Litter bins, telecoms cabinets and bus shelters have been hit by graffiti ‘artists’ in recent weeks. The ‘tags’ used by these individuals are ‘Leeroy’ and ‘Rank.’

On 24 December Cllr Stephen Fenton cleaned graffiti at 20 locations, from Girvan Close in the west of the ward to Thanet Road in the east.

The Police have been asked to try to identify the culprits and charge them with criminal damage.

Network Rail have been alerted to ‘Rank’s handiwork on the St Helens Road railway bridge, which will need to be painted over.

As had been feared, the less-than-clear council communications about waste collections over the Christmas and New Year period meant that some residents put out black bins for collection today.

As we have previously reported, information issued by the council indicated that those households due a collection on Monday 25th would receive a collection on Saturday 23rd instead. Some households that were due a recycling collection on the 25th interpreted this as meaning that they would get an ‘extra’ black bin collection on Saturday 23rd, which wasn’t the case.

The council has confirmed that Woodthorpe residents will not have a recycling collection during the festive period.

Council comms materials that were issued recently led with the reassuring message that there will be changes to collection days over Christmas and New Year.

The more detailed information suggested that collections that were due on Monday 25th would take place on Saturday 23rd instead. The small print, however, confirms that the Saturday collection will apply only to those households that were due a black bin collection. Households that were due a recycling collection on the 25th will miss out, meaning their next recycling collection will be on Monday 8th January.

The communications issued by the council could and should have been clearer. For example, some residents have interpreted the table above as meaning that they will get an ‘extra’ black bin collection on Saturday 23rd, which isn’t the case.

Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward councillors have queried with council officers why is has been necessary to drop some collections this year, when in previous years the council has been able to keep collections going whilst ensuring that waste staff get to take some well-earned time off. The response received is that waste collections over the Christmas and New Year period on the Saturdays rely on volunteers, and this year the council has been unable to secure enough volunteers to provide a full service for all waste and recycling streams. It’s not clear why the council’s approach this year has meant that volunteers have not come forward in sufficient numbers compared to previous years.

Councillors have also asked what steps are being taken to prepare for the inevitable increased pressure on the recycling banks at Acomb Morrisons and Tesco Askham Bar. With no kerbside recycling collections for four weeks, it is highly likely that these bring sites will see a large increase in usage, and so we would expect the frequency of emptying to be increased.

The response received is that the bring banks at Acomb Morrisons and Tesco Askham Bar are being emptied on 22nd December so they have the maximum capacity to cope with any additional materials presented, and agreement is being sought from Tesco for an additional cardboard skip to be installed at Askham Bar.

Councillors will monitor the situation over the coming weeks and will report any issues for attention, such as recycling waste being flytipped next to overflowing bring banks.

The council has, without warning and just days before Christmas, launched a brief consultation on proposed changes to some bus services which, if approved, would come into effect from April 2024.

The changes are a result of a ‘behind closed doors’ review of the bus network that the council has undertaken, which councillors and residents have not been able to input into. The review has taken account of how well services are currently used, but apparently has not considered how services could be changed to attract more passengers.

Of most relevance to Dringhouses & Woodthorpe ward is the proposal to merge into one contract the 12 and 14 services. The 12 is currently operated by East Yorkshire and the 14 (which is the late-night service) is operated by Transdev. The information released by the council suggests that no overall service frequency reduction is anticipated and all stops will continue to be served, however minor timetable changes would be required.

It’s not clear how the two contracts would be ‘merged’ – presumably by issuing an invitation to tender? Residents will be concerned at the possibility of East Yorkshire being stripped of the contract to run the service, as feedback has been overwhelmingly positive since they took over the route in April 2023.

Some of the other service changes are likely to affect local residents who travel further afield within York, and details can be found HERE  

The consultation ends on 17^th January, and the online questionnaire is available at www.york.gov.uk/consultations It is understood that paper copies will be available in all Explore libraries.

Following the brief period of consultation, the feedback will be taken to an Executive meeting in late January, though it’s not clear how this will work as the consultation closes on the same day that the papers for the 25 January Executive meeting would have to be published!

Drop-in sessions are also being held at the Friends Meeting House on Friargate on Monday 8 January (2pm-5pm) and Wednesday 10 January (2pm-7pm). Sadly the council has decided not to come to local communities to speak to residents who will be affected by these changes, and there seems to be no plan to write to affected residents who are not online.

Residents are invited to attend the Dringhouses & Woodthorpe Ward Committee meeting on Wednesday 29th November at West Thorpe Methodist Church. There is a drop-in from 6.30pm and the meeting starts at 7pm.