The Council has now published a full list of the written objections that have been made to the Council’s plans to cut “winter maintenance” activities.
They can be found by clicking here.
In the main the objections have come from residents, and their representatives, living on the west of the city.
They include petitions containing over 250 signatures.
The full agenda for tomorrows meeting, which is open to the press and public, can be found by clicking here
Ann Reid with local salt bin
Pressure is growing on Labour Councillors to agree to continue to de-ice all bus routes during the coming winter.
Cllr Ann Reid has submitted comprehensive representations to tomorrows decision meeting.
A copy of all the written representations should be available on the Councils web site shortly. Click here.
Residents wishing to attend and speak at the meeting have only got until 5:00pm today (Tuesday) to register to do so. Telephone – (01904) 552062 Laura Bootland.
The Council has confirmed the list of salt bin sites that will be retained if their proposals go ahead. Around 2/3 of the existing bins are scheduled to be scrapped.
Click here to download a full list of those that will remain.
York residents survey results click to enlarge
A survey completed by over 400 residents living in the west of York has revealed that highways and footpath maintenance are now the biggest cause for complaint.
73% thought that road and footpath maintenance had got worse in the City over the last 2 years.
The service was followed closely by ice clearance which 69% thought had got worse.
This is bad news for the Labour Council as the response come before the latest set of cuts to winter maintenance are implemented.
Parking provision was criticised by 65% with the large increases in parking charges introduced by the Labour Council likely to be the main influencing factor.
More than 50% of respondents also thought that litter, control of dogs, refuse collection and weed removal had got worse.
Only crime prevention fared relatively well, with 66% saying that the quality of the service was unchanged
The survey results will add pressure on the Council to support additional investment in street level public services at its meeting on Thursday.
The York Council at a meeting next week will be asked to jettison its prestige expenditure plans and return to a more sensible economic policy.
Weeds need strimming at end of Ridgeway
A motion being put forward by the Liberal Democrats condemns deteriorating roads, footpaths and increasing litter as well as plans to reduce de icing services in winter.
It says that Labour’s decision to scrap the “York Pride” maintenance programmes means that many areas are now strewn with weeds and detritus.
Carriageway failed in Vesper Drive
Recent rain highlighted the impact that Labours decision to end the routine cleaning of gullies (road drains) is already having.
Meanwhile a rather disingenuous motion from Labour Cllr Burton, seeks to justify the bill for York staging the start of just one Tour de France stage.
The cost to taxpayers is already in excess of £1.5 million and rising.
The Labour backed motion says that any income to the Council from the event should be allocate to improve basic service standards.
It fails however to say that the income from a few hot dog stands is unlikely to make much difference.
The cost of the repairs back log on the City’s roads and footpaths alone now stands at over £20 million.
The Liberal Democrat motion reads
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Only 285 residents responded to the Councils consultation on their future road gritting plans.
This represents only 0.14% of the population and is as clear an indication as possible that York residents are not prepared to answer “loaded” questions.
Only 146 responses were judged by the Council to be “valid” suggesting that many residents had simply told the Council to rethink it priorities.
Petitions, which have been submitted to the Council, have not even been recorded as having been received, while the views of Residents Associations have also been suppressed.
Although officials are recommending that some bus routes – which were scheduled not to be gritted this winter – are returned to the de-icing schedules, local residents pleas that the self help salt bin network be sustained, look set to be ignored at the decision meeting which is scheduled to take place on 9th October .
Many of the salt bins were installed by Ward committees as a result of requests by residents.
Amongst the roads reprieved in the proposals are Bellhouse Way, Ryecroft Avenue and Acomb Wood Drive which may now continue to be gritted. Click to see map
Revised gritting proposals click to see larger map
However the Dringthorpe estate, the whole of the Kingsway (West) estate, the little Moor Lane approach to Hob Moor school, Danesfort Avenue, St Stephens Road, and part of Chapelfields will not be gritted.
The Council have now admitted that the reduced number of gritting rounds will save only £20,000 a year.
