Agenda item

Cllr Lomas welcomed residents and opened the meeting by introducing herself and Cllr J Rose. Cllr Lomas stated that this was one of the two annual ward meetings which provides residents with the opportunity to ask questions about the ward and to be updated on ward funding.

Local Police officers PCSO S Court and PC N Klavins gave an update on police actions to manage the rise in Anti-Social-Behaviour (ASB). Currently there are two PCs and a sergeant covering the Acomb area, but more funding has become available for neighbourhood policing. The 2 PC’s and Sgt don’t just cover Acomb, they cover the whole of York Outer West

The PCSO S Court reported that in the last month ASB in Acomb had increased, peaking at half term. The ASB is mainly groups of up to 30 young people; sometimes the same youths but from all areas of York. With Srg B Ambler there is a PSP (problem solving plan) to manage the ASB centred around Beech Grove, Chestnut Grove and Front Street. There is CCTV on Front Street which the police can request. Police work with the schools to identify children involved in disturbances. Home visits are then conducted by the police, with 4 children on ASB orders, 3 are on ‘Red’ for top level interventions and 1 on green. CYC tenants have ASB agreements in place with tenancies.

The home visits with parents are generally positive. If the children are in CYC social housing, then the housing officers get involved and also conduct home visits.

Some children are banned from libraries, Morrisons, Boyes. The police work with shops taking a multi-agency approach. When young people are referred to the Youth Justice System, participation is voluntary, so parents and young people need to agree to interventions. Triage and diversion interventions try to establish why the young people are engaging in ASB.

A lot of dispersal orders were issued during half term in relation to disturbances in Beckfield Lane.

A resident asked about action against electric/ modified bikes. PCSO S Court explained that Operation Pendulum is addressing this issue and encouraged the public to report concerns; again to build up a profile of hotspots. Police are also trying to address the issues of pavement cycling and cycling without lights. Police advised not to intervene in events but to report them. Reiterated the importance of reporting incidents to the police as some events are posted on social media and not reported to the police. A number of deliberate fires were reported to the Fire Service, but not the police. Police and Fire Service trying to improve communication.

Residents can provide CCTV from Ring Doorbell, but residents were advised not to film children and the police do not disclose the source of intelligence they receive.

Cllr K Lomas reminded residents to report incidents either online or via phone. Cllr J Rose asked for clarification for threshold for 999 or 101. PC S Court stated that if the crime was happening then, then 999 is appropriate, especially if there is a threat of violence.

Road Safety – Cllr K Lomas

Cllr K Lomas gave an update on road safety issues. Beckfield Lane’s zebra crossing provided some safety concerns. Steps have been taken to improve visibility. The trees have been cut back and the road lines have reinstated and pot holes filled. A zebra crossing gives pedestrians priority, so it is preferred over traffic light crossing.

Pavement cycling continues to be an issue on Beckfield Lane due to the confusion with the cycle path layout. This has become a priority of road safety, especially as the route is used by school children.  Potholes will be filled if they are 20mm deep or more and areas on Beckfield Lane have been identified. Carr Lane has also been identified as a hazard and Cllr Lomas has walked the length of the area with a highways officer to view the hazards.

Cllr Lomas explained that the council only get 20% of the budget needed to carry out repairs. The Integrated Transport Plan hopefully can lead to more cohesive planning.

A resident stated that using a mobility scooter on Beckfield Lane is too difficult due to the uneven pavement and pavement parking continues to be a problem.

Update from Community Officer Catherine Claudius Cole

LAC Update

Marie Addy will be taking flexi retirement from January moving to cover just Holgate. The team are recruiting for a 33 hour post to cover Acomb ward and part of Westfield combined (which is inclusive of the 2 days Marie is reducing by). This also brings Westfield back to the capacity.

Ellen Vipond encourages Cllrs and anyone else to direct any questions to Ellen and I would be happy to talk through this with them.

Bulb Planting with the Cubs

The 1^st Holgate troop held two sessions at West Bank Park on Monday 20^th and Friday 24^th Oct and one session at Beech Grove on Weds 22^nd of bulb planting – they provided bulbs and ward warding provided additional bulbs. This was coordinated by Kristina the Eco worker who has now been replaced by Rachel Hanks.

There are three green spaces in Acomb that Ecos are involved with; Fishponds Wood, Viking Road Park and Sovereign Park.

Friends of Fishponds Wood meet on the first Saturday of the month at 10am in the wood to carry out practical activities in the wood and have links with Carr schools and do the occasional event or stall at other events.

Councillors were keen to get a community group going in the Sovereign Park area. The councillors have approved the installation of a tool store at this location; yet to have a volunteer group sign up. This will need to be two sessions. The first one will be to lay the hard standing and the second to put the tool store together and secure it to the hard standing.

The other location is Viking Road Park. There is no community group associated with this site but councillors have been running monthly volunteer sessions and two volunteer groups there in May where they painted some of the play equipment and cycle racks, installed a further drainage channel to alleviate the boggy conditions in the play area.

An action day for over the winter to plant two or three Swamp Cyprus trees behind the goal posts at the far end, again to alleviate the boggy conditions was planned.

