Newland Park repair delays

John Fareham and John Abbott report that the Newland Park carriageway works originally scheduled to take place late last year have been postponed again until March.

We reported in CONTACT! 1324 that the work had been held up once because of bad weather.  Documents submitted to the February meeting of the Council’s Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Commission listed the work as to be carried out in March and the officers have confirmed that the further postponement is once again a matter of waiting until the weather is clement enough to allow the work to go ahead. It goes without saying that if there are still further delays, weather-related or otherwise, we will of course ensure that local residents are informed of those delays.

County Road flyover

John Fareham and John Abbott report that works on the County Road flyover are now officially regarded as complete.

In the light of the hassle and controversy last year regarding the necessary repair works carried out on the flyover, we thought local residents might like to know that a report to the Council’s Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee on February 5^th listed all the capital works being carried out in the current 2012-13 financial year with the state of play on each and cited the County Road North works as completed.  We confirmed with the officers that was exactly what they meant and thought we ought to tell you this was the case and that the Council spent £123,000 on repairing the bridge and £21,836 on associated carriageway works.

Rainhill Road street lights

John Fareham and John Abbott have secured the reinstatement of power supply to three Rainhill Road street lights, that were not working as a result, and had them put back into service.

This malfunction was traced to a fault in Northern Powergrid’s distribution network.  Engineers attended last week and the street lights concerned are now working again as a result. Given the time of year and the safety implications for all concerned it was obviously a priority both for ourselves and for local residents to have this matter attended to and we will of course act on any further reports we receive of street lights not working.

McDonalds' hours to change?

John Fareham and John Abbott report that McDonalds have submitted a planning application to change their opening hours from those originally permitted to 6 a.m. to midnight.

When the restaurant opened the planning conditions then set included restrictions on when it could be open.  McDonalds have now applied for these restrictions to be lifted so that they can open for 18 hours a day.  Should you wish to express an opinion on the application you can of course do so via the customary channels - you should E-mail dev.control@hullcc.gov.uk or write to Planning Services, Kingston House, Bond Street, Hull, HU1 3ER as soon as possible. The reference number to quote is 13/00045/RES and you should seek to submit your comments as soon as possible.

Lythe Avenue potholes

John Fareham and John Abbott have secured prompt repairs to potholes on Lythe Avenue.

Snow and ice are generally bad news for the state of carriageways and this year’s freeze was no exception.  We received complaints from local residents about fresh potholes having appeared and referred the matter to the officers.  They responded quickly and we thank them for both their rapid action and the quality of their repairs. We will, of course, continue to attend to further requests to have potholes fixed as and when we receive them.

Rainhill Road bus sign

John Fareham and John Abbott have arranged for the correction of more incorrect information on the electronic bus sign outside Rainhill Road.

Delivering CONTACT! nearby some time ago meant we saw at once this sign was saying the Circular Service 10 was going to Sheffield. As we reported in CONTACT! 1229, we arranged for that to be corrected, but now the sign is alleging you can get the 75H to Withernsea from there.  Whether or not that would be a good idea, it clearly isn’t correct, and we reported it to the officers who say they will pass it on to the right people and have it fixed. It goes without saying that if we see this device coming up with any further howlers we will of course pass those on too.

Murrayfield Road grit bin

John Fareham and John Abbott are making arrangements for the provision of a grit bin to cover the cut-through from Murrayfield Road to Bricknell Primary School.

We have been liaising with the officers around the provision of such a bin from local Community Initiatives funding.  What this would mean in practice is that the Council provide the bin and the grit, which local residents themselves could then use as and when needed to grit their pavements.  In addition it would be up to local residents to let the Council know when the bin was empty and needed refilling. Given the gap between staffing levels and resource availability on the one hand, and the need to keep many miles of pavements open on the other hand, we offer this option as a possible solution given the necessity of keeping access to the back way into the school available at all times.

Helperby Walk gritting

John Fareham and John Abbott secured the gritting of Helperby Walk during the recent cold weather.

We had been receiving representations from local residents that this short stretch of pathway was slippery and potentially dangerous and that this was inappropriate for a path used by elderly residents.  I therefore asked for action on what should be a straightforward matter to resolve in terms of staff and resources and received an undertaking that the work would be done. Helperby Walk and parts of Lythe Avenue were then gritted.  It goes without saying that we will take seriously any need for the work to be done again if we get any more bad weather in the weeks ahead.

Dent Road open land security

John Fareham and John Abbott have confirmed that the enhanced security arrangements for the Dent Road open land will be fit for purpose.

In the light of all the traveller incursions we have had on this and other neighbouring patches of open land, we insisted that enhanced security provisions were to be put into place. We can now confirm that a thick steel L-shaped barrier has been installed at the end of the earthworks installed last year, and that it is expected to withstand any attempts at tampering long enough for the police to be called.  There will, however, continue to be a small space allowed for those taking a stroll or walking their dogs to get access.

Dent Road open land security

John Fareham and John Abbott have confirmed that the enhanced security arrangements for the Dent Road open land will be fit for purpose.

In the light of all the traveller incursions we have had on this and other neighbouring patches of open land, we insisted that enhanced security provisions were to be put into place. We can now confirm that a thick steel L-shaped barrier has been installed at the end of the earthworks installed last year, and that it is expected to withstand any attempts at tampering long enough for the police to be called.  There will, however, continue to be a small space allowed for those taking a stroll or walking their dogs to get access.

Murrayfield Road gritting

John Fareham and John Abbott have arranged for the cut-through between Murrayfield Road and Bricknell Primary School to be gritted in the interests of public safety.

          

Having received reports from local residents that this cut-through was slippery, which we would regard as unacceptable in terms of the safety of young children, we looked for an arrangement whereby this work could be done when the corporate centre are targeting such gritting resources as they have on main roads.  We were able to agree with the school itself to undertake this work and we appreciate their co-operation.

Rainhill Road street lights

John Fareham and John Abbott have been working to secure the repair of street lights on Rainhill Road that have been reported as not working.

We received information from local residents that three of these lights were not functioning and passed these details on to the officers.  Our latest information is that the problem lies not with the lights themselves but with the power supply; this has been reported to Yorkshire Electricity and they usually take about three weeks to sort such problems. We have therefore written to Yorkshire Electricity to ask them to act promptly given the safety implications for local residents. It goes without saying that we will continue to take an interest in this matter and as soon as we have any fresh information on the timing of repair works we will of course let local residents know.