This would compare to the £100,000 that the Council is planning to spend on an” Arts Barge” or the £600,000 reserved to sign new 20 mph speed limits.
Residents may attend and speak on the proposals at the meeting which is taking place at West Offices on Toft Green on Wednesday 9th October at 4:00pm..
You must register to speak before the meeting. The deadline for registering is 5pm on Tuesday 8th October 2013. Telephone – (01904) 552062 Laura Bootland.
Written representations must be made by 5pm on Monday 7th October 2013. They should be E-mailed to laura.bootland@york.gov.uk
Residents in the Middleton Road area are known to be collecting a petition this week which asks the Council to reverse the planned cuts on safety grounds.
40 residents in the Foxwood area – backed by the local Residents Association – have already submitted a petition asking for the existing network of salt bins to be retained.
The York Council is planning to remove the following roads from its winter gritting schedules.
Acomb Wood Drive,
Acorn Way,
Alness Drive,
Grassholme,
Moorcroft Road,
Ryecroft Avenue,
Middlethorpe Grove,
Lycett Road,
Leeside,
West Thorpe,
Chaloners Road (part)
Many are bus routes
Now local residents are collecting a petition aimed at restoring the street to the de –icing schedules.
click for large scale map
They also hope to persuade the Council not to reduce the number of salt bins in the area.
The Council currently plans to remove salt bins from Annan Close, Eden Close, Hillcrest Gardens, Lindale, Nairn Close, Moor Lane, Pulleyn Drive, Royal Chase, St Helens Road, Slingsby Grove, Spey Bank and The Horseshoe
2 years ago the Council moved to prevent local ward committees from establishing and maintaining local salt bin networks.
Residents point to the £70,000 a year being spent on advertising the City at Leeds Bradford airport as one source of funding for what most regard as a basic safety requirement
.
Residents have until next Monday (16th) to complete a Council on line survey although this does not include a status quo option.
A decision on the gritting routes is likely to be made at a meeting taking place on 9th October at which residents hope to hand in their petition.
The number of claims for damage to vehicles in York, as a result of poor road surfaces, has increased by over 400%.
In 2011/12, 13 drivers made a claim against the York Council
This spiralled to 70 in 2012/13
The value of compensation paid, however, reduced from £1455 to £333.
The Council had halved the amount that it was investing in highways maintenance in 2012/13.
A Freedom of Information response has identified the road in poorest condition in York.
Moor Lane, near Murton, attracted 10 damage claims between 23-12-2012 and 06-01-2013
The Council says that, generally, a road has a surface design life of 15 years.
At any one time there are around 40 potholes on the York road network requiring attention. This increases in the winter as a result of the impact that ice has on poorly maintained carriageway surfaces.
Potholes can be reported here http://www.mycouncilservices.com/
The winter maintenance survey has been extended.Have your say on how& where CYC provides this service across the city http://t.co/9AZ8g0NolG
— City of York Council (@CityofYork) September 2, 2013
City of York Council has been forced to extend its “on line only” winter maintenance consultation for a further two weeks. It will now close on Sunday 15 September.
The Council was heavily criticised for holding the consultation during the main school holidays.
click to access larger interactive map
This was compounded a few days ago when the maps of the new gritting routes were unavailable on the Council’s web site.
In some areas it is proposed to remove around 80% of the salt bins from local streets.
Abandoned salt bin
Several major bus routes will no longer be routinely salted (e.g. Ryecroft Avenue, part of Chaloners Road , the Dringthorpe estate plus dozens of other streets)
However the survey questions are heavily “loaded” with little opportunity for residents to tell the Council to look elsewhere for economies.
Residents are being advised to write in “safety comes first, no cuts to de-icing services”
The survey can be found by clicking here
Alternatively the Council now says that residents can visit their “reception at West offices, Station Rise, York where the maps will be available on display boards with facilities available for you to complete the survey from Monday 2nd September.
Those groups who cannot meet this timescale can send their comments to Stephen Moulds by 30 September 2013 and we will endeavour to consider those comments when making a final decision on 9th October 2013”.