Councillor action secures safer pedestrian route for Badger Hill residents

Above: Fiona is actually standing where
residents previously wouldn't have been
able to walk.

A well-used footpath in the residential area of Badger Hill has become clearer and safer, thanks to the actions of Hull Road Labour councillors, council officers and the Community Payback scheme.
The path, running along the Badger Hill side of Field Lane, had become the main footpath between Windmill Lane, other Badger Hill roads and the new Heslington East university campus. This was following highway reconstruction which saw the other side of the road becoming a dedicated cycle path.

However, seasons of neglect had led to overgrowth of a boundary hedge and composting of dead leaves – in some places cutting the width of the path by nearly two thirds. This created a major safety issue for elderly residents and parents with pushchairs as they fought for space with an increased level of pedestrians to the campus and wayward cyclists not using the dedicated path.

Following numerous complaints from residents, local Labour councillors for Hull Road ward, Coun. Fiona Fitzpatrick and Coun. Neil Barnes took action.

Before

Coun. Fiona Fitzpatrick said: “This footpath along Field Lane has always been well-used by residents. But due to highway reconstruction for the new campus and changes to bus routes, the path has become increasingly important in recent years, especially for the elderly for whom access to a bus stop is vital. It is an equally important path for school pedestrian traffic. However, the path has gradually been taken over by overgrowth and composting leaves.

“That is why we are delighted that our call for action has led to the council’s Public Realm staff and a team from Community Payback taking on the job and making it a safer path for everyone. Council officers accepted my invitation to visit the area and realised how neglected it was, then took urgent action to address it”.

After!

Coun. Neil Barnes said: “The state of the path has long been a bugbear for residents, so I’m glad that Coun. Fitzpatrick and I were able to make this local action count and show residents that a Labour Council still works to provide a valuable service to them in the face of devastating local government cuts imposed by the Coalition.

“We want to say thank you to the teams involved for their hard work in addressing this problem.  We welcome ideas from residents about other areas in Hull Road ward that Community Payback might be able to make a difference to.”

Tang Hall to get £1 million investment from "Big Local" fund

Fiona and Neil were delighted to hear this week that Tang Hall has been selected as a "Big Local Area" to have £1 million over ten years allocated by the Big Lottery Fund.

Tang Hall is an area set across the southern part of Heworth Ward and the northern part of Hull Road Ward. When it was built in the first half of the 20th Century, Tang Hall was a model community of social housing. However, it is now amongst the country’s most deprived areas with a high level of childhood poverty. Despite this, there is still a strong feeling of community waiting to be tapped into.

This is why we wholeheartedly welcome this important funding from the Big Lottery Fund. Tang Hall is rarely top of the list for any investment and so £1 million will go a long way to help develop projects that aid regeneration. The money will make a huge difference and we as councillors will work to ensure it is targeted where need is greatest.

From City of York Council:

£1m to make Tang Hall a Big Local Area

City of York Council is delighted to announce that today (Monday 10 December), the Tang Hall area has been selected as a Big Local Area to have £1 million over ten years being allocated by the Big Lottery Fund.

The funding for Tang Hall comes from the Big Local Programme. Funded through a £200 million Big Lottery Fund investment and managed by Local Trust, Big Local is helping 150 small urban and rural communities across England to make their areas even better places to live.

Each Big Local area will receive at least £1m Lottery funding to spend over the next 10 years. The scheme is completely resident led so it will be entirely up to people living in the area to use the £1m on the things that matter to them, and on projects and services that will have the biggest impact on the needs they identify.

Ward Action Plans are already in place in Heworth ward and Hull Road ward as is the council partner-run Tang Hall advice hub which offers support with debt and money advice, training and jobs. Alongside these, the local community – which encompasses the Heworth and Tang Hall Residents’ Associations – will identify further need and build capacity to commission or deliver support themselves.

Councillor Dafydd Williams, City of York Council’s Cabinet Member for Crime and Stronger Communities said: “It is brilliant that the Tang Hall area has been chosen to be part of the Big Local programme.

“This project is not just about the money: residents will receive training and support to help them identify priorities and develop a plan for their area. Through this, we can bring together all the local talent, ambitions, skills and energy from individuals, groups and organisations who want to make a positive and lasting difference in their communities.”

Hull Road councillors latest update

It's the end of November and it has been a very busy month. The past week saw major floods in York for the second time this Autumn, though luckily not as destructive this time round.

Because of recent scares in Badger Hill, Fiona and Neil kept a close eye on the situation, ready to help out as and when needed. Luckily, the ward largely avoided the worst of the floods, with only Hull Road Park being closed due to concerns about the water level in Osbaldwick Beck.

