Tacking street-level issues on Tadcaster Road

We are working to get action on a number of street-level issues in the Tadcaster Road area.

Graffiti has been cleaned off the Middlethorpe Grove Street sign at the junction with Tadcaster Road, and the electric utility company have been asked to clean up the graffiti that has been daubed on one of their cabinets on Tadcaster Road.

This graffiti has now been cleaned off

We have also managed to get the drainage channel outside the vets on Tadcaster Road repaired and cleared out – blockages have been causing the parking layby to flood.

Before….

…and after

We have obtained a new street sign for Middlethorpe Drive, as the old sign was badly faded.

Shiny new street sign

Clean up requested on Tadcaster Road cycle path

We’ve reported detritus, weeds and litter on the cycle path near the Tesco roundabout.

Detritus on cycle path

There are problems are at the underpass (near the park and ride site). It has its fair share of graffiti and litter.

Happily the underpass walls themselves are currently free of graffiti

A ‘simple guide’ to reporting graffiti on telecoms cabinets

Cllr Stephen Fenton has drafted the following ‘simple guide’ to reporting graffiti or other damage done to BT or Virgin Media street cabinets, based on recent experiences in trying to get graffiti cleaned up. Stephen would welcome comments on how this guide could be improved!

Is it a BT or Virgin Media (VM) box?

When you come across a cabinet has been subject to a graffiti attack or some other form of vandalism, the first step is to try to work out whether it is a BT or VM box. This information will determine who to report it to. Whilst the council will arrange for graffiti to be cleaned off cabinets for which it has responsibility (eg traffic lights boxes), it is not responsible for telecoms cabinets.

Some BT cabinets are easily identifiable, either because they have a poster on the front of the cabinet or BT stencilled on the side.

BT box front view

BT box side view

BT fibre cabinet

There is no consistently easy way to identify Virgin Media cabinets but if the chamber lid is marked CATV or NTL it will invariably be a VM cabinet.

Virgin Media box

If you have a fair idea which type of cabinet it is, there are various ways in which you can report damage.

Reporting damage to BT cabinets

The BT web page which contains instructions for reporting damage to cabinets can be found Here . You are invited to call 0800 023 2023 and choose Option 1. You will be connected to an advisor who will ask for details of the location of the cabinet. It’s helpful if you can provide the address of the nearest property and the postcode. You will be given a reference number. The BT cabinet pictured above was reported in mid December 2015 and was cleaned up within four weeks.

Reporting damage to Virgin Media cabinets

The VM web page which contains instructions for reporting damage to cabinets can be found Here. You can choose to report the issue by phone, on 0330 333 0444, or click on ‘Contact Us’ then ‘Something else’ then ‘Reporting an open or damaged cabinet’.

The phone reporting service is automated, so you don’t get to speak to a person but instead answer a number of questions. You should provide as much information as you can, such as the address of the nearest property and the postcode. At the end of the call you will be given a reference number.

Reporting via the website is quite straightforward, but you are not issued with a reference number.

I reported the VM cabinet pictured above in mid December via the automated phone line and got a reference number, but then had to chase up twice via the website route. This did eventually prompt a helpful and attentive e-mail from a representative at the VM Operations Centre who admitted that there had been some ‘minor issues’ with the automated reporting line. He verified the information needed (nearest property and postcode) and undertook to raise an order to have the cabinet cleaned and repainted.

I’d welcome any additions / amendments / improvements to this simple guide.

Graffiti blitz continues

Local Lib Dem councillors are keeping up the fight against graffiti. Having secured action to remove graffiti on St Helens Road bridge (with Network Rail) and at the Moor Lane pedestrian crossing near the Tesco roundabout, the latest outbreaks that have been reported for cleaning up are at:

Tadcaster Road phone box, opposite the fish & chip shop
Cable box at the junction of Eason View and Don Avenue
St Helens Road

The local Lib Dem team are taking action to get graffiti cleaned up as soon as it appears

Thank you, Network Rail!

We are pleased to report that Network Rail have taken prompt action to paint over the graffiti that had been daubed on the St Helens Road railway bridge.

Before

After

The initial response from Network Rail suggested that this would be a low priority, so it is pleasing to see that it has been prioritised for action.

Call for action on bridge graffiti

Local Lib Dem councillor Stephen Fenton has asked Network Rail to clean up the graffiti that has appeared on the St Helens Road railway bridge.

Graffiti has been daubed on both sides of the road

The response received from Network Rail is somewhat disappointing:

“This graffiti however is neither racist nor shows offence so will be given a very low priority, it will be passed onto our maintenance team to look at with a view to it being programmed in as ongoing works.”

It is hoped that Network Rail will take as prompt action at this site as they did when we asked for the Hob Moor underpass graffiti to be cleaned up.

Stephen commented “I appreciate that Network Rail have a thankless task, but the graffiti on the bridge is very prominent and if it left as it is it could act as an encouragement for other vandals to attack this and other sites.”

Cycle path graffiti tackled

After the clean-up

We are pleased to report that our action to get rid of the graffiti which had been daubed on the back of the Lovel House garages has had a successful outcome.

Before the clean-up

The garage wall backs onto the well-used cycle and footpath that runs from Thanet Road by the side of the bowls club through to Bellhouse Way.

We will make sure that it doesn’t get into such a bad state again.

Graffiti blights Hob Moor rail tunnel

We have asked Network Rail to clean up the graffiti that blights the underpass that connects Hob Moor with Little Hob Moor.

The response received is disappointing, committing only to address the problem “within our ongoing maintenance and repair programme” and with no timescale for action.