Signage is ongoing discussion for Viking Road Play Area.

Volunteer Update

18 x Friends of Fishponds Wood

16 x Volunteer Gardeners (all from FOFPW)

57 x Volunteer Litter Pickers

7 x Volunteers use of power tools (all from FOFPW)

8 x Volunteer Snow Wardens

18 of our registered individual volunteers from the above have indicated they would be happy to be informed/invited to any suitable volunteer sessions in their ward.

That Acomb Art Thingy organised an art trail displaying local artists work in windows/ shops around Acomb. They hope to grow this event over the next years.

It is a group of artists working in the Acomb area, passionate about the exciting creative work that is going on nearby. 

The aim is to make sure that local people:

• Know more about the artists working near them
• See art and creativity as something that happens in Acomb - not just ‘in York’ or ‘in galleries’
• Are informed about creative opportunities nearby and how they can get involved
• Understand that art and creativity are for everyone - young, old and in between

They have lots of ideas and ambition for a large scale art event, but are also realistic and so we are planning to start in a modest way join in the creation of an Art Trail from 24th October to 2nd November 2025. They asked local businesses and organisations to host one or more artworks, either in their windows or on their premises, alongside information about the artists, how they work and where to find out more.

The second weekend coincides with the North Yorkshire Open Studios winter event event, when several Acomb-based artists will be opening their studios and inviting visitors to come and see how they work. Activity will be focused on Front Street and The Green, as these are the areas which most people associate with Acomb centre - although this actually falls into the wards of Acomb, Holgate and Westfield.

Slipper Social

Lidgett Grove is hosting a slipper social on Wednesday 26^th 10am – 12pm. This event gives away slippers to prevent falls and will be attended by the Mayor. Previous socials have been very successful and even running out of slippers!

Acomb Mental Health Hub

The hub opened on 13^th October with an Open Day and Art of Protest demonstrating how they will work with attendees to create murals.  The Yor Community Wellbeing Hub was made possible following over £2.4m of funding from NHS England. It brings together local NHS, Council and voluntary service partners to provide a range of wellbeing and mental health support to adults aged 18+.

The Yor Community Wellbeing Hub is the second hub to open in the city, with a third in the planning. The hubs offer local people wellbeing and mental health support in the heart of their local communities, without the need to travel across the city.

The hub will open six days a week at first - on Monday and Tuesday from 9am to 5pm and on Wednesday to Saturday from 8am to 8pm.

It will provide a calm and comfortable environment for anyone needing mental health and wellbeing support. A multidisciplinary team, including NHS, statutory and voluntary services staff will be on hand to provide a comfortable space and a listening ear if you need to talk, access to support for a range of mental health needs and build connections to wider support available in the community.

The hub is part of the Connecting our City programme. Thanks to the NHS England funding, plans are also in place to eventually extend the hours of the Acomb Garth hub to 24-hours a day, seven-days-a-week.

The development of the hub has been a collaborative approach with partners from across the York Mental Health Partnership, people with lived experience, carers and local residents, all having input into its design and delivery.

Ward Funding Updates

The ward continues to fund a CAY advisor at Lidgett Grove once a month – last Wednesday of the month.

Previous funding has been provided for:

• The Death Café
• Muma Hub
• Acomb Library half term activities
• Boiler Repairs for LG
• Café / events at Holy Redeemer
• Grants were provided for half term activities at Lidgett Grove, by New Visuality and Generate Theatre.

Christmas –I (C Claudius Cole) will restock of Lidgett Grove food bank and support for Christmas Event on 17^th December when children from the local school will come and sing carols, supported by Salvation Army.

Civic Trust

C Henzel introduced the Civic Trust project, stating that it will focus upon Acomb and Westfield Ward. C Henzel explained that The York Civic Trust aim to introduce a new community heritage initiative early next year called Our Place – Acomb and Westfield. This outreach project is part of York Civic Trust 80th Anniversary work for next year, and they are interested in looking to the future and how the Trust can respond and engage with the needs of local community. One of the key elements of this is to work with residents to identify, and assist where we can, in the local heritage and places that are important to them. 

The Trust already acts as custodian for the city's Local Heritage List, working closely with CYC Conservation Officers in its management and development. The existing Local Heritage List website is not really fit for purpose anymore. After undertaking a review of the existing list, they would like to work with local residents to enhance and develop the list and means of accessing it and nominate items/ buildings.

C Henzel aims to reach out to groups/individuals who are already active in the area to see if the Civic Trust can contribute to existing activities and to get a better understanding of what is already happening and also plan to run a series of pop up interactive workshops in local venues.

Cllr Lomas reiterated the importance of history in the area, reminding the meeting that Queen Elizabeth opened The Carr Lane estate.

Ward Funding update by Cllr Lomas and J Rose

The cllrs outlined current funding bids from:

• New Visuality
• Greening Acomb
• Friends of Fishponds Wood and Beech Grove
• The Island

Catherine Claudius Cole

Gave a brief update about Caretaker Neighbourhood Walkabouts.

Cllr Lomas closed the meeting and invited residents to stay for discussions.