It perhaps raises the issue of the state of the Beck, and we're looking to see how we can make sure it is flowing easily and won't flood in a major storm or heavy rainfall.

Gully cleaning and ongoing maintenance has also helped stave off flash floods in Badger Hill. Fiona and Neil spoke to residents on the last occasion of floods - widely reported in The Press (see below link) - and have worked with council officers to ensure action is considered a high priority.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9755252.Clean_up_operation_starts_after_floods/

In other news, Fiona and Neil have worked with shopkeepers and police on the Melrosegate parade of shops to monitor and reduce the incidents of young people congregating in the early evening. Of course, there is no law against young people meeting up near shops and we shouldn't stereotype in a general way, but local police and councillors are mindful of where this could become intimidating to local residents making use of the shops.

All the latest news!

Apologies to our readers for going quiet these last few months. Despite being the summer months, it has been incredibly busy in the ward for Fiona and Neil.

The Article Four Direction governing the conversion of homes into Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO) is now nicely established. As predicted in several quarters, we saw a rush of houses being converted, which then raised the question of whether they'd met the April deadline or not. As a result, the Council has seen a number of enforcement actions resulting in landlords being forced to submit planning applications.

Link: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9998337.Council_probe_into_possible_shared_housing_breaches/

We, as councillors, were still then concerned that planning applications might be approved despite guideline thresholds on concentration of HMOs within areas (10% at street level, 20% at neighbourhood level). Therefore we lobbied officers to refuse applications where a threshold had been breached. We're pleased to have seen our efforts pay off, with applications now being refused - notably at least one in the Newland Park Drive area.

We continue to support the maintenance of mixed communities where all strata of society can co-exist peacefully. So with that in mind, we have also been working with the University of York Students' Union in how we can support their volunteering and community activities. We've been particularly impressed by their proactive attitudes to community cohesion, and as such, have included them as a vital part of neighbourhood working and our Hull Road Community Contract.

Elsewhere:

• Neil Barnes has written to the York Press to highlight pressures the Coalition Government continue to place on lower income families - as there are many who live in Hull Road. As Labour councillors, Fiona and Neil will continue to work as part of the City of York Council Labour Group in protecting York residents against the worst of these pressures & Gov't cuts at local level: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/features/readersletters/9939860.Fantasy_land_stuff/
• The Mosque on Bull Lane - which sits on the ward boundary between Guildhall and Hull Road - has had a planning application approved for a new building to rehouse the Mosque and Islamic Centre. A Mosque has stood on the site for over 25 years and is a well-established entity in the area. Fiona and Neil support social inclusion in York and greater provision of community services. But we will also continue to address localised concerns where we can. For example, around traffic and noise.
• As the Derwenthorpe project takes shape (just outside our eastern boundary), we, as Councillors, continue to address the impact on our ward residents. Fiona Fitzpatrick chairs a Derwenthorpe Partnership forum sub-group and is well placed to be a voice for residents.

And finally:

Earlier this year, Neil Barnes nominated popular local figure, John Horsley for Volunteer of the Year at the York Community Pride Awards. This was following his commitment to improving the environment of the ward via weekly walks - despite being 83 and continuing to suffer from cancer. To our great delight, last week he won! Unfortunately John was too unwell to attend, and Fiona Fitzpatrick collected the award for John alongside Simon Moss of the Heworth & Tang Hall Residents' Association.

John won the award jointly with Violet Armitage - who volunteered in the St Leonard's Hospice in Tang Hall for many years. Violet sadly passed away before the awards evening but was represented on the night by friends and family. http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/communitypride/news/10001170.Community_Pride_Awards_2012__Volunteer_of_the_Year/

Residential street set for further over-development as a result of Government intervention

The recent refusal by the Council’s East Area Planning Committee of a planning application for 93 Newland Park Drive has been overruled by the Government’s Planning Inspectorate, following an appeal by the applicant.

The original refusal took into account representations by local residents and Hull Road Labour Councillor Neil Barnes, and concluded that further excessive development in the street would be detrimental to the local community.

On appeal by the applicant, the Government’s Planning Inspectorate disregarded local views and the decision by York councillors.

Coun. Neil Barnes said: “Since my election in May 2011, I have worked tirelessly to scrutinise all planning applications in the area, particularly where developers sought to create ‘super-homes’ out of what were sensibly-sized family houses.

“I have attempted to call these developers to account and resist the drive away from sustainable mixed communities. On several occasions I have represented the views of residents at planning committee – particularly regarding Newland Park Drive, which is a hotspot for development of these overbearing super-homes.

