Winter warmer social gathering 20th February

The last of the Winter Warmers sponsored by the Ward Committee run with York Age UK will take place on 20th February at 2pm-4pm at Acomb Methodist Church Hall.  Come along to meet friends with hot drinks, toasted tea cakes and crumpets and a quiz. Its for over 60’s to meet new friends, and carers are also welcome and we have more coming along each time. This grew out of summer events and the Westfield Ward councillors will be running these again later in the year with ward committee support.

Winter Warmer Social events with Councillor Sue Hunter

English Touring Opera return to Acomb Explore

Coming to Acomb Explore on Saturday 30th March 3pm-4pm an event covering the environment. Suitable for age 7+ years call 01904 552651 to book. Tickets £4.50 per person. This will be the third year that the English Touring Opera has come to Acomb Explore with Shackleton’s Cat being their last visit.

Paradise Planet is a collection of ocean stories for families and children in primary schools

. This world of musical mayhem follows the adventures of humans who live on the waves, and the animals that live beneath them. This interactive opera celebrates the awesome power of the ocean – but things are not all as they seem and the animals are in danger. As the stories collide it’s up to us to save this magical world.

The opera is accompanied by extensive resources for teachers. This curriculum-linked piece draws from the KS2 Science syllabus on ‘Living Things’ including classifying and naming animals, food chains, changing natural environments, human impact, conservation, and working scientifically. There will also be songs for children to learn ahead of the visit of ETO to a school.

For more details contact Acomb Explore on 552651 or else the English Touring Opera Website

 

Meeting for Lowfield Development 7th Feb

The council is holding a public drop in session for the development of the Lowfield Care Village land and Playing Fields Housing Estate at Acomb Explore on 7th February between 4:30pm and 7pm.

Residents surrounding the site should have received the letter below detailing the event, along with a letter regarding tree felling. Please let us know if yours has not arrived.

The Westfield Councillor team have put questions to officers following enquiries by residents from the surrounding area;

Question 1. We would be grateful to understand what is being planned for the public meeting ?
This will be an informal drop in event held on 7th February at Acomb Library with the project team comprising of CYC, project managers from Turner & Townsend, Lead Architect from BDP & the enabling works contractor, NMCN). This event is an opportunity for the project team to discuss the enabling works which we expect to commence mid-to-late Feb with local residents and allow them to meet the contractor and discuss any queries they may have. In summary the enabling works will comprise of the following: tree maintenance and removal (duration 2 weeks commencing mid-to-late Feb), site clearance and the crushing of existing school foundations (duration 4-6 weeks March – early April), formation of the Tudor Road access & widening of Dijon Avenue (duration 6 weeks April – late May).

Question 2. As the nesting season is mentioned in one email, details of the work involved with hedge and tree removal?
All works to trees are hedgerows are to take place in February prior to nesting season. The works will take place in accordance with the Arboricultural Method Statement and Tree Protection Plan. In preparation for the start on site the arboriculturist will meet with the enabling works contractor (NMCN) on site and clearly mark trees for removal.

3. Will the provision of replacement parking in Tudor Road (to compensate for the loss of parking due to the additional entrance to the Playing Fields Estate) be discussed ?
Yes, we are currently working with the design team to agree the location of replacement parking spaces that will be lost by the formation of the Tudor Road access. We aim to have the detailed design drawn up in the next 4 weeks to enable us to seek planning permission for these additional spaces. Our aim is to have these in place prior to the formation of the Tudor Road junction (expected April 2019) so residents do not suffer a loss of parking spaces. We have also submitted an application for 2 additional spaces to the rear of 108-110 Tudor Road and have kept residents informed of this work.

4. Will the provision of parking alleviation in Dijon Avenue be discussed as the large vehicles will simply not be able to get into the site without there being targeted work to tackle bottlenecks ?
We will discuss access into site for the enabling works. For site clearance works access will be via Dijon Avenue. Wherever possible all materials from the site clearance will remain on site until the Tudor Road junction is formed to minimise traffic through Dijon Avenue. The enabling works contractor NMCN is drafting a Construction Environmental Management Plan. This will detail the size of vehicles accessing the site via Dijon Avenue and will be approved by Planning prior to start on site. We are in regular contact with the Planning Officer regarding this. There will be no contractor parking on Dijon Avenue or any other surrounding roads during these works. All parking will be within the site boundary.

