Labour fall to 5th place in Acomb poll

Broken rose

Results of a door to door survey in the Hamilton Drive part of Acomb have seen Labour fall to their lowest ever level of support.

Asked which party they would support if there were a Council election tomorrow, only 3% said they would vote Labour.

The Conservatives and UKIP were vying for second place behind the Liberal Democrats who were favored by 40%

The poor Labour showing is put down to problems with the introduction of new waste collection arrangements and threats to reduce the amount of ice clearance undertaken in the neighbourhood.

200 homes in the area were visited by surveyors.

Huntington and Haxby hit by bin emptying backlog today

The Councils web site is reporting that the following streets have not had their bins emptied today

Green Bin: (Huntington)

• Strensall Road
• Abbots Gait
• Vesper Walk
• Kingsclere
• Mulberry Court
• Connaught Way
• Langley Court
• Linden Close
• Heron Rise
• Drakes Close
• Avon Drive
• Crinnan Court
• Trent Avenue
• Witham Drive
• Lang Road
• Ikin Way
• Broome Road
• Broome Way
• Cotswold Way
• Southdown Road
• Malvern Close
• Mandip Close
• Chiltern Way
• Grampian Close

Green Bin: (Haxby)

• York Road
• Hilbra Avenue
• Rosecomb Way
• Farmstead Rise
• Milford Mews

Recycling: ( Haxby/Wigginton )

• Forestgate
• Calvert Close
• Gateland Close
• Little Meadows
• Old Orchard
• Cherry Paddock
• Orchard Paddock
• South Lane
• Abelton Grove
• Kennedy Drive

Bus services update. New timetables now on First web site

Herd of buses

First have confirmed the terminus (timing points) where their new Acomb bus services will lay over.

Service 5/5A will terminate at Front Street, (5 at The Marcia Pub, 5A at the Post Office),

The 4 will terminate at Green Lane.

First have promised to improve the prominence of the timetables for the new services on their web site.

We are expecting an announcement about fare levels tomorrow morning. See this web site for details.

“Bow wave” of un-emptied bins increasing

Some 500 homes in the Kingsway West area haven’t had their bins emptied today (Wednesday). Once again the Council claims that they will be emptied tomorrow.

The list, being published on the Council’s web site, now includes lists of streets where recycling also hasn’t been collected.

The backlog now runs into thousands of homes.

Un-emptied bins on Kingsway West 1730 hours 18th Sept 2013

Un-emptied bins on Kingsway West 1730 hours 18th Sept 2013

Black Bin:

• Tudor Road

• Kingsway West

• Ascot Way

• Windsor Garth

• Ashford Place

• Woodford Place

• Newbury Avenue

• Beverley Court

• Aston House

• Sandown House

• Merton House

• Radford House

• Carlton House

• Craven House

• Adelphi House

Green Bin:

• Millgates
• The Paddock
• Plantation Drive
• Paddock Way
• Farfield
• Langholme Drive
• Ouseacres
• Caxton Avenue
• Boroughbridge Road
• Priors Walk
• Welton Avenue
• Rosetta Way
• Lavendar Grove
• Princess Drive
• Monarch Way
• Marquis Court
• Regent Mews
• Duchess Mews

Recycling:

• Princess Drive
• Monarch Way
• Marquis Court
• Regent Mews
• Duchess Mews
• Newlands Drive
• Boroughbridge Road (from Ouseburn Avenue to Beckfield Lane)

It remains unclear what the Labour run Council intends to do to remedy the problems

York Council call centre customers face 20 minute wait

Figures for August released today by the Council will confirm many residents experiences.

The time being taken by the Council to answer telephone calls is ridiculously high.

West Offices

In some cases, residents have had to wait for 20 minutes for their call to be answered.

Many Councils routinely publish on their web site quality of service stats covering basic services such as the time taken to deal with issues. The York Council fails to do so.

In response to a Freedom of Information request, the Council has now admitted that the maximum time that telephone callers had to wait, during the week commencing 5th August, was:

Between 8:00am and 9:00am 3:52 mins (maximum waiting time for call to be answered)

9am-10am 11:30 mins

10am-11am 09:22 mins

11am-12am 08:34 mins

12am -1pm 12:32 mins

1pm -2 pm 11:56 mins

2 pm-3pm 20:22 mins

3pm -4pm 10:27 mins

4pm -5 pm 10:03 mins

5pm -5:30pm 16:21 mins

The failures have prompted calls for the switchboard to remain open for an additional hour to deal with the backlog.

It is likely that many callers will have abandoned their attempts to get through.

The figures suggest that the quality of service being provided by the Council has declined since it moved into its new “state of the art” West Office building

Council admit error and apologise for failure to collect medical waste

The Council have admitted that they should have collected the medical waste put outside a property in the Holgate area last week.

They say that their records have now been updated.

They have also apologised for the delays in answering calls to the Councils switchboard.

We understand that they are experiencing unprecedented levels of complaints mostly arising out of the waste collection shambles.

Dlevene twitter 17th Sept 2013

Meanwhile Councillor Levene, who is responsible for waste collection, has “tweeted” to York Liberal Democrats claiming that the non collection of recycling on Chapelfields Road yesterday was “explained on the Council web site”.

