City of York Council will be carrying out road maintenance works at Don Avenue on Wednesday
11th January for one day, weather permitting.
In order to carry out the work safely, the use of stop/go boards will be necessary working on one half of the road at a time, before switching over. All on-street parking will be suspended during the hours of the works for the full duration.
Councillor Stephen Fenton has welcomed news which suggests that much-needed resurfacing work on Moor Lane in Woodthorpe may be undertaken in the 2023/24 financial year.
The road surface on Moor Lane – between Cairnborrow and Eden Close in particular – has continued to deteriorate rapidly, posing a hazard for motorists and cyclists. Some potholes have been filled, but others invariably appear and the surface is now a badly rutted patchwork.
Stephen has received an e-mail from the council’s Highways team (copied below) which offers some hope that resurfacing works will be undertaken.
“We are recommending that sections of this road will be considered for resurfacing in the 2023-24 financial year. However, it should be noted that we are concerned in regards to this particular asset in terms of the construction itself and any surfacing will be subject to further engineering investigation. There are clues in the name of some of the roads in the locality (Moor Lane, Bog Lane etc) and the engineering investigation works will allow us to better understand the ground conditions to ensure we have an effective solution; in other words we believe that there may be subsurface and original design/construction issues which are compounding the surface issue and we wouldn’t want to just add another surface layer without at least fully understanding all of the issues and ensuring value for money. Obviously in the meantime we will continue our inspections and make good defects in accordance with our Highways Safety Inspection Manual.”
Over 1,000 residents have signed a petition launched in December following an announcement by First that they plan to axe the number 12 bus service from 22nd January.
The online and hard copy petition – and an accompanying survey – was organised by Lib Dem councillors representing the Dringhouses & Woodthorpe and Westfield wards, as the loss of the number 12 would leave many hundreds of residents in Woodthorpe, Acomb Park and Foxwood with no practical access to public transport.
As well as the petition and survey, councillors organised a public meeting, which took place on 18th December at St James the Deacon Church Hall in Woodthorpe. At the meeting around 40 residents shared why the service is important for them, and what they would like the service to look like in future, if it can be retained.
The feedback gathered has been shared with council officers, who are currently working to find an operator to take on the number 12 service after 22nd January.
Stephen Fenton, one of the Lib Dem councillors for Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward, thanked all those residents who have signed the petition, completed the survey or attended the meeting. Cllr Fenton said: “It was clear from the turnout at the meeting that this is an issue which local residents feel very strongly about, and the numbers who have signed the petition further demonstrates the strength of feeling locally. There were many personal stories shared at the meeting about just how vital the bus service is to enable residents to get to school, college, work, medical appointments or just to have access to some social interaction.
“Many bus operators are struggling with increased costs and driver recruitment, which has impacted service reliability and in turn made it more difficult to retain and attract passengers. And with the Government financial support for the bus industry due to end in March, it has all created something of a ‘perfect storm.’ In York we are better placed than most to weather this storm, having successfully bid for £17m of Bus Service Improvement Plan funding, but the future remains uncertain. The priority has to be to retain geographical coverage to prevent many of York’s communities, such as Woodthorpe, being cut off from access to public transport.”
The petition reads “I the undersigned back the Lib Dem campaign to retain a bus service for the communities currently served by the number 12 and call for the Government help needed to ensure the service’s long term viability.”
A further drop-in session is being held to provide residents and businesses with an opportunity to look at detailed plans and clarify aspects of the Tadcaster Road sustainable transport scheme. The session will be held at St Edward the Confessor Church Hall on Sunday 8 January 12.30 – 4pm.
The main construction works for the scheme are due to start during the week commencing 2nd January 2023, with an estimated completion date of September 2023. Works will be carried out Monday to Friday between 7.30am and 6pm. No works are expected to take place during the weekends, but if required the working hours will be Saturday 9.15am to 4pm and Sunday 9 am to 4pm.
There are no overnight works planned during the early stages of the scheme. If required, these may be during the final stages for road surfacing works. Residents and businesses will be notified in advance should this be the case.
Contractor, Jackson Civil Engineering, have set up site compounds at Sim Balk Lane (main compound) and the Knavesmire (smaller sub-compound).
Construction of the main works including new bus, walking and cycling improvements will take place at the same time as much needed highway maintenance work to upgrade the drainage, street lighting and road and footpath surfacing. Delivering these works at the same time will help to minimise the amount of disruption to residents, businesses and the users of Tadcaster Road.
The scheme is being delivered by City of York Council in partnership with the Department for Transport (Local Highways Maintenance Challenge Fund : £5m) and West Yorkshire Combined Authority (Transforming Cities Fund : £1.4m).
