Ann says, “York must be ready for winter weather”

Cllr Andrew Waller with one of the salt bins that he has asked to be refurbished and refilled

Cllr Andrew Waller with one of the salt bins that he has asked to be refurbished and refilled

 

Liberal Democrat councillors are urging Labour run City of York Council to be properly prepared for winter and not to gamble on continuing mild weather.

The warning comes amid growing concerns that York will not be able to cope with snowy and icy weather following cuts to the winter maintenance budget.

Since 2011 Labour has cut the council’s winter budget every year and last year took 30 miles of road off the priority gritting list and stopped funding two-thirds of salt bins. Whilst Liberal Democrat councillors and campaigners worked with parish councils and residents groups to save some salt bins, many were still lost.

Council budget cuts meant that despite last year’s mild weather, York still overspent its winter budget by around £100,000 leading to fears how it will cope with bad weather this year.

Now Lib Dem councillors have written to the Labour Cabinet Member responsible calling on the council to make sure it is ‘ready for winter’ and to work with local residents to identify gaps in provision.

Cllr Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Environmental Services, commented:

“Despite the recent mild weather I have spoken to many residents in recent weeks who are asking for salt bins to be replaced and roads to be put back on gritting routes as we approach winter. Residents have also raised concerns about salt bins which have been left to rot and are now without lids or full of rubbish.

“Last year the council was fortunate to have a particularly mild winter, but it must make sure it is ready for winter this year and able to cope if more seasonal weather comes in the next few months. It needs to work with local residents and community groups to identify and tackle gaps in provision. These frontline services need to be the priority rather than Labour’s vanity projects in the city-centre.

“While I am pleased to see that the snow warden service is restarting – now in its fourth season having been brought in by the previous Lib Dem administration – this team of volunteers needs proper support from the council, and officers who work hard to keep the city running need support from the top.”

Liberal Democrat councillors have sent the following letter to the Labour Cabinet Member responsible:

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Icy weather coming – “sort out the salt bins and gritting routes” say LibDems

Council salt bin location map click

Council salt bin location map click

A high priority for the new “balanced” York Council should be to sort out its winter maintenance programmes

The City was very fortunate last year when warm weather persisted for virtually the whole of the winter.

We would lucky if this happened for a second year.

One of the most unpopular cuts made by York’s Labour Council was the removal of many salt bins.

Salt bins filled with rubbish

Salt bins filled with rubbish

Most of the bins had been provided by ward committees following a ballot of residents priorities. Local residents are often the best qualified to identify footpaths which are vulnerable to icing.

Some of the bins subsequently seemed to escape the cull. Some even still have salt in them.

However, the salt bin location map shown on the York Councils web site is inaccurate.

In other areas, some carriageways have been excluded from the gritting schedules despite the roads being on bus routes.

All in all, there is a need for a review of the system before the snow arrives.

The Council could make a start by clearing the existing salt bins of rubbish and refilling those that need it.

Dringhouses salt bin petition to be considered next week

Ann Reid with local salt bin

Ann Reid with local salt bin

A petition calling for the salt bins, that wee  removed by the Council in the autumn, to be returned in time for next winter, will be considered next week.

The petition was collected by local Councillor Ann Reid and would also restore West Thorpe and Leeside to the primary gritting rota.

The number of salt bins in the ward was reduced from 35 to 28.

Although, because of the mild winter, there have been no major problems with ice reported recently, a return to more normal winter temperatures is likely to result in considerable inconvenience and hazards on some footpaths.

Under the Liberal Democrats led Council, until 2011, ward budgets were available which could be used to provide additional bins  if local residents voted for them.

This scheme was scrapped when Labour took office.

The meeting takes place in The Snow Room (sic) – Ground Floor, West Offices (G035) on Thursday 20th March starting at 4:00pm. Residents wishing to speak at the meeting must register first by telephoning (01904) 552062 at least 24 hours before the meeting takes place.

121 salt bins fail to find new parents!

snow_wardensThe Council has admitted that only a handful of threatened salt bins have found new sponsors.

