Talk Talk UFO works come back

Talk Talk UFO have written to the ward councillors to say that they are coming back to some roads in Chapelfields and Foxwood ; Barkston Road, Bramham Avenue, Eaton Court and Walker Drive. We have asked the question why they did not do these roads at the same time as the rest of the area ?

Last week Andrew pressed officers again on the timetable for the spending of the £100,000 that has been set aside by the council for putting right outstanding works that need to be done on the footpaths and verges. Some earlier utilities work has sunk and needs to be tackled in order to overcome trip hazards.

Talk Talk produce timetables for street repairs

Westfield Ward Councillors have been pressing Talk Talk to come up with the timetable of when they are coming back to replace temporary tarmac on concrete driveways, to repair verges, and correct any other defects that have arisen. These have now been issued and are going to  be updated on a regular basis.  We will share them with residents to ensure that the public  are better informed, a situation which we feel required a large improvement.

Meetings had taken place with Talk Talk to detail the issues that residents had raised with the three Westfield Councillors, and a walk about took place on 1st June with representatives from Talk Talk and FSN the contractor delivering the streetworks. Residents were able to make their personal representations at the Ward Committee Meeting on 5th June at the Thanet Road Indoor Bowls Club.

We are aware of ongoing issues with Virgin connections being re-established in the Kingsway West area.

In the first instance when there is an issue residents can contact UFO Talk Talk direct on 0800 542 8073, open 7 days 8am – 8pm or to email ufo-help@talktalkplc.com.

Ward Councillors are following up some cases which require a more detailed response.

Talks with Talk Talk on street conditions following UFO

A meeting with Talk Talk, councillors and officers has taken place on 8th May following a letter sent by Cllr Andrew Waller to Talk on 25/04/18 expressing concerns received from residents with respect to the work being conducted in the streets of Westfield Ward as part of the Talk Talk UFO roll out to which information from Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Ward were added (tabled at the meeting). The agreement to meet was welcomed by councillors and was encouraged by Talk Talk as part of ongoing engagement.

Kingsway West close to junction with Danesfort Avenue

The summary of residents issues were;
a) Verge conditions – stones and gravel would prevent grass growing or safe cutting by machines
b) Tarmac on concrete driveways – there had been promised to come back but residents were uncertain when that would happen
c) Courtesy to residents
d) Cutting of other cables in the highway
e) Bus routes blocked
f) Pedestrians put onto the road due to closed footpaths

The weather had been particularly difficult due to the duration of the low temperatures.
The first top soil on verges had started on Saturday (5th May) with raking to remove stones and seeding after that with photos take of each verge. This needs to be done with all verges which have been left in poor condition.
Communications – a new leafelt has been developed to warn people to call the careline if there are issues and to reinforce the message that the crews will be returning to streets after the initial engineering works.

There have been instances of other utilities having cables in the ground where they are not meant to be and this has resulted in some residents having telecoms cut (there is a BT Openreach worker with the teams at all times)
Accept that there needs to be a clearer communication of plans to residents and ward councillors with respect to ;
1. Replace temporary tarmac in concrete driveways with concrete (on like for like basis)
2. Restoration of verges with re-soiling (replacing the rubble) and grass seed (within the timeframe when it is not too warm/dry for seed to successfully germinate)
3. Step up tool box talks to gangs to reinforce customer service requirements
4. Review pinch points where there are so many crews and vehicles that it starts to impact on transport in an area (e.g 24 bus route in Windsor Garth)
5. Review locations where pedestrians needed to go onto the road due to the works

There will be a new inspection regime to respond to the 5km per week of digging that the UFO roll out has achieved.
Sharing of spreadsheets of inspection with ward councillors for response to check against resident complaints before final sign off.
Review with the council communications team to have a page for updates, and Frequently Asked Questions, and a summary of the position with roads which have been completed through the process. This would need to be kept -up to date to ensure public confidence.
In addition to the base level of information on the council website some ward councillors will want to support communications through different media with residents and therefore would appreciate being kept up to date.
It was suggestion that ‘T’ or ‘Temp’ being sprayed on temporary tarmac going forward this would reinforce the message to the public that there really would be ‘like for like’ replacement.

Concrete driveways Dijon Avenue

 

ACTION Following up;

1. Within 2 weeks to have timetable for;
a) Concrete replacement of temporary tarmac (with the aim to complete this within the next two months)
b) Detailed programme for reinstatement of verges
2. Attendance at the June 5th joint Ward Committee meeting of Dringhouses & Woodthorpe and Westfield Wards (to be held at Indoor Bowls Club Thanet Road, drop in at 6:30pm with formal meeting 7pm to 8:30pm)
3. Sharing of inspection sheets with ward councillors to ensure all points raised are followed up
4. Agree with York Council Communications Team a web page to contain Frequently asked questions, source documents, contact points, and updates on completed streets.
5. Plans for an improved inspection process

 

We will post an update when these arrive so that residents are clear what is happening to restore the streets

Cable Concerns taken up by councillors

The work by Talk Talk as UFO (Ultra Fibre Optic) has been spreading over Westfield Ward in recent months as part of the citywide effort to improve very fast broadband connection. However, an increasing number of complaints have been received by Westfield Ward Lib Dem Councillors from residents and we have now called for a meeting with the company to establish how these will be rectified before moving onto new areas.  Previously problems had been quickly rectified with residents personally contacted and apologies given, but this does not seem to be the experience, with residents in Danesfort Avenue flagging down a councillor to complain about what they had experienced trying to get out on the school run.

