Newland Park lamp standard repainting

John Fareham and John Abbott have committed funds for the repainting of Newland Park lamp standards.

We are well aware of the preference of local residents for the retention of these lamp standards although they will eventually need to be replaced. We have both told the officers that we are prepared to spend the money to again repaint the lamp standards last done, after a long battle, in November 2001.This, coupled with the suggestions that the post box that we helped retain needed repainting, which it has been, shows our commitment to maintaining the quality and character of the conservation area. We understand the painting will be done, weather permitting in the week commencing 23rd October.

Newland Park blue plaque unveiling

John Fareham and John Abbott report that the ceremonial unveiling of the blue plaque on the house in Newland Park which was the wartime Telephone Department head office will take place on Tuesday November 28^th.

As promised we pass on the date for this event, which has been chosen to mark the anniversary of Hull Telephones originally coming on line, and which will probably be attended by the author of a forthcoming related book.  At least one of us will be in attendance at an event which, as the end of City of Culture year gradually draws closer, will be of interest in reminding all of us that, vibrant and interesting as City of Culture is and will remain, this city’s past is also of considerable interest and well worth commemorating.

Bricknell Avenue Belisha beacons again

John Fareham and John Abbott now have official confirmation that the Belisha beacons at the pedestrian crossing outside Kelvin Hall School have been returned to full working order.

As readers will be aware, our secretarial staff fielded a less than courteous telephone call on this matter from a member of another political party. In response to the possibility of further telephone conversations we asked the relevant Council department to act sooner rather than later to get these beacons sorted.  They now inform us that they contacted their contractors a fortnight ago and the beacons were restored to working order.  They have also told us that we are welcome to refer the matter to them again if we become aware that the beacons have broken down again.

Cottingham Road pavement works delayed

John Fareham and John Abbott are seeking an explanation of why the proposed resurfacing of Cottingham Road pavements has been delayed by the corporate centre.

Papers for the September meeting of Wyke Area Committee listed, as they usually do, forthcoming and current highway projects.  We were therefore somewhat surprised to find this scheme – not by a long chalk the most expensive one included in the list – and a rather more costly plan for improved street lighting in Avenue Ward described as “on hold due to budget constraints”. If the officers thought we sounded less than pleased, they would be right to think so; we asked them to explain in full why this was the case. At the time of going to press we had not been told what their reasons were but as soon as they are communicated to us we will of course pass them on.

Chanterlands Avenue rail bridge painting

John Fareham and John Abbott are working to ensure that the repainting of the Chanterlands Avenue railway bridge is tasteful, appropriate and accompanied by all necessary repair works.

We have been asked to share with the Avenue Ward councillors the cost of the Council repainting the bridge, and this we are ready, willing and able to do. We do however intend to use any power of veto we may have over the design for the new colour scheme to ensure that it is in keeping with the age and character of the bridge and not something as yoof-orientated as the graffiti now marring its appearance.  We have also asked that such matters as fixing the lighting under the bridge, an alternative strategy for dealing with pigeons and making sure water does not drip down are attended to before the painting begins.

More on Loveridge Avenue traffic

John Fareham and John Abbott have further details of the progress of the Loveridge Avenue traffic scheme.

The latest report we have from the officers says that, since the funds are in place as reported in CONTACT! 1920, they plan to advertise the traffic regulation order in the usual way and, once that process is complete and all the comments for or against have been considered, to apply to the magistrates’ court for the “stopping up order” under Section 116 of the Highways Act 1980 and see if they can get one even if there are any objections at the consultation stage. If they can, the dropped kerbs can from that point onwards go ahead.  We have made clear our concern that this does not address the concerns of those who live on the south side, some of whom contend that residents elsewhere with shorter front gardens than theirs have been allowed dropped kerbs, but it may well be that, in the event of comments being submitted against the scheme, the magistrates will not allow it to go ahead. At all events, the officers propose, in effect, to suck it and see.

Newland Park blue plaque

John Fareham and John Abbott report that a blue plaque is to be installed at 74 Newland Park to commemorate the house’s use during World War 2 as a temporary headquarters for the Hull Telephone Department.