The remaining 121 bins are now set to be removed.

  • 31 salt bins are being taken over by Parish Councils
  • 6 are being adopted by Residents Associations
  • 2 others have been sponsored by other groups

Meanwhile the last Council meeting heard that the total number of “snow wardens” in the City has increased to 208.

Their postcodes can now be viewed on a map (click here)

The spread of “snow wardens” across the City is very uneven.

Keeping warm in winter

City of York Council says that it is is supporting Public Health England’s Cold Weather Plan which looks at ways of reducing unnecessary deaths and illness this winter.

click to access

click to access

That’s a bit rich coming from a Council that has just decided to scrap 2/3 of the city’s self help salt bins and take around 30 miles of road off the gritting schedules.

Alternative view

They say that there are between 2000 and 2500 excess winter deaths each year in Yorkshire and Humber, many of which are preventable. The Cold Weather Plan aims to prevent avoidable harm to people’s health by highlighting the negative health effects cold weather can have whilst enabling people to prepare and respond appropriately.

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“Adopt a salt bin” scheme proposed in York

The names of the 5 Labour Councillors who voted on Monday to scrap most of the “self help” salt bins in the City have been published.

They include 3 Councillors who were parachuted in by the Labour Leadership to replace members who had refused to take part in the highly unpopular decision.

The five Councillors were:

• S Burton (Westfield) Substitute
• N McIlveen (Rawcliffe)
• R Potter (Heworth)
• J Riches (Holgate) Substitute
• N Barnes (Hull Road) Substitute

They endorsed the cuts which were originally proposed by Cllr Levene (Heslington)

The Council have now said that residents groups may “adopt a salt bin” if they feel that it serves a particular need in their area.

As the salt bins (which cost £300) to provide) already exist, the residents groups would “only” need to find around £50 a time to have each filled.

Contact the following Email address if you want to “adopt a salt bin” andy.binner@york.gov.uk

Mini_Grit_Bin

If it is a mild winter, then one fill might be enough.

Another alternative might be to use a private contractor to keep the bins filled.

We have mixed feeling about the scheme which could discriminate against deprived areas.

However it has the advantage of keeping the bins on the streets so that, after Labour inevitably lose control of the Council in 2015, normal winter maintenance services can be resumed quickly by the new Council.

These are the 15 salt bins in the Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Ward that the Council propose to remove. They are:
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Labour force through winter service cuts by just 1 vote

Labour have forced through plans to cut salt bins and gritting routes in York despite opposition from residents, community groups and local councillors.

Ann Reid with local salt bin

Ann Reid with local salt bin

Earlier this month, Labour run City of York Council decided to cut two-thirds of salt bins and remove nearly 30 miles of roads from priority gritting routes, including on bus routes. Liberal Democrat Councillors Ann Reid, Nigel Ayre and Keith Aspden ‘called-in’ the decision for further review. However, at a special meeting of York’s Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee last night, Labour used their majority to push through the controversial proposals by 5 votes to 4.

At the meeting, the Lib Dems tabled an alternative set of plans which would have safeguarded salt bins at schools, elderly people’s homes, sheltered housing and community hubs such as local shops and libraries. It also said all bus routes should be on the priority gritting routes; community groups should be consulted before any salt bin is cut; and it called on the Labour Cabinet to review its decision to carry out an online only consultation on the cuts. These alternative plans were defeated by Labour.

Speaking at the meeting Cllr Ann Reid, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Environmental Services, said Labour’s plans were “flawed” and “a substantial number of areas will be left without a regular gritting regime, leading to access problems for public transport and to schools in icy weather”.

She criticised the Labour Cabinet for prioritising schemes such as buying an Arts Barge over delivering frontline services, adding:

“It is a matter of priorities where budgets are spent. It is easy for the Labour administration to blame Government cuts; however, they are still able to find resources for pet projects while street level services like salt bins and gritting, which people pay their council tax for, are cut”.