“On several occasions, I have found the decisions of the planning committee overruled by the Government’s Planning Inspectorate. This completely disregards the valid views of local residents and the councillors representing them and makes a mockery of the Government’s localism agenda”.

Tackling the problem of fly-tipping across the ward

As Hull Road ward councillors, we’re incredibly proud of the area we represent and we always want it to be looking at its best. However, we dealt with a number of concerns where small pockets of areas across the ward are looking neglected, with minor fly-tipping being a frequent problem.

We’ve contacted letting agents to ensure that they are assisting tenants moving out of houses in the summer or at the end of the University term. This has help build relationships between landlords and longer-term residents. We’re now turning our attention to tackling rogue landlords who are neglecting the visual aspects of the properties they own.

Coun. Fiona Fitzpatrick said: “We are also working closely with the council’s street environment officers to ensure that areas of concerns are dealt with quickly and then regularly monitored – for example, with bin stores in the Olympian Court area of Hull Road ward.”

Pedestrian safety on Newland Park Drive

 Residents have contacted Hull Road ward councillors to express concern at the speed of cyclists when using the cut-through between Newland Park Drive, Garrow Hill and Green Dykes Lane. For pedestrians and residents entering/leaving their homes, cyclists travelling at high speed are creating unsafe conditions.

We, as ward councillors, have worked with both residents and council officers – developing good relationships resulting in effective solutions. Residents can soon look forward to a barrier being installed which will reduce cycle speeds whilst maintaining good access for pedestrians.

Coun. Fiona Fitzpatrick said: “This measure is not to penalise cyclists but to encourage more sensible speeds, ensuring that both cyclists and pedestrians can move about safely. We’re using growing relationships with council officers and residents to find effective solutions for issues across the ward.”

Presentation of Badger Hill petition to full council meeting

A petition of 129 signatures by Badger Hill residents was presented to Full Council on Thursday 29th March by Hull Road Labour councillor, Coun. Neil Barnes.

The petition, formed by the Badger Hill Residents Community Group, calls for an extension of recently introduced parking restrictions to take in much more of the Badger Hill residential area sited next to the University of York’s Heslington East campus.

Hull Road Labour councillors, Fiona Fitzpatrick and Neil Barnes, have been working closely with the Badger Hill Residents Community Group to enable their voice to be heard in council.

Coun. Fiona Fitzpatrick said:
“It’s staggering how much the overflow car parking from the University campus has impacted on neighbouring streets in Badger Hill. So we were delighted when proposed restrictions were finally implemented at the start of the year.

“However, residents living on streets a little further into the Badger Hill area are now reporting a rapid rise in the number of cars parking on their streets instead - causing major traffic issues. This also causes a number of safety issues, particularly when children are involved at the start and end of the school day”.

Local residents argue that a rapid rise in the number of parked cars on their streets belonging to staff, students and visitors of the neighbouring Heslington East campus are the result of displaced parking as drivers move to avoid already agreed restrictions, thus only moving the problem onto other residents.

Harry Telfer, Chair of Badger Hill Residents Community Group, said: “This petition comes from residents of six Badger Hill streets excluded from the original experimental parking control scheme, who have felt the brunt of displacement in parking from the streets that were covered in the initial scheme.

“The petition requests the extension of controlled on-street parking to those neighbouring streets by means of a Residents Only Parking Scheme.

“The incremental approach which has been employed has only removed parking from those streets where measures have been implemented to those further inside the Badger Hill estate where no restrictions currently exist. It has also slowed down the process of solving the original problem in its entirety.”

See related York Press article here: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9624881.Call_to_widen_crackdown_on__parking_in_Badger_Hill/

Happy New Year from the Hull Road Councillors

We'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

2012 promises a range of challenges that we're ready and raring to get stuck into. It's been a real pleasure to represent Hull Road residents in 2011 and we're really proud of what we've achieved so far on your behalf.

Fiona and Neil have tackled a wide range of issues across the varied areas of the ward - including Hull Road Park, Houses of Multiple Occupation, salt bins, local projects, planning issues, Badger Hill parking, the Heslington East campus, local schools, the Derwenthorpe development, neighbourhood management, community cohesion and much more.

We've been delighted to work with so many local partners and community groups including the Tang Hall Residents Association, the Badger Hill Residents' Group, the Olympian Court residents' group, Tang Hall Working Mens Club, local schools and governing bodies, the local safer neighbourhood team, St Nicholas Fields, Tang Hall Community Centre, local religious groups and places of worship, the council's own employees who work in the ward as well as the many individual residents we've met along the way (apologies if we've missed anyone unintentionally).

We look forward to working with you all in 2012 - and onwards!

Best wishes,
Fiona and Neil