Fairfax Avenue and Hotham Road North traffic enforcement

John Fareham and John Abbott have arranged for traffic enforcement officers to visit Fairfax Avenue and Hotham Road North and deal with problems such as vehicles being parked on double yellow lines. Reports from local residents indicate that problems with illegal parking and other related issues are certainly serious enough to warrant action. Granted, there are many who will wish to visit the local shops, which are of value to many, but that is no reason to break the traffic laws or to trash the grass verges. We have therefore secured an undertaking from the officers that they will arrange for traffic enforcement officers to visit the area in connection with these offences and others; we have also asked that they visit more than once to increase their chances of catching those responsible in the act.

Hartoft Road bus stop markings

John Fareham and John Abbott have arranged for the re-marking of both bus stops at the Hartoft Road shops. Having received complaints from local residents that one of these stops – the one on the same side of the road as the shops – had had its markings restored, but the bus stop opposite it on the Commonwealth Homes side hadn’t, we referred the matter to the officers. Clearly they must have asked the contractors to do something quickly, for on the very day we heard back from the officers that it might take a while to get the job done, we went to take a look and found that both bus stops were now properly marked.

Fairfax Avenue additional bollards

John Fareham and John Abbott have secured the provision of additional bollards to protect the grass verges at the top of Fairfax Avenue. This is an integral element of our strategy to protect the grass without unduly impeding the flow of traffic to the shops. We know, of course, that there are some motorists who, short of placing armed guards on site 24/7, will always put their own ease and convenience before not chewing up your verges. However, the bollards have now been delivered and we will continue to keep an eye on the problem. We will be looking at enforcement in the area as well as restoration of the grass.

Loveridge Avenue traffic again

John Fareham and John Abbott are pursuing the overdue consultation on the Loveridge Avenue traffic scheme. Both we and the corporate centre still have to hand the funds we lined up for this project when it was originally conceived. However, there are legal technicalities to be ironed out as this is a new form of TRO for the Council to introduce. We would both like to record our gratitude to the officers who have been helping us move things forwards – without of course embarrassing them by dropping their names here - and we will report back as soon as we have any firm indication of when the consultation will take place. In the meantime we propose to be gentle but firm in insisting that things move forward as expeditiously as possible.

Kenilworth Avenue willow trees

John Fareham and John Abbott have secured the trimming of overhanging willow trees on Kenilworth Avenue. This is of course the result of our bringing prolonged pressure to bear on the officers. Prior to the work being done, these trees were overhanging so far that they were actually getting in the way of pedestrians who were trying to use the pavement on that side of the road. The trees will of course grow back, but equally, local residents can rest assured that we will be passing this way often enough to notice the problem should it recur and to take further steps should they be required.

Chanterlands Avenue pedestrian crossing

John Fareham and John Abbott report that work is completed on restoring the Chanterlands Avenue North pedestrian crossing. We have been pressing for this work to be carried out for some considerable time. At one stage we were given to understand that it would be carried out some months ago. However, pressures of work on the Council’s contractors have resulted in a considerable delay to work due to be carried out both here and elsewhere in the ward. We have therefore kept on pressing the officers to get on with this and other tasks. However, now we can, at least, refrain from contenting ourselves with this job being completed, and move on to insist that the other crossing near Rainhill Road is, for obvious reasons, equally deserving of the corporate centre’s attention.

Hull City Centre of Excellence site to be taken over

John Fareham and John Abbott report that plans are afoot to return the former Hull City Centre of Excellence to use as sports training facilities. At the present time no announcement has been made on the subject, and such information as we have received up to the present time remains confidential. However, we can assure local residents that the continuous use of this site for sporting and recreational purposes will be uninterrupted and that as soon as we are able to announce who is taking over the site, we will.

Traffic Regulation Order proposals

John Fareham and John Abbott invite local residents’ comments on proposals to resolve junction access issues at the junctions of Fairfax Avenue, Ancaster Avenue, Fairfield Road, Linkfield Road and Hotham Road North. In consultation with the officers we have arranged for the creation of a draft proposal for a single Traffic Regulation Order which will prevent parking on any of the bends concerned. Assuming this proposal finds favour with local residents, it will improve safety for those using any of the T-junctions in question by preventing parking close enough to block the vision of anyone turning round them. Thus it will also be safer to enter and leave any of these streets by car because you’ll be better able to see where you’re going and you won’t have as much need to peer round parked cars.

Litter bins, Appleton Road and Hartoft Road

John Fareham and John Abbott have arranged for additional litter bins to be set up on Appleton Road and Hartoft Road. Concerns about the general level of litter around here, and the ease or otherwise of getting rid of it, have been exacerbated by reports of beer cans and the like being discarded on the way past Commonwealth Homes. We therefore agreed to purchase four red bins from our community initiatives funding; while we wait for these to arrive, the officers have agreed to put up temporary black bins attached to lamp posts. We thought it important to do this as the system needs to keep pace with the ability of local residents to consume food and drink and their capacity requirements in disposing of the packaging.

