Ultra Fibre Optic work plan for 1st to 14th January

TalkTalk have announced their Ultra Fibre Optic cable-laying plans for the first two weeks of the new year.

‘Advanced civils’ work will be done on Chaloners Road, Leven Road, Kinbrace Drive, Crummock, Wansbeck and Cairnborrow.

‘Narrow trenching’ work will be done on Chase Side Court, Wains Road, Southfield Crescent, Farmlands Road, Eason View, Highmoor Road, Thanet Road, Railway View, Don Avenue, Swale Avenue, Leeside, Dalmally Close, Helmsdale, Burns Court, Annan Close, Spey Bank, Dee Close, Chaloners Road, Kinbrace Drive, Girvan Close, Eden Close, Carron Crescent, Nairn Close.


 

Ward schemes coming to fruition

A number of schemes funded from the Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward budget are coming to fruition.

The installation of tarmac runovers on the corners of Nidd Grove and Don Avenue has been completed, with tactile paving also installed at the crossing points.


The installation of new play equipment in the Woodthorpe Green playground is due to begin on Monday 8th January and should last one week. The playground will be closed whilst the work is undertaken. The installation team is then due to move on to the Nelsons Lane playground on 15 January.

And finally, a new streetlight is being installed to illuminate the snicket that connects Moor Lane with the old Askham Bar Park & Ride site. This is a busy route for both cyclists and pedestrians, and a number of residents had complained about the complete lack of illumination.

New lamp post being installed

Ultra Fibre Optic work plan 18 December to 7 January

TalkTalk have announced their Ultra Fibre Optic cable-laying plans for the Christmas and New Year period.

During the week commencing 18 December, ‘advanced civils’ work will be done on Chaloners Road and ‘narrow trenching’ will be done on North Lane and Moorlea Avenue.

From 22nd December to 2nd January there won’t be any first or second phase work being started, in order to minimise disruption around the festive period. The teams will however be out and about checking for minor faults that need to be rectified during this time.

From 3rd January, ‘narrow trenching’ work will get underway on Chase Side Court, Southfield Crescent, Wains Road, Farmlands Road, Eason View, Highmoor Road, Thanet Road, Railway View, Eason View, Don Avenue, Swale Avenue, Leeside.

Cllr Stephen Fenton raises Woodthorpe drainage issues

On the 4th December, Cllr Stephen Fenton spoke at a council meeting to highlight local concerns regarding the risk of flooding from overflowing drainage ditches.

On Boxing Day in 2015, homes on Coeside and Nevis Way in Woodthorpe narrowly avoided being inundated with water, gushing from an overflowing ditch at the back of the properties – pictured below.

Since then, work has been carried out to clear drainage ditches downstream and it is hoped this will result in quicker and more effective drainage of the ditch behind the houses.

Stephen spoke at a Decision Session for the Council’s Executive Member for the Environment on 4 December, at which a Gulley Management Strategy Review was discussed. He circulated photographs taken in September (see below) which show the ditch choked by vegetation, raising concerns that when it dies back, it will settle on the floor of the ditch and reduce capacity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephen said  “I want to highlight the importance of drainage ditches in the ward and I am keen to ensure that their maintenance is not overlooked as the council decides how to prioritise the resources that it has available.

“I am grateful to Council staff for the investment already made in clearing out the drainage channels downstream from the ditch that overflowed in 2015. I am also pleased that we were able to dedicate some Ward Committee funds to help pay for some digging out of the ditch to be done.”

 

 

Ultra Fibre Optic – work plan for w/c 4 December

The work to install Ultra Fibre Optic cable across west York continues, with the following streets due to be visited during the week commencing 4 December for ‘advanced civils’ and ‘narrow trenching’ work:


Advanced civils: Grassholme, Eden Close, Trent Way, Orrin Close, Skiddaw, Crummock, Cairnborrow, Wansbeck, Tarbert Crescent, Arundel Grove, Ganton Place, Silverdale Court, Wains Road, Chaloners Road, Kinbrace Drive, Leven Road, Lowick, Helmsdale, Ryecroft Avenue

Narrow trenching: Sandcroft Road, Silverdale Court, Glenridding, Sandcroft Close, Moorcroft Road, Thanet Road, Jervis Road, Moorlea Avenue, North Lane, Eason View, Gower Road, Moor Lane

Ultra Fibre Optic – work plan for 20 November to 3 December

The work to install Ultra Fibre Optic cable across west York continues, with the following streets due to be visited between 20 November and 3 December for ‘advanced civils’ and ‘narrow trenching’ work:

