£1.7 million Lincoln Court Council Housing Investment

On 15th March the Council will be asked to approve a £1.7 million investment to modernise and expand the council run Sheltered Housing (soon to be called Independent Living) scheme on Ascot Way (off Kingsway West). This follows the decision on Windsor House. The deferred modernisation of Lincoln Court can now take place, and the Executive is being recommended to approve funding to expand the provision to give it new life. Westfield Ward Liberal Democrat Councillors have been pressing for this work to be done in response to concerns from residents about the state of the building, in particular the windows.

£1.4 million expansion to Lincoln Court –

• 8 new one bed apartments which will be dementia friendly
• Upgrading 4 bedsits into one bed apartments
• Improving the entrance lobby, communal facilities including a community lounge, assisted bathing, buggy store, offices for care and other staff, improve gardens and parking
• new room for communal boiler and plant

In addition the set aside £361,500 of housing modernisation work (excluding the boiler room work which will be covered in the £1.4 million) which had been put on hold can be released. Constructed in 1966 Lincoln Court was last modernised in 1991 and it was showing a need for maintenance.


This aspect of the work will include; modernisation of individual flats, new kitchen, bathroom, heating and wiring, new front doors, windows, a new entry system, roof works, external and internal decoration.

There will be a review of energy efficiency and renewable energy linked to the new centre for Disabled Children which will be built on the site of Windsor House as part of the council’s commitment to One Planet York.

Residents living in Lincoln Court have had some initial consultation and there will be a planning application in May 2018 to which residents will be able to see the plans and the Ward Councillors will ensure that information is shared.

Subject to planning consent being given work would start on site in Winter 2018 to be completed in Autumn 2019.

The full report is available via http://democracy.york.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=733&MId=10189&Ver=4

Below are photos of the boiler room in Windsor House which flooded in the Boxing Day Floods in 2015, new boilers were installed with pumps to transfer the water which comes in from Hob Moor. This had been an inherent weakness for both buildings and will be addressed with the new Centre of Excellence for Disabled Children and improved Lincoln Court.

Boilers

Boiler room in Windsor House is below ground level leading to ingress of surface water.

Pumps

Meeting to discuss Fracking

Many residents will have become interested in the prospect of fracking or shale gas extraction coming close to York. The Government have divided the areas of the country where the geology is appropriate into licence areas (PEDL).

As there have been a large number of questions put to Cllr Andrew Waller as Executive Member for Environment for this subject a meeting was held with INEOS on 28th February with Tom Pickering (Operations Director) and Gordon Grant (Regional Stakeholder Engagement Manager) with a council officer present. There is currently an Inspector reviewing the Minerals and Waste Strategy for York and North Yorkshire which will partly govern the operation of this activity – although the Government has legislated for this to be “permitted development” and so only limited powers exist for local authorities in terms of Planning.

PEDL Licence areas

 

The meeting was a follow up to one in November 2016 at which the programme for activities were discussed, and the way in which the public would see planning applications, and activities on the ground.

In the draft Minerals and Waste Strategy (as part of the Local Plan) a buffer of 500m between fracking and housing has been proposed the discussions indicated that this is going to be a subject of discussion at the Inquiry. Some residents have asked for a greater distance.

As York’s surrounding countryside is relatively flat there are concerns that in the Green Belt that fracking construction would be more visible. The response was that in the lifetime of a well the rig would be present for 3 months or so, the longer lasting equipment would be less intrusive. There will be a debate at the inquiry about what is acceptable on the skyline.

Some residents have asked what the gas will be used for, with some suggestion that this will be linked to plastic production – the answer was until the test drilling is done the composition of the gas is uncertain. A methane only gas supply would be most often used for electricity generation, with only ethane and butane being potential for plastics.

Residents are concerned about water use and outputs. The response was that the initial uses would be for cooling and lubrication and so would be carried away by tanker. It would only be in the long term future that it might be carried by underground pipework for treatment. The need for additional treatment plants to the existing one in Leeds would be driven by the scale of the operation.

