Chapmans Pond in Dringhouses closed to anglers

On the advice of the Environment Agency Chapman’s Pond has been CLOSED to all angling until further notice

Chapmans Pond closed

 Over the last 3 weeks there have been an increasing number of fish deaths particularly of large Mirror Carp, the cause of which is unknown.  The Environment Agency is now engaged in identifying the cause of these deaths and has advised that the angling should stop until further notice.  We are not aware of any implications for other wildlife or visitors.

Please ensure all angling equipment is air dried and preferably sterilised before transferring between waters, particularly if you have been fishing at Chapman’s Pond.

We will update through the ChapmansPond facebook site as soon as we have further information and open the site to an angling soon as it is advisable to do so.

 

Friends of Chapman’s Pond           07599 927632 or email friendsofchapmanspond@yahoo.co.uk

City of York Council                     01904 551551 or email smarter.york@york.gov.uk

Chapmans Pond

Graffiti problem on increase in Tadcaster Road area

A lot of graffiti has appeared.recently

Much of it is on structures next the the Sustrans cycle path between Tadcaster Road and the 6 mile bridge.

While we doubt if many race-goers visit our City by cycling from Selby, the graffiti is a poor advert for the City.

The issues below have all been reported to the Council for attention

Litter at Tadcaster Road junction

Litter at Tadcaster Road junction

Graffiti at 6 mile bridge

Graffiti at 6 mile bridge

Graffiti next to Acorn rugby field

Graffiti next to Acorn rugby field

Graffiti at A64 bridge

Graffiti at A64 bridge

Graffiti at Tadcaster Road bridge

Graffiti at Tadcaster Road bridge

Litter on Sustrans cycle track near Tadcaster Road

Litter at A 64 bridge

 

 

Whatever happened to York’s salvage and re-use centre?

Well we know that it was one of the first cuts that Labour made when they took office in 2011.

Whatever happened to the salvage and re-use centre

The project was to have replaced the Beckfield Lane recycling centre but would have offered much more.

Its priority would have been to encourage the re-use of unwanted items. Currently only informal on-line groups like Freecycle address this need.

Only when the re-use option was exhausted would materials have been salvaged. For example, there is a ready market for building materials such as timber, bricks and hard-core.

Not only was the Beckfield Lane site closed but the replacement – which would Probably have been located at Harewood Whin – was also scrapped.

In part the decision contributed to the decline in recycling rates in the City and an inexorable rise in Landfill Tax costs.

The £2 million salvage centre would have paid for itself by now.

Sadly many residents resort to dumping items. One armchair has found its way onto a verge on Gale Lane today. Although some of these items are picked up by “rag and bone” men, many have to be removed by the Council.

Dumped mattresses are a particular problem for those lacking transport to get to the remaining 2 civic tips.

The York Council now charges £40 to remove up to 10 bulky waste items

Small wonder that so many residents are petitioning their objections to reduced waste collection frequencies and the prospect of a £35/£37 pa charge for emptying green garden waste bins.

“Litter, what litter?”

A response to a Freedom of Information request has revealed that the York Council stopped counting the number of complaints it was receiving about litter 18 months ago!

Litter complaints admitted by York Council (click to enlarge)

Litter complaints admitted by York Council (click to enlarge)

Monthly figures have been provided only up to November 2013.

The decision not to record complaints co-incided with Labour’s cuts in the number of litter bins provided in the City.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that litter problems are worsening in many parts of the City. 

The new Council which will be elected on May 7th will certainly expect not only performance volumes like these to be gathered but also to have them published routinely on the Council’s web site

The Council recently announced further cuts to litter bin provision in sub-urban parts of the City including Foxwood Lane.

 

Bin tax petition getting good doorstep support.

The petition opposing the introduction of a £35 green bin emptying tax – and opposing any move to 3 or 4 weekly emptying frequencies – has gathered hundreds of signatures on the doorstep in west York.

The on-line version will be available on the Council’s web site until 30th March and will then be suspended during the Council election run up.

click to download

click to download

 However it will be available again from 8th May. Residents can sign it by clicking here

Meanwhile the City of York Council is reminding residents of a number of changes to the waste and recycling service this Spring.

These include:

  • A reminder that this year’s garden waste collections start from Monday (March 30):
    Residents can look up collections or download a 2015 rubbish and recycling calendar at www.york.gov.uk/refuselookup
  • Residents are asked to ensure their bins are presented by 7am on the day of their collection, but no earlier than 7pm the evening before.
  • Ahead of the new collection season, households with more than one green wheeled bin can subscribe to the additional green bin scheme which operates during the usual garden waste season.   
  • From 1 April, the charge will be £37 per additional green bin that residents would like emptied.  To find out more about the additional bin subscription scheme visit www.york.gov.uk/recycling.
  • To join the additional bin scheme, and have more than one bin emptied, call 01904 551551 or ‘apply for it’ via the secure website at www.york.gov.uk/DoItOnline
  • Changes to the price of disposing of certain items at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) from 1 April:
    For items such as bricks/rubble, gas bottles, plasterboard and bonded asbestos, visit the website here for a full list of prices, or ask a member of staff on-site.

FREE compost giveaway 2015 dates announced:

In partnership with Yorwaste, compost is available every Sunday from 19 April to 20 September (except for Bank Holiday weekends) at the Harewood Whin site, which is open from 8am to 1pm.

Anyone wishing to take advantage of the giveaway just need to turn up, and bring a shovel and a suitable bag or container to put the soil improver in.