When the Telephone Department’s head office in Mytongate was put out of action by Luftwaffe bombing the house was pressed into service as a pro-tempore replacement. KHCT also occupied premises in Newland Park but they of course subsequently passed into out-of-town ownership. KCOM on the other hand are the direct successors of the old Telephone Department so we were pleased to offer our approval as were the planning officers. It is currently anticipated that the ceremonial unveiling of the plaque will take place towards the end of the month; when we have firm details of the date and time we will pass them on.

Jack Kaye Walk allotments consultation

John Fareham and John Abbott have the results of the public consultation event on a proposal for a community allotment on part of the field near Jack Kaye Walk.

19 people attended the event, and of those 13 were opposed to the proposal, 3 were in favour and 3 were unsure.  Of the 13 who were against the proposal, 9 lived either in Goddard Avenue or The Woodlands. A further five local residents telephoned the Area Office to express their opposition to the proposal. The matter is scheduled for discussion at the Wyke Area Committee meeting on Wednesday 20^th and a decision is due to be taken then. As soon as the outcome of these proceedings is known we will of course let local residents know what it is.

Baker's Feld gating

John Fareham and John Abbott report that the question of whether the gating off of Baker’s Field is lawful has been referred to the Council’s planning enforcement team.

This is, of course, a matter on which we have no particular wish to take sides.  We can understand that those who wish to use Baker’s Field for such recreational purposes as taking the dog for a walk are less than pleased that this land has been gated off.  Equally, however, we sympathise with those local residents who have had it up to here with antisocial behaviour such as young people using the open land as a venue for late night drinking and other related activities.  At the moment, we have yet to hear anything back from the officers as to the conclusions they are drawing on the legality or otherwise of the gating scheme, but when we are made aware of the outcome we will of course make sure local residents are made aware of it.

More on Loveridge Avenue traffic

John Fareham and John Abbott report that the traffic scheme for Loveridge Avenue will be progressed within the current financial year.

In response to enquiries from local residents as to why it appeared that nothing was happening, we enquired if the officers as to what exactly was going on. They replied that there had been uncertainty among the officers as to whether the funding was available to progress the scheme. We have now been assured that the money was there all the time, as we had originally arranged, and that the scheme will therefore go forward within the current financial year. In the light of the concerns of local residents the officers have now offered to update us on the progress of the scheme once a month.  We have accepted their offer and if there are any developments of interest we will of course let local residents know.

Hayburn Avenue refuse collection

John Fareham and John Abbott are working to preserve tenfoot collection of refuse on Hayburn Avenue in the light of incidents involving damage to property by refuse collection vehicles.

We have received representations regarding the current size of dustcart being unsuitable for use in local tenfoots and bumping into local residents’ properties.  The council are in the process of acquiring new vehicles which will be more suitable for use in these and other narrow tenfoots and, whilst respecting the concerns of property owners that the current vehicles are unsuitably large, we take the view that the new vehicles should be suitable to avoid a recurrence of such problems in the future.  It goes without saying that, in the meantime, we remain prepared to address any issues which may arise with the current vehicles and the manner in which they are driven, but we firmly hope that the replacement vehicles will be a satisfactory means of preventing the recurrence of vehicular damage to properties.

Bricknell Avenue Belisha beacons

John Fareham and John Abbott are working to secure repairs to the non-functioning Belisha beacons on Bricknell Avenue near Kelvin Hall School and Wyke College.

We became directly involved with this matter on learning that a member of another political party – we could name the party and the individual, but we won’t – had attempted to report the matter to the officers and then had become abusive and, allegedly, foul-mouthed when asked whether they were calling from a moving motor vehicle.  We now understand that the officers had already found out about this well before we implored them to act and spare the officers concerned from any more unnecessary and gratuitous expletives. It turns out that the delay in making the necessary repairs was caused by the fact that KWL, who were due to be acting on the matter, did not carry the necessary spares in stock and were obliged to order them. We will of course continue to interest ourselves in the progress of this work and to call for it to be repeated should that become necessary.

Stagecoach Service 3 timetebles

John Fareham and John Abbott report that timetables are now available, in print and online, for the new Stagecoach bus services to Bricknell Estate.