The proposals have met with fierce opposition from local people with 1,000 residents signing a Lib Dem petition against the cuts. Meanwhile, Kingsway Area Residents’ Association recently said that the plans could see elderly and disabled people trapped in their homes this winter.

It expected that salt bins will start to be removed from the streets of York in the next couple of weeks.

Details of the meeting and decision can be found here: http://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=602&MId=7815

The Lib Dem proposal, tabled by Cllr Carol Runciman and defeated 5 votes to 4, was as follows:

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Crunch winter safety meeting on Monday 21st October

The Council’s review committee will meet on Monday 21st October to look again at Labour Councillor Levene’s plans to cut de-icing activities.

Revised gritting proposals click to see larger map

Revised gritting proposals click to see larger map

He decided last week to scrap most salt bins in the City and remove many roads from the routine gritting schedules.

This is a major issue which potentially affects the safety of all York residents.

The meeting will take place at West Offices starting at 5:00pm

A copy of the agenda and supporting papers can be found by clicking here

Damaged salt bin Cornlands Road

Damaged salt bin Cornlands Road

Residents may also attend and speak at the meeting. To do so you must register to speak before the meeting by contacting Jill Pickering on York 552061 (E-mail : jill.pickering@york.gov.uk)

The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Friday 18 October 2013.

The telephone numbers and Email addresses of the members of the committee are reproduced below. Residents can contact them to make representations

Councillor John Galvin Chair (Conservative) 01904 704829 Email: cllr.jgalvin@york.gov.uk

Councillor Sandy Fraser (Labour) 01904 651443 Email: cllr.sfraser@york.gov.uk

Councillor David Horton (Labour) 01904 777274 Email: cllr.dhorton@york.gov.uk

Councillor Lynn Jeffries (LibDem) 01904 551088 Email: cllr.ljeffries@york.gov.uk

Councillor Ken King (Labour) 01904 783024 Email: cllr.kking@york.gov.uk

Councillor Neil McIlveen (Labour) 01904 623062 Email: cllr.nmcilveen@york.gov.uk

Councillor Ruth Potter (Labour) Phone: 01904 438634. Mobile: 07947 539725 Email: cllr.rpotter@york.gov.uk

Councillor Carol Runciman (LibDem) 01904 764356 Email: cllr.crunciman@york.gov.uk

Councillor Chris Steward (Conservative) 01904 638810 Bus. email: cllr.csteward@york.gov.uk

Call for rethink on de-icing cut

Leaking salt bin

Leaking salt bin

Liberal Democrats have called on Labour to rethink plans that would see two-thirds of salt bins in York lost and gritting routes across the city cut.

The decision to cut the winter maintenance service was taken by Labour’s Cabinet Member for Environmental Services on Wednesday despite the opposition of local residents and concerns over the online only public consultation.

Lib Dem Councillors Ann Reid, Nigel Ayre and Keith Aspden have ‘called-in’ the decision for further review and the proposals are now set to be reconsidered at a special meeting of York’s Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee later this month.

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Levene backs cuts to de-icing safety arrangements.

Labour have agreed to slash the amount of road and footpath de-icing which will take place this winter.

Several hundred objections from residents were over-ruled today by Councillor Levene who was first elected in only 2011 and who made no attempt to address the many concerns that had been raised.

Levene

Levene

Nearly 2/3 of the salt bins, put on the streets at the request of residents, will be scrapped.

Many roads – including those that are bus routes – will not now be routinely pre-salted.

The Council is being reckless with the safety of residents and is gambling that we will have a mild winter.

A repeat of the severe weather seen in 2009 and 20010 could bring parts of the City to a halt.

The implications for elderly and disabled residents are even more alarming.

When salt bins are removed from vital streets like Front Street, there is a real danger that many will be trapped in their homes …potentially for days or even weeks.

This is a shortsighted decision which Labour will come to regret.

The decision will be called in by Liberal Democrat Councillors who will refer the matter to an all party review committee.

We will let you know when the meeting is arranged.