Advanced civils: North Lane, Eason Road, Eason View, Thanet Road, Chaseside Court, Moorcroft Road, Glenridding, Moor Lane, Grassholme

Narrow trenching: Chaloners Road, Thanet Road, West Thorpe, Sandcroft Road, Farmlands Road, Highmoor Road, Wains Road, Acorn Way, Bramble Dene, Windermere, Glaisdale, Arundel Grove, Overdale Close, Moorcroft Road

 

Councillors demand answers on Dringhouses Post Office closure

Local Lib Dem councillors are demanding answers from Post Office Ltd on the sudden closure of Dringhouses Post Office on Tadcaster Road.

The Post Office is located in a Mace convenience store, and whilst the shop remains open, all Post Office services have ceased ‘indefinitely.’

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a Twitter exchange with a local resident, Post Office said “this branch has been closed temporarily due to unforeseen circumstances”,  and that they will “try to appoint temporary cover…providing it is possible for us to do so.”

Cllr Stephen Fenton has asked Post Office Ltd to explain how they have adhered to their own Code of Practice in this situation. The Code applies to “the handling of the localised changes that can and do happen across such a large network for all sorts of reasons. When these changes do happen, whether they are planned or whether they occur without warning, we will always ensure that the minimum access criteria outlined by the Government are met and that the needs of customers are taken into account as much as is possible.”

Stephen said  “This Post Office provides a very valuable service for the community, and its loss is a huge blow, particularly for elderly or vulnerable residents who rely on having access to services close to home. The timing couldn’t be worse – many people wanting to send Christmas cards and parcels to family and friends at home and abroad will now have to use other Post Office outlets if they are able to.

“I am very disappointed at the lack of communication from Post Office Ltd. Their Code of Practice talks about communicating with local authorities and others where there are changes to service provision, but this sudden closure has taken everyone by surprise. As far as I am aware, there has been no notification to the council, and there has certainly been no approach to local councillors.

“I have asked Post Office Ltd for an urgent conversation to get answers to the questions that I and other residents have about the future of this Post Office.”

Call for action on coach parking

Dringhouses & Woodthorpe Lib Dem councillor Stephen Fenton has called for action to stop out-of-town coaches from clogging up suburban streets.

The start of the St Nicholas Christmas Fair has seen a surge in coach parties coming to the city. The influx of visitors is a welcome boost to the local economy, but some coach firms are failing to make use of the parking facilities provided by Make it York.

Photographed below is a coach that was parked up on The Horseshoe, off Tadcaster Road, on Saturday 18 November.

Stephen Fenton said  “When there is ample coach parking being provided, it is unacceptable that some coach firms are choosing to clog up residential streets that cannot cope with such large vehicles.

“I have raised this with Make it York, and they have confirmed that there are spaces available for coaches at the designated parking places.”

A Make it York spokesperson commented “We operate a booking system for the weekends of the Christmas Market, which involves managing a couple of sites with a team of stewards to welcome the coaches and help park. We work with Parking Services and the Highways department to ensure the huge demand for coach parking has little impact on the local infrastructure (we currently have over 400 coaches booked in over the period which is approx. 22,000 visitors). It’s disappointing that this coach company has avoided the booking system – we had space available.”

 

Local Councillor Ashley Mason probes Fire Service takeover bill

Costs have been revealed concerning the Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) bid to take over responsibilities for overseeing the Fire Service in North Yorkshire.

It has been revealed that Julia Mulligan has spent £141,437.50 on consultants in order to put her business case together, exceeding her budget by over £12,000 in the process.  The revelations come after Councillors on the Police and Crime Panel were issued with a last minute briefing paper from the PCCs office.

Cllr Ashley Mason, Vice Chair of the Panel and Liberal Democrat Councillor for Dringhouses and Woodthorpe, initially queried the costs earlier in the year, but was informed the details were commercially sensitive.

Cllr Ashley Mason said:

“I was astonished to learn how much the PCC had spent on this takeover bid. I was even more surprised to see that these costs are solely for the external consultants and marketers. The costs do not include the large amount of staff time her office put into the campaign and only £88,000 can be claimed back from the Home Office.

This is totally unacceptable and the money would have been better spent in employing more control room staff to address the failings in 101 services, or on local PCSOs, with numbers reducing in York.

The Commissioner has some serious issues to tackle within the police, who have recently fallen in their rating by the Inspectorate of Constabularies’ from ‘Good’ to ‘Requires Improvement.”