In terms of the length of time after the test drilling that the public would see an application for the next stages the processing of data, and baseline monitoring before activity there might be a period of 6 months to a year before a full application was made into the local authority planning process. This may be for an application for vertical and horizontal drilling at the same time to prevent the need for a subsequent application.

There have been questions raised about the number of fracking pads in a 10 km square, and the proposed limit of 10 pads in this area will be something which will be a subject of discussion during the inspection.

In terms of the PEDL area which includes Strensall it was agreed that a statement will be prepared by Gordon Grant. The area which includes the Minster and large built up areas is not being progressed.

Work continues with the old Coal Board Surveys which will be supplemented where necessary with seismic surveys to gain an evidence base. The public applications are expected to be applied for before August 2018 depending on other work around the country which is being done at the same time.

 

 

Letter from INEOS

Westfield School Crossing Patrol and Parking

 

A campaign to alert drivers to the risks of dangerous parking, and to attract a new crossing patrol person has been launched today in a joint effort between York Council and Westfield Primary.  Key Stage 2 pupils were joined in the assembly by council staff involved with safe transport to schools, and Cllr Andrew Waller who has been pressing for action on behalf of residents who live near the school, and parents who are concerned about the safety of pupils.

There will also be the opportunity for residents to raise concerns about parking at the Westfield Ward Committee Meeting on 14th March at Gateway Centre on Front Street at 6:30pm.

A drive to get applicants for the school crossing patrol has been assisted with leaflets being handed out at school dropping off times today, and an advert was included in the Ward Committee Newsletter.

A booklet “Should you sack your chauffeur” has been distributed to pupils to encourage discussion at home about how changes in parking can help the situation which can become fraught at the Askham Lane and Grange Lane entrances.

The signs below will be making an appearance at both entrances to the school between now and Easter. Enforcement will be monitored to see how this changes behaviour.

 

Ward Committee Newsletter and Ballot

The ballot for ward committee fund schemes is being delivered to houses in the Westfield Ward. The newsletter also promotes the Ward Committee Meeting on 14th March at the Gateway Centre. There will be the opportunity for residents to find out more about the proposed Centre of Excellence for Disabled Children, Parking issues around schools, regeneration of Front Street, Cable Work by UFO/Talk Talk and other issues that residents want to raise. (If you are a Westfield Resident and you have not received your newsletter then please let us know and we can follow this up).

Winter takes its toll on roads

The Westfield Liberal Democrat team have been visiting roads around the ward where potholes have been reported to check that they have been sorted. Today’s focus was Gale Lane and Foxwood Lane. New ones are appearing all the time due to the length of the winter, being colder than recent ones, and the wetter weather mixed with frost leading to more freeze-thaw action. We will be vigilant, and have recently reported one on Foxwood Lane near the field which has suddenly opened up a deep hole (please watch out for this especially in the dark).

Gale Lane Cornlands Road junction filled in

Before situation

 

Watch out on Foxwood Lane

New cable areas announced

UFO (Talk Talk) have announced the latest areas where there will be work

From Week commencing the 19th February proposed works begin in the following streets:

FIRST PHASE: installing street ports and in some streets cabinets too, road crossings
Grange Lane, Parker Avenue, Ridgeway, Vesper Drive, Westfield Place

SECOND PHASE: narrow trenching
Gale Lane, Otterwood Bank, Otterwood Lane, Cornlands Road, The Knoll

More information is available via https://www.facebook.com/TalkTalkUFOYork/

With the Network Build moving forward they have a dedicated careline phone number and email address. If you would like to know more about the build or have any concerns please contact them on:
☎️ 0800 542 8073
? carelineyork@talktalkplc.com

 