5. Will the procurement of the Care Home be detailed as it is anticipate that that would start next month ?
No this will not be discussed at this event however we will get an update from Vicky Japes prior to the event.

Councillors are very concerned that there is not an inclusion of the work on the Care Home as that had been the basis for the 2010 project to reuse the footprint of the Lowfield School with bungalows around whilst retaining the open space of the playing fields for recreation. Equally the land which in the planning application had been allocated for a Police Station is not going to see that use, as had been proven by correspondence with the Police and Crime Commissioner.

 

Residents letter Page 1

Residents letter page 2

 

Tree letter

 

 

 

Waiting list for council garages in Westfield

The Westfield Liberal Democrat councillor team have been pressing the council to advertise empty garages in the ward as having them unused loses rental income for the Housing Account, and also means that the pressure on space for parking is not helped.

However the latest response is as below, and shows that there is a shortage – which raises questions about the removal of Newbury Avenue garages !

“Thank you for your query regarding the availability of garages in Westfield Ward.

All garages in York are very popular and Westfield is no exception. There is currently a waiting list of between 15 – 30, approximately, for this area.

4 garages are in the process of being offered out, 2 are waiting for a repair and another couple are vacant in case they are needed for storage following evictions, as we are required to do.

Should we be in a situation where we need to actively seek applicants then this would be advertised on CYC website, through our Social Media, in Streets Ahead, through local Residents Associations and notice boards. The area HMO and Local Councillors would also be advised. Other available opportunities would be used as appropriate.”

Garages in short supply  – Newbury Avenue

Bachelor Hill Parking Scheme gets residents’ backing

The Westfield Ward Councillors have been taking forward residents’ concerns about parking in Bachelor Hill. Unfortunately due to the system that replaced the Estate Improvement Grant (voted on by tenants) this has taken much longer than we had hoped.

Officers have finally come back with proposals for up to an additional 5 parking spaces using the Eco-grid (plastic hexagonal system used in the rest of Bachelor Hill) in the area in front of the garages. (see highlighted below) This will involve the planting of three trees to replace the existing willow in front of the salt bin which council officers are stating needs to be removed so that drivers can make observations before driving out of these spaces.

This is part of a range of schemes to tackle parking issues across the ward using Ward Committee and Housing Estate funding.

So far 90% of residents returning the form from a door to door survey of residents living in Bachelor Hill have backed the scheme which would see option 1 and option 2 delivered.

Proposed locations for the parking in Bachelor Hill

Proposed location for replacement trees on Bachelor Hill

 

Focus on roads in Westfield

The FOCUS team have written to the Director responsible for road repairs to highlight ongoing issues within the ward with road surfaces now breaking up on a number of roads. These are most keenly felt on those roads which have the heaviest traffic; Gale Lane, Askham Lane, Foxwood Lane and whilst  there has been resurfacing of the part of Askham Lane (between Grange Lane and Askham Grove)  and large patching has happened across sections of Foxwood Lane this has put into stark relief the condition of surrounding sections of road and there are potholes opening up all the time. The Liberal Democrat councillor team constantly report potholes as they emerge but we are pressing for a comprehensive response to the overall condition of roads in our part of the city.

Example on Gale Lane near shop

Askham Lane between Tedder Road and Cornlands Road junctions – this has recently been filled in

Foxwood Lane near junction with Otterwood Lane

School Street as an example of the nearby terraced streets which have many potholes. Severus Street has recently been entirely resurfaced.

Below is the text of the letter submitted to Director Neil Ferris, to which an initial response has been received stating that there will be a decision in early March for  the next financial year’s programme which is dependent upon the Council Budget set on 28th February. We will update residents when we have more information.