be collected on Saturday 23 May. Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.
We were unable to collect garden waste from a number of areas due to the large amount to be collected and capacity issues.
Acomb
Poppleton
Clifton Without
Rawcliffe
We’ll attempt to return for these collections as follows:
Poppleton on the evening of Friday 22 May or Saturday 23 May
Acomb, Clifton Without and Rawcliffe on Saturday 23 May
Please present your containers for collection by 7.00am.
All outstanding garden waste from Thursday 21 May has been collected”.
The Osbaldwick and Derwent ward is home to 8,114 residents. Average incomes are higher than the City average. 83% of residents own their home. 9% rent privately and 6% are social tenants. There are 79 Council homes in the area. 1.3% are out of work. Crime levels are significantly below average. 90.91% of residents are satisfied with their local area as a place to live (York average 88.6%). 9.09% believe that they can influence decisions in their local area (City average 26.2). Source
Elections
Ward boundary changes mean that voting trends need to be viewed with caution. In the early part of the last decade redoubtable LibDem Campaigner Janet Greenwood held the Dunnington Ward while Jonathan Morley represented Osbaldwick. Jonathan Morley has now moved on to be the LibDem candidate in Heworth.
At the last election the ward was split between a Conservative – who lived in the Dunnington part of the ward – and Osbaldwick Independent Mark Walters, who had the smallest majority in any ward at that time.
The Conservative Jennie Brooks is standing down to be replaced on the ballot paper by Martin Rowley (who doesn’t live in the ward) and one John Zimnoch. The latter apparently made some injudicious comments on social media a few years ago which appeared to condone drink driving. His chances of election seem slim
The ward on its present boundaries has never elected candidates who don’t live in the ward.
The LibDems, who had consistently put forward Dunnington based candidates in the past, have this time inexplicably nominated someone who lives on the other side of the river Ouse. Their second candidate (Ian Eiloart) does however live in Osbaldwick.
Independent Mark Walters makes a return. He has been a principal opponent of development in the area fighting a losing battle against the Rowntree Derwenthorpe estate. His views are right wing and populist but he has been effective in asking questions which the political establishment would rather not answer. He has a good chance of re-election.
Who will join him is anyone’s guess but the Tories will expect to retain their seat.
Prediction
1 Independent 1 Tory.
Rawcliffe Ward
The Rawcliffe ward is home to 11,946 residents. Average incomes are higher than the City average. 80% of residents own their home. 10% rent privately and 8% are social tenants. There are 164 Council homes in the area. 1.7% are out of work. Crime levels are about average. 88.9% of residents are satisfied with their local area as a place to live (York average 88.6%). 25.9% believe that they can influence decisions in their local area (City average 26.2). Source
Elections
Ward boundary changes mean that voting trends need to be viewed with caution.
The Rawcliffe area was strongly LibDem for many years with first – two time Lord Mayor – Irene Waudby and later her son, Mark, representing the ward.
Labour surprisingly won the seats in 2011 only to be replaced by three Tories in 2015.
The LibDems will be looking to complete their comeback in the area and have managed to nominate a Waudby as a candidate. It is however Sam – wife of Mark – who is one of their flag bearers. Rather surprisingly Mark is contesting the neighbouring Clifton ward in which they both now live. The LibDems have, however, managed to nominate two other candidates who do live in Rawcliffe and this may prove to be decisive, when electors cast their ballots.
Of the 3 existing Conservative Councillors, two are seeking re-election in the ward. Peter Dew, who currently holds the transport policy portfolio for the coalition, also lives in the ward. His “Lendal Bridge” moment relates to a lamentable lack of effective action to repair roads in the City.
He is joined once again by Stuart Rawlings who does not live in the ward. He is understood to have ambitions to be the next Tory Council Group Leader.
The third Tory Councillor Sam Lisle will try his luck in the distant Westfield Ward on 2nd May
Labour support declined substantially in 2015. Somewhat surprisingly, they have imported as a candidate the controversial Dave Merrett, from Micklegate. We doubt that Dave Merrett will ever recover politically from his stubborn support for levying fines on motorists using Lendal Bridge and Coppergate when he was the transport chief.
We do increasingly wonder whether either Councillors or officials actually routinely check the quality of public services in some parts of the City?
Take the cycle/footpath which links Water Lane to Hazelnut Grove and Rawcliffe beyond.
It is obstructed with nettles, brambles and weeds. It has clearly not been swept for months?
We hope that even if the York Council ignores issues like these, residents will report them using the Fix My Street web site (as we have done today). Regular maintenance can make a big difference to the local environment
York News Focus 