Former HSBC Bank on York Road to become housing

The latest planning applications show that the former HSBC Bank on York Road (junction with Severus Street) will be changed to being into a four bedroom house.  The formal application is for the conversion of the ground floor from the previous bank as part of the overall works.

https://planningaccess.york.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=P0JMYYSJ0CD00

Westfield Ward

Ref No: 17/02912/RFPRES
Location: HSBC 19 York Road Acomb York YO24 4LW
Proposal: Change of use of ground floor from bank (Use Class A2) to 1no. dwellinghouse (use Class C3) under Class M(a), Part 3, Schedule 2 of Article 3 of The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 2015
Applicant: Mr D Micklethwaite
Contact Walker Graham Architects
Consultation Expiry Date 5 March 2018
Case Officer: Elizabeth Potter Expected Decision Level

Osprey Close tree work coming soon

Residents have been concerned that there has not been a clear plan to manage the area of woodland close to housing in Osprey Close, Hawkshead Close, and Pheasant Drive.  The area was planted at the time of the construction of the houses and many of the young trees are now very thin and competing with each other for light. Therefore plans have been developed with council officers to have a long term management for this area to help maintain a good quality woodland, and to work alongside the Woodland Trust managed area, and the Friends of Acomb Wood.

The areas concerned are labelled 8489 and the triangle of land 2811 next to Pheasant Drive which are both in council ownership.

A meeting took place with residents around the site on 10th and 12th November to mark out trees to be thinned in order to allow remaining trees to grow successfully. Initially the plan by officers had been to conduct the work by the end of January but unfortunately this has been slightly delayed.

The work is scheduled to commence around 8th March. This is subject to the company involved completing a large job elsewhere so if that runs over it may be the following week before the start. They will do six days work. All material now to be to be left as felled. Work is allowed under the Wildlife Act but will require a nest survey. Given that many of the trees to be felled are thin vertical ash that wont be in leaf it is not envisaged that there will be issues arising from this.

 

 

 

 

Northern Powergrid work to address electricity supply problems in Front Street

Work has started on electricity cabling in the Front Street, and Green Lane areas to respond to the problems that were experienced recently with explosions from electricity connections at Gateway (October 2016) Sandwich Hut (Dec 2016) and Acomb Explore (June 2017).

 

There will be three stages (dates are approximate and may be brought forward if progress is made to reduce the amount of disruption)
1. (pink on map) Pedestrianised part of Front Street/Acomb Court 5/2/18-16/2/18
2. (yellow on map) Cross Street to connect to a main cable (this will involve work in York Road out of peak traffic hours) 19/2/18 – 3/3/18
3. (orange on map) Green Lane along to the end of Milner Street 4/3/18 – 4/5/18 this will provide new connections for the terraces which will enable their power supply to be more resilient (residents will remember that they were without power during the October 2016 incident).

 

 

The benefits are that this will respond to the problems that have been experienced and it is good to see Northern Powergrid following up on the commitments that they made last September, and that this work has been prioritised following pressure from Andrew to the Director of Safety, Health and Environment, Geoff Earl due to the serious concerns from local residents.

We will also see the council paving slabs in Front Street being reset, and the crews have given a commitment to come back if settling causes any issues (it is worth noting that the area in front of the shops are the responsibilities of the landlords for those buildings)
The work being done at the end of the terraces will ensure that the risk of loss of power is being reduced.

Andrew said “I met with the crews, led by Merlin Kalanovic,  doing the work on Wednesday and they provided details and maps to explain what was happening. I hope that residents will appreciate why this work is being undertaken, and that it is responding to problems that the community has experienced. Communications with Northern Powergrid have improved a great deal since last year when there were delays in getting information from them. I hope that the work proceeds smoothly, and I have contacted Talk Talk to ask that the UFO works on cabling are able to dovetail with this work as residents are facing a large amount of utility work in our community.

 

See below letter from Northern Powergrid following a meeting in Front Street to discuss the fire that had resulted from the fault in front of Acomb Explore