Home composting is also a great way to manage garden waste at home and provide nutrient rich compost for gardens. Visit www.getcomposting.com for further information.

Residents can also recycle their additional garden waste at Hazel Court and Towthorpe Household Waste Recycling Centres free of charge in a car. Residents using larger vehicles or trailers will need to apply for permits to use the sites.

Follow @CYCWaste on Twitter, or like CYCWaste on Facebook.

“Save our bins” petition launched

Residents have launched a petition calling on the York Council to reverse its proposal to reduce refuse bin collection frequencies and scrap the £35 green bin emptying charge.

click to download

click to download

The petition also asks the Council to abandon its plan – agreed at its budget meeting on 26th February – to introduce a £35 a year charge for emptying green bins. The charge has been heavily criticised as a new “stealth” tax – the equivalent of a 4% increase in Council Tax levels for most residents.

The Labour run authority introduced a £35 fee for emptying second, and subsequent, green bins last year.

The new tax will apply to all green bins and will hit the least well off hardest (as the charge will not be offset by increased benefit payments).

Residents fear that the charge will lead to more hedgerow dumping.

The risk will be increased by the move to 3 or 4 weekly grey bin emptying.

Dumping has already become an increasing problem on the west of the City since Labour’s controversial decision to close the civic amenity recycling centre on Beckfield Lane a couple of years ago.

Dringhouses Councillor Ann Reid is backing the petition.

“Many public service cuts are being hidden from residents by dubbing them part of a “rewiring” exercise.

This title means nothing to most people.

A consultation in February was a shambles with leaflets advertising activities being delivered after the event had finished.  A bogus list of choices failed to specifically ask for resident’s views on bin charging and reduced emptying frequencies.

Residents need to make their views known now.

A new Council will be elected on May 7th. It will have an early opportunity  to reverse the damaging decisions that have been taken over recent weeks”

The petition also asks the Council to provide more litter bins and to give a higher priority to keeping highways and hedgerows free from litter and dumped items.

A copy of the petition can be down loaded by clicking here

The petition can be signed “on line” here

More litter bins axed in York

Street cleansing standards take another hit

The York Council is to remove more litter bins from the City’s streets. It is claiming that the installation of “smart” compaction bins in the City centre and Acomb Front Street has been a “success” and is now aiming to replace old style bins on a one for two basis.

Compactor bin jammed with rubbish

Compactor bin jammed with rubbish

One of the Foxwood Lane bins which will be axed

One of the Foxwood Lane bins which will be axed

The smart bins compact rubbish using solar power and are supposed to alert the Council electronically when they are full.

They have had a mixed reaction from residents and traders.

The locations where only one bin will be provided in future include:

  • Copmanthorpe – near chipshop
    • Foxwood Lane – corner near shops
    • Tadcaster Road – opposite chipshop
Another of the bins that will be removed

Another of the bins that will be removed

  • St Aubyn’s Place
  • Badger Hill – near shops
  • Tang Hall Ln – shops
  • Marygate – entrance to Museum Gardens
  • Union Terrace Coach/car park

    Litter accumulating behind a junction box. An increasingly familiar site in sub-urban York

    Litter accumulating behind a junction box. An increasingly familiar sight in sub-urban York

  • Haxby – the village – near shops
  • City Centre – Newgate Market
  • City Centre – Spurriergate – near junc with High Ousegate
  • City Centre – Kings Sq
  • Broadway – Shops
  • Blossom Street O/S Odean

Meanwhile complaints about litter drift are increasing and a petition asking for more litter bins to be provide is being drawn up

Cheaper energy bulk buy scheme extended to 9th March

After an extremely successful auction which saw a tariff secured by iChoosr that could save residents on average £243, City of York Council is urging residents to sign up to the Big Community Energy Switch before 9 March.

People will join together with over 400 other residents from York in the switch, which could help them save on their gas and electricity bills.

A drop-in event will be held at City of York Council’s West Office on 2 March from 10am – 3pm. Residents can take their offer letter if they have any questions.

People can also sign up to the switch if they take a recent fuel bill.

The council and iChoosr held their first scheme between December 2013 and February 2014. A total of 751 York residents signed up, along with 36,000 people across the UK.

Supported by York’s Citizens Advice Bureau and Age UK York – the Save Money by Switching Energy campaign launched in December 2013. The scheme enables York residents to register for the assisted scheme through these four easy steps that can result in them being offered potentially cheaper alternative tariffs to consider switching to.
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Woodthorpe school pupils to join “Big Spring Clean 2015”

Local residents, community groups and businesses will be involved in spring clean over the last weekend of March to carry out an annual city-wide spring clean of York.

During March, the council will focus on supporting hard-working residents committed to keeping their neighbourhood looking – and staying – tidy.

So far, community groups such as the Friends of Leeman Park have committed to spruce up a play ground, Lindsey Avenue Residents’ Association will be encouraging people to recycle even more and the Dunnington in Bloom team will be concentrating their efforts on tidying a layby on the A1079.

Smarter York officers will be working with local businesses to brush up their immediate area as it’s good for business and for the surrounding community.

Pupils at Woodthorpe Primary School are among the York schools being encouraged to spend an hour of the last afternoon of the spring term having a Spring Clean.

Students are also being approached to join in, as well as staff at City of York Council who are being encouraged to go out and help in their own neighbourhoods as part of the ongoing support the council gives them to volunteer to boost the quality of life in York.
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