In reality neither neither Chapelfields Road nor recycling is mentioned on the web site.

In a separate development, some residents trying to use the “report it on line” system to report a missed bin have not been able to do so.

It appears that the database has not been updated for the new collection rounds.

Woodthorpe waste bins not emptied as bin men “work to rule”

Parts of the Woodthorpe and Westfield wards have not had their bins emptied today.

It is the seventh working day of the new bin emptying regime. The crisis is now being blamed by the Council on a “work to rule”.

The Council are bullying the local media into not reporting the problems which today meant that bins in the following street have not been emptied.

Black Bin :

◦Alness Drive (Part)

◦Tarbert Cres

◦Deveron Place

◦Halladale Close

◦Torridon Place

◦Ashmead Close

◦Etive Place

◦Tarbert Crescent

◦Coeside

Green Bin :

◦Bramham Avenue

◦Marsden Crescent

◦Marsden Avenue

◦Grange Lane

◦Hotham Avenue

◦Barkston Grove

◦Askham Lane

◦Askham Grove

◦Apple Blossom Court

◦Westfield Place

◦Branton Place

◦Sandringham Court

The Council says that it will return tomorrow (Wednesday) to these properties.

10 new planning applications in Dringhouses and Woodthorpe ward

Below are the latest planning applications received by the York Council for the Dringhouses and Woodthorpe wards. Full details can be found by clicking the application reference

Ref No: 13/02951/FUL

Location: 21 Silverdale Court York YO24 2SL

Proposal: Single storey rear extension and dormer window to rear

Applicant: Richard Brooke Consultation Expiry Date 7 October 2013 Case Officer: Carolyn Howarth Expected Decision Level DEL

Ref No: 13/02964/FUL

Location: 5 Acomb Wood Close York YO24 2SN

Proposal: Two storey side and rear extension and detached double garage to rear

Applicant: Mr Warren Senior Contact Jaron Goulding Consultation Expiry Date 7 October 2013 Case Officer: Elizabeth Potter Expected Decision Level DEL

Ref No: 13/02995/FUL

Location: 69 Orchard Way York YO24 2NY

Proposal: Single storey extension to side

Applicant: Mr Peter Lidgett Contact M T S Architectural Services Consultation Expiry Date 7 October 2013 Case Officer: Elizabeth Potter Expected Decision Level DEL

Ref No: 13/02996/FUL

Location: 10 Aintree Court York YO24 1EW

Proposal: Attached garage to side of existing garage

Applicant: Mr Tony Kennelly Contact Mr Wayne Morris Consultation Expiry Date 7 October 2013 Case Officer: Heather Fairy (Mon – Wed) Expected Decision DEL

Ref No: 13/03001/LHE

Location: 103 Tadcaster Road Dringhouses York YO24 1QG

Proposal: Erection of single storey extension extending 4 metres beyond the rear wall of the original house, with a height to the eaves of 2.5 metres and a total height of 3.8 metres

Applicant: Mr S Tinkler Contact Mr B Farrer Consultation Expiry Date 7 October 2013 Case Officer: Carolyn Howarth Expected Decision Level DEL

Ref No: 13/02994/FUL

Location: 3 The Grove York YO24 1XD

Proposal: Two storey rear extension

Applicant: Mrs Sau-Wing Mak Contact Mr Andy Sykes Consultation Expiry Date 7 October 2013Case Officer: Carolyn Howarth Expected Decision Level DEL

Ref No: 13/03057/FUL

Location: 1 Dringthorpe Road York YO24 1NF

Proposal: Two storey side extension (amended scheme)

Applicant: Mr W Jones Consultation Expiry Date 7 October 2013 Case Officer: Heather Fairy (Mon – Wed) Expected Decision DEL

Ref No: 13/03043/TPO

Location: Tree House 4 Kensington Court York YO24 1LJ

Proposal: Reduce Sycamore by 2m away from property and thin by 20%, Tree protected by Tree Preservation Order No 50

Applicant: Mt John Macer Contact Mr Tom Kitchen Consultation Expiry Date 7 October 2013 Case Officer: Esther Priestley Expected Decision Level

Ref No: 13/03046/TCA

Location: 4 Olivias Court Nelsons Lane York YO24 1HD

Proposal: Re-pollard Lime to 1m above the main fork, Tree in the Conservation Area

Applicant: Dr Frazer Brown Consultation Expiry Date 7 October 2013 Case Officer: Esther Priestley Expected Decision Level DEL

Ref No: 13/03088/TPO

Location: Aldersyde Court Aldersyde York

Proposal: Horse Chestnut (T3,T4,T5) Crown thin by 10% and crown clean, Horse Chestnut (T1) reduce heavy limb over highway, Trees protected by Tree Preservation Order CYC 282

Applicant: Mr Steve Theaker Contact Mr David Gregory Consultation Expiry Date 7 October 2013 Case Officer: Esther Priestley Expected Decision Level DEL

Representations can be made in favour of, or in objection to, any application via the Planning on line web site. http://planningaccess.york.gov.uk/online-applications/

NB. The Council now no longer routinely consults neighbours by letter when an application is received.