Goddard Avenue traffic and parking

John Fareham and John Abbott are pressing for informed and constructive action on Goddard Avenue traffic and parking. A report to the September meeting of Wyke Area Committee came up with the surprising fact that, as a connecting route between Chanterlands Avenue and Newland Avenue, it carries over 5800 vehicles per day. Also the chicane we introduced in the 1980s has been rather overtaken by advances in automotive design so that drivers determined to speed can now do it more easily than their XR3i-driving predecessors. Drastic courses of action such as a one way system or simply blocking off Goddard Avenue half way down would bring difficulties, but cannot be entirely ruled out, and the Committee therefore asked the officers to go away, take a closer look at the nature of Goddard Avenue traffic flows, and come back soon with a proper analysis of the situation which will aid in the formulation of a course of action.

13 bus and the West Bulls junction

John Fareham and John Abbott are working to influence East Riding of Yorkshire Council to take the necessary steps to reconfigure the junction of Bricknell Avenue and Hull Road, Cottingham (where the West Bulls pub stands) to allow Stagecoach service 13 to go that way and not via Hotham Road North. A briefing paper on this was submitted at our behest to the September meeting of Wyke Area Committee. We explained that some considerable number of years ago, buses had run via Hotham Road North before and, in the light of the unsuitability of large double decker buses to going via Hotham Road North, we had had to struggle to get them re-routed. The Committee shared our concerns about ERYC using tenuous and even inaccurate evidence to “prove” that accident statistics were good reason to do nothing and voted to get the portfolio holder to support our campaign. We have also passed on the briefing paper to our Conservative colleagues for both Cottingham wards in the hope that if ERYC won’t listen to us, they might at least listen to their own councillors. That said, we have been campaigning on this issue for some time and will continue to do so until we get the result that we want and that we are given to understand the bus operator wants too.

Loveridge Avenue traffic consultation

John Fareham and John Abbott are working to resolve delays with the consultation exercise on the Loveridge Avenue traffic scheme. Readers may recall our mentioning some time ago that the scheme had been delayed until after the local government elections to avoid the possibility of officers being accused of political bias or favouritism. That was, at the time, all well and good, but several months have now gone by. We therefore took full advantage of the opportunity presented by the presentation to Wyke Area Committee of a list of forthcoming highways schemes and made our feelings known about the unexplained delay in carrying out the consultation exercise. To their credit, the officers, whilst explaining the delay in terms of organisational upheaval within their department, undertook to go away and look into how best to get the matter back on track. As soon as we get an answer from them as to when the consultation exercise will actually happen, we will of course let local residents know at once.

Bus stop travel information

John Fareham and John Abbott are working to ensure that the information displayed at bus stops such as the one near the junction of Bricknell Avenue and Hotham Road North is correct. We noticed, as this is a bus stop we use frequently, that the map of bus services being displayed there was, to put it mildly, more than a trifle out of date. For example, it lists as still running East Yorkshire service 109, which stopped some years ago; it also shows Stagecoach service 10 as running via Bricknell Estate, which it ceased to do some months ago. We will pass over the fact that it is showing services running elsewhere, such as the 215 via Newland Avenue, which have also been withdrawn, and content ourselves with observing that we have received undertakings from the officers that, as soon as a revised version of the map is available, a copy will be put up at this bus stop. Regrettably, we have also been obliged to draw to the officers' attention an error in replacing the list of bus times from this stop. This list showed only times for Stagecoach service 13, whereas in fact service 110 has not only been retained as a result of our efforts but has in fact been considerably extended. This information is now on display.

Illegal travellers went elsewhere

John Fareham and John Abbott were relieved to note that the travellers who were reported in the Hull Daily Mail as having left their illegal camp site elsewhere in the city did not appear to be having recourse to open spaces on Bricknell Estate. Obviously it is too early to say that we will never, ever have problems with travellers again, but equally it would appear that the patient effort we both have applied to this problem, together with the efficient ministrations of the officers and of the council's legal staff, have brought us to a position whereby our defences would appear not only to have been fully sufficient to deter the abuse of such manifestly inappropriate "open spaces" as the grass verge alongside Appleton Primary School, but also to have been sufficient for travellers not to have thought it worth their while to come here at all. It remains the case, however, that we will be vigilant and prepared to act should we receive any further reports of an illegal traveller encampment within the ward, wherever it may be situated.

Hotham Road North street lights

John Fareham and John Abbott have secured the replacement of five defective street lights at the junction of Hotham Road North and Bricknell Avenue. All we knew for certain about the timing of this work was that it is scheduled to be completed by March 2015 at the latest. It is, of course, part of a long-term programme that we and Andrew have been pursuing for many years in the belief that good street lighting, continuously updated as necessary, contributes materially to a sense of public safety and well-being and also serves as an active deterrent against crime, disorder, and antisocial behaviour. When we have precise dates for the work to be carried out we will of course pass them on, and if at all possible we will arrange for it to be done at the corporate centre's earliest convenience.