There was, when we checked, a plentiful supply of timetables at the Interchange both for the new Bricknell Estate service 3A/3B and for other services which are subject to modification at the same time.  It may be of interest that three new late night services heading elsewhere have also now started and that from now on most services will stop at the same time, 11.30 p.m. We hope that local residents will soon get used to having a more direct service than the former service 9A, which we suspect was set up, along with Service 9, in direct competition with East Yorkshire’ s Hull-Cottingham service 115 and was thus not ideal for those wishing to get to and from here with any rapidity. Certainly the more people like and use the new service, the safer it will be, though if there were any further threat to the provision of buses to the Estate we would of course be prepared to work to preserve them.

Cottingham Road Yorksbhire Water repairs

John Fareham and John Abbott have found out why a portion of Cottingham Road has been coned off and temporary traffic lights installed.

Whilst one of us was on the way back from Cottingham it became apparent that an area of Cottingham Road on the north side, amply sufficient to accommodate a double decker bus, had bewen coned off and protected by the use of temporary traffic lights. We therefore instituted enquiries with the officers and discovered that the cones had been put  there by Yorkshire Water to clear space for a large vehicle full of equipment for de-silting water mains. It would appear that once the work has been done they will need to come back to check it has been successful but they and the obstruction they are causing will be gone within a matter of days.

Ancaster Avenue grass verge protection

John Fareham and John Abbott have arranged for the installation of additional rocks to protect Ancaster Avenue grass verges.

 We have arranged with the officers for the contractors who installed the existing grass verge protection measures to install others within the next two weeks or so.  This is in response to further complaints from local residents to the effect that some motor vehicles – commercial as well as private – have been parked in such a way as to impede the passage of pedestrians.  This is of course not acceptable and we have therefore taken the necessary steps to ensure that appropriate protection of pedestrian access is installed where the problem is occurring.  It goes without saying that if the problem recurs elsewhere in Ancaster Avenue we will of course take further action as appropriate.

Cropton Park and motorcycles

John Fareham and John Abbott report that the Police are still working to resolve problems with irresponsible use of motorcycles and general anti-social behaviour in and around Cropton Park.

We understand that the police are continuing to resource regular patrols to stamp this kind of trouble out but that they are experiencing some difficulty in getting anybody to act as a witness. They are however taking details of any youths found hanging round the park and processing these details in the event of their being present at the same time as anti-social behaviour is happening.  We would therefore ask anybody who sees anything untoward going on to come forward, contact either us or the police, and to help us put these nuisances out of business.

National Avenue pothole repairs

John Fareham and John Abbott have made arrangements for potholes on National Avenue to be inspected and repaired.

We noticed that several potholes, notably between the junctions with County Road North and Bricknell Avenue, were serious and that one in particular left exposed electrical wiring for pedestrian crossing lights. We therefore supplied the officers with photographic evidence of just how bad these potholes were and they have now replied to say that an inspector will go take a look at the potholes and any new or outstanding work will be sent to those who draw up the repair schedules. This does not include a timescale but one would hope that seeing exposed electrical wiring – not a common sight in a pothole – will impress on all concerned the advisability of acting promptly.

National Avenue speed camera bid

John Fareham and John Abbott report that National Avenue is now firmly included in the list of streets for which funding is being applied for to secure speed camera monitoring equipment.

We have passed on further complaints from local residents about motorists exceeding the speed limit by as much as 20 mph. Leaving aside whether any of us would feel other than concerned for our own safety if we were doing that speed on a road which, while straight, is not excessively wide and has a right-angle turn at the far end,  we are pleased to announce that if the Council do secure external funding for this exercise, National Avenue will be among those streets which will get a share of it.  It goes without saying that, if we have any further tidings about the progress of this application, we will of course pass them on.

Newland Park planning application rejected on appeal

John Fareham and John Abbott report that the appeal against Hull City Council’s decision to reject the planning application to turn the garage block of 30 Newland Park into a day room and lounge and to increase the number of tenants from 10 to 15 has been rejected by the Planning Inspectorate.

Put simply, the main reason for the decision was that adding five more tenants and converting the garage would mean more comings and goings and more noise which the boundary fence with no. 32 would not serve to deaden. Nor did the planning inspector feel that good management of the property by the landlords would ease the difficulty.  The inspector also felt that  raising the number of tenants to 15 would leave each of them with too little room. The full letter to the Council explaining all this in more detail is available from the Planning Inspectorate website.