Stuart Road Feb 2018

Stuart Road April 2018

Specific concerns range from verges being dug up and left in a poor condition over winter, and tarmac being used to fill in gaps on concrete driveways. At the Ward Committee meeting on 14th March representatives from Talk Talk gave an update and detailed that there were regular meetings with the Council’s Highways Department to sort out how streets would be put back into order. Stuart Road had been identified in February by residents. However, more verges have been dug up (often digging up bulbs which volunteers had planted) and left with a strip of rubble (or the whole width).  A letter requesting a meeting has been sent to the management of Talk Talk before the situation gets out of hand. It is not clear what the plan is to restore our verges, and there is a danger to grass cutting (and nearby pedestrians) due to the stones at the surface.

Kingsway West close to junction with Danesfort Avenue

Foxwood Lane close to Chesney’s Field

Dijon Avenue – residents raising issues about chanels cut across concrete driveways

 

Last week the council team were called upon to help residents in Ascot Way and Windsor Garth get the number 24 bus back into operation as the sheer volume of UFO vans had blocked the route which is depended upon by many elderly residents in the estate. In response council officers contacted Arriva and Talk Talk to resolve the issues and get the bus back on track. This week Chapelfields saw the number 1 bus route diverted from the estate, running along Ridgeway instead, however, residents did get some warning of  this.

Lorries in Ascot Way

Ascot Way by bus stop

Askham Lane close to Foxwood Lane roundabout

Cable digging update and commitments on verge repairs

The UFO Talk Talk roll out of Ultra Fast Broadband has been continuing in our area with an interruption with the snows.

The latest list of streets is given below.  Residents were able to hear updates from the UFO team at the last Ward Committee meeting at Gateway Centre on 14th March. Some issues had been raised with the Liberal Democrat Councillor Team in relation to verges in Stuart Road and surrounding areas, interruptions to electricity supplies in the Hatfield Walk area on Feb 16th, and a break up on the roadside in the Beagle Ridge area which is being taken up by Cllr Jackson.

Stuart Road impacts on grass verges and concrete verge cross overs have been raised by residents

 

The responses to councillors was;

“Firstly in regards to disruption to electricity supplies in Foxwood, one of our Build Supervisors has confirmed that we employ specialist personnel who use market leading equipment to locate existing utilities and mark their location. We also excavate trial holes during the course of our works to verify the utility markings. We take such measures primarily in the interests of Health and Safety for our workforce but also to ensure that we don’t create a loss of service for residents.”

“Unfortunately there are occasions whereby damage is caused to existing utilities and in this particular instance the cause of the utility damage was due to the electric main not being installed inline with the relevant legislation. It should be at a depth greater than 450mm but it was actually at a depth of much less than half of that.We immediately notified Northern Powergrid of the damage and they arrived on site promptly. I have been lead to believe that Northern Powergrid encountered difficulties with performing the repair which is what caused the loss of service for such a duration.”

In respect to the works on the verges which are impacted by the current low temperatures;

“All of works comply with legislation and meet industry standards. To ensure this, our build supervisors carry out daily checks and we are subject to CoYC inspections too. Though, we know that the muddy grass verges and the temporary tarmac reinstating is causing concern to residents. We and the CoYC have records of the verges and the temporary reinstating that we need to return to. Together with the CoYC we are planning a schedule of remedial works and will return to re-seed or reinstate to permanent as soon as the weather is more suitable for these works to be carried out to standard.””

 

“If residents contact you with issues or queries please encourage them to call our free care line on 0800 542 8073, open 7 days 8am – 8pm or to email ufo-help@talktalkplc.com where a dedicated team will assist them.”

Please find a two week view of York’s UFO’s proposed build timeline. Please note that this is subject to change.

WC: 19th March proposed works begin in the following streets:
FIRST PHASE: installing street ports and in some streets cabinets too, road crossings
St Stephens Square
Thoresby Road
Chaloners Road
Moor Lane
Bachelor Hill
Kingsthorpe
Parker Avenue
Robinson Drive
Gale Lane
Grange Lane
Dijon Avenue
Moor Lane
Gale Lane
Foxwood Lane
Beagle Ridge Drive
Beechwood Glade
Cedarwood Close
Foxwood Lane
Maplewood Paddock
Otterwood Lane
Doherty Walk
Sandcroft Road
Danesfort Avenue
Kingsway West
The Reeves
Tithe Close

SECOND PHASE: narrow trenching
Moor Lane
Chaloners Crescent
Don Avenue
Eason View
Ganton Place
Lerecroft Road
Leven Road
Wains Grove
Wains Road
Chaloners Road
West Thorpe
Middleton Road
Acomb Wood Close
Acorn Way
Ashbourne Way
Chantry Close
Ryecroft Avenue
Foxton
Heron Avenue
Sherringham Drive
Ashbourne Way
Ryecroft Avenue
Moorcroft Road
Cairnborrow
Carron Crescent
Eden Close
Chapman Court
Lowick
Summerfield Road
Wordsworth Crescent
Acomb Wood Drive
Alness Drive
Cairnborrow
Grassholme
Kinbrace Drive
Nairn Close
Troutbeck

WC: 26th March proposed works begin in the following streets:
SECOND PHASE: narrow trenching
Wansbeck
Moor Lane
Danesfort Avenue
Kempton Close
Woodford Place
Ascot Way
Kingsway West
Newbury Avenue
Windsor Garth
Bishopthorpe Road
Ashford Place