Cropton Park depot debris

John Fareham and John Abbott have arranged for the removal of large amounts of debris and litter from the former Streetcare depot on Cropton Park.

All this detritus was certainly a fire risk and it is good to know that it has gone.  However we are as concerned as local residents by the lack of a proper inspection regime on the part of Hull Culture and Leisure, the arm’s length company set up by the Council to run parks and cultural operations. We have therefore asked that senior officers of the Council and the portfolio holder get on to HCAL and ask them to take the necessary steps to render the park safe and properly patrolled as indeed it used to be. In pursuit of a city wide approach we also tabled a motion to the July 20^th meeting of the full Council which called for the setting up of a task-and-finish panel to formulate plans to deal with vandalism on parks. The ruling group decided, for their own reasons, to refer this to the relevant scrutiny commission.  Whether this constitutes kicking it into the long grass remains to be seen.

More on County Road North - National Avenue junction

John Fareham and John Abbott have secured further enquiries into the problem with traffic lights at the junction of County Road North and National Avenue.

John Abbott says, “As previously reported, we asked the officers to take a look at the problem some local residents were experiencing with turning round from County Road North into National Avenue.  They have since carried out experiments with a bicycle which confirmed that the detector mechanism was in fact working correctly.  The officers believe that the problem lies with motorists who do not pull up far enough forward to actuate the mechanism which controls the street lights.  The detector loop cannot be moved further back but the officers have undertaken to keep the matter under observation and to consider alternative means of detecting road users if the problem persists.”

Reinstatement of junction markings

John Fareham and John Abbott have arranged for the repainting of the markings at the junction of Welburn Grove and Hayburn Avenue, on Langdale Avenue and at the junction of Hotham Road North and Bricknell Avenue.

As part of our ongoing effort to ensure that, wherever possible, all street markings in general and junction markings in particular are maintained to an acceptable standard we visited this junction recently and found the markings had deteriorated to below an acceptable standard. We therefore took photographs and sent them to the officers with a request that action be taken to remedy the state of the markings.  They have since replied that instructions have been issued to the usual contractors to repaint the markings.  We are not of course so naïve as to think that your junction markings will thus be fixed for ever and a day, but the frequency with which we are actually out and about in the Ward should offer some reassurance that, next time these markings do need repainting, we will take the necessary action.

Improved traffic light controls

John Fareham and John Abbott report that Hull City Council are looking to replace the telemetry system controlling the city’s traffic lights.

We have for some time been concerned about the ability or otherwise of local traffic lights to react adequately to the rise and fall in demand for the ability to pass through a given set of lights. This applies in particular to streets such as Fairfax Avenue which – largely because both the old Guildhall parties say one thing about the ring road when in opposition and quite another when in office – remain overladen with traffic because they are still part of the ring road. The new technology will be able to fiddle automatically with the traffic light settings to accommodate faster traffic and to call up the offer of a right turn if it senses the demand for it. When we have more information about this we will of course pass it on.

New Bricknell Estate buses

John Fareham and John Abbott report that Stagecoach will  be replacing Service 9A with a new Service 3B in the near future.

Clearly the idea of travelling between here and the City Centre via Newland Avenue and Inglemire Lane did not go down well with a goodly number of local residents. Stagecoach have therefore decided to introduce Service 3B which will follow the usual Service 3 route as far as Burniston Road, and then approach its terminus via Burniston Road, Hartoft Road and Grammar School Road. We have contacted Stagecoach to ask when the new service will start; when we have details we will of course pass them on.

Baker's Field allotments

John Fareham and John Abbott are working to encourage greater use of the Baker’s Field allotments and to protect them from anti-social behaviour.

We have arranged for the Trust for Conservation Volunteers to repair the allotment fences and to rotavate unused allotment plots so as to encourage potential allotment holders to take up the vacant land. We have also forwarded complaints regarding anti-social behaviour on this site to the Police who were good enough to increase patrols in the area and who have identified and spoken to a number of the young people involved. It goes without saying that, if these problems recur, we will of course refer them to the officers and the Police.

Cropton Park graffiti

John Fareham and John Abbott have arranged with the officers for the removal of offensive and other graffiti from the buildings on Cropton Park.

At least one of the remarks we asked to be removed was specific enough about what its author wished to see happen in a recreational context for us to be unable to quote it here. We therefore photographed that and other matter scrawled on the wall and sent the pictures to the officers who have now sent them on to the relevant members of staff for action. This is not of course the first time we have experienced such problems, and we fear it may not be the last, but we remain, whilst pursuing improvements to park security through other channels, committed to protecting children from the sight of comments and sentiments of a distasteful nature.

Cropton Park vandalism

John Fareham and John Abbott are liaising with the Police about criminal damage to buildings and equipment on Cropton Park.

We have referred the matter of such damage as a park bench being set on fire to the police who are convinced that the culprit is more local than the Bransholme Estate-related graffiti on the building walls would suggest.  They have been patrolling the park but have yet to experience any problems while the patrols were actually in progress; however the park and the Hartoft Road shops are on their work programme and they think the problems are seasonal as similar behaviour patterns are occurring elsewhere at this time of year. Talking of graffiti, some of that is too crude to quote here, but we have reported it to the officers to ask that it be cleaned off.

County Road North and National Avenue traffic lights

John Fareham and John Abbott are working to resolve problems with the traffic lights at the junction of County Road North and National Avenue.

We have received reports from local residents of problems with turning from County Road North onto National Avenue, when the traffic light filter will not work unless a vehicle of a given size is stationary sufficiently far forward for the traffic light sensors to be activated. We have therefore reported the matter to the officers with a request that, when the problem has been diagnosed, they will let us know what the cause of it was.  When this information has been conveyed to us we will of course let local residents know.

Cropton Park foliage

John Fareham and John Abbott are working to resolve problems with over-luxuriant foliage on Cropton Park playing fields.

We received reports from local residents to the effect that large amounts of foliage were projecting through fences near the proposed café building. We therefore referred the matter to the officers who tell us that they have made arrangements for the problem to be investigated. It goes without saying that – given the corporate centre’s current level of performance in matters of tree trimming – we will persist in pursuing this matter until a satisfactory outcome is put in place.Cropton Park foliage