More information about the whole scheme is available at www.york.gov.uk/TadcasterRoad and www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/tadcasterroad
The local Lib Dem team has vowed to fight to retain local bus services after news emerged that First is planning to withdraw the number 12 / 12A service entirely from 22nd January.
The route is now being put out to tender in the hope that an operator will take it on and offer a service which residents can rely on.
A report to a council Executive meeting on 15th December notes that Government financial support for bus services will come to an end next March, putting further pressure on already financially-stretched local councils.
The number 12 already benefits from a subsidy from the council, but even with this support, First Bus seem determined to axe the service.
Cllr Stephen Fenton is encouraging residents to sign a petition to retain this vital service, and fill in a survey HERE
Stephen commented “Now we know that First are planning to axe this vital service, it’s critical that an operator is found. I would like to encourage residents to complete our survey so that we can work with council officers to ensure we have a service that meets residents’ needs and which they are more likely to want to use.”
Cllr Ashley Mason added: “Unless bus services receive urgent long term support from the Government both financially as well as through driver recruitment, services will continue to be under constant threat of cuts.”
The local Lib Dem team has organised a public meeting for residents to have their say on local bus services. It will be on Sunday 18th December at 1.30pm at St James the Deacon Church Hall on Sherringham Drive.
St James the Deacon Church has announced a programme of services over the Christmas period, listed on the poster below.
Following the takeover of McColl’s by Morrisons, there are questions over the future of existing McColl’s stores, such as the one on Moorcroft Road in Woodthorpe.
The Competition and Markets Authority announced on 27 October that Morrisons’ acquisition of McColl’s from administration has been cleared. Morrisons subsequently issued a press release which stated that for 132 McColls stores where there is no realistic prospect of achieving a breakeven position in the medium term, the majority of these stores will be closed in an orderly fashion over the remainder of the year.
The Morrisons press release went on to say “Of the 132 stores that will close, 55 include a Post Office counter. Recognising the particular importance of the community Post Office counters to their local areas, especially around Christmas, Morrisons will delay the closure of these 55 stores until next year to enable them to serve their communities through Christmas and to allow the Post Office additional time to make alternative arrangements. We are currently working with the Post Office to see if nearby McColl’s or Morrisons stores could be part of the solution and we are currently looking at a number of potential stores for replacement Post Office counters.”
Dringhouses & Woodthorpe Lib Dem councillor Stephen Fenton has asked Morrisons to clarify whether the Woodthorpe store is among the 55 stores with a Post Office counter that have been earmarked for closure.
Stephen said “Back in 2019 the local Lib Dem team campaigned to save Post Office services after the Woodthorpe Post Office closed down. The campaign had a successful outcome when Post Office services were accommodated within the McColl’s store. We are now faced with the prospect of losing not only Post Office services, but also the only convenience store serving this part of Woodthorpe, with the next closest being Costcutter store on Wains Grove and the Tesco Express store on Acomb Wood Drive, neither of which has a Post Office counter.
“The news that Morrisons was taking over McColl’s was welcomed by many, with the store on Gale Lane already having been converted into a Morrisons Daily store. But there are now concerns that the Woodthorpe McColl’s store might be among the 132 earmarked for closure, and so I have written to Morrisons to ask for clarification on this as soon as possible.”
UPDATE – a list of the 132 stores that are apparently to be closed has been published by The Mirror newspaper. The Woodthorpe store is not listed, but Stephen has asked Morrisons to confirm the accuracy of this list.
Ward funding has been used to install a row of wooden bollards on Moorcroft Road to protect pedestrians.
In recent months there has been an increasing problem with vehicles driving over the footpath at this location in order park on the (privately owned) paved area in front of the Dick Turpin pub. On at least one occasion there has been a ‘near-miss’ where a pedestrian had to dodge a vehicle that had driven across the footpath.
On the evening of Monday 14th November a vehicle drove into and destroyed one of the brick ‘Woodthorpe Garden Village’ signs at the junction of Moor Lane and Grassholme. It is understood that the Police attended the scene.
Cllr Stephen Fenton has asked council officers to arrange for the sign to be re-built.
Councillor Stephen Fenton has welcomed the completion of improvements at the larger of the two play areas on the Revival estate off Tadcaster Road.
A basket swing and roundabout have been installed to increase the diversity of play equipment available to young people on the estate. The improvements were funded from the ward budget and through a successful bid for council funding.
Stephen commented “I’m pleased that we have been able to use ward funding to help realise a long-held ambition to improve the provision of play equipment on the estate, which didn’t really cater for any children over 5 or 6 years of age.”