How the rubbish accumulates
Guest post by South Kilburn resident Pete
Firmin
Coventry Close is a cul-de-sac off
Kilburn High Road, leading to the South Kilburn estate. It is not a residential
street, but one containing Royal Mail's NW6 delivery office and a car wash
(which replaced an earlier coach depot). It is a popular street for people to
park who are shopping on Kilburn High Road, and busy with foot traffic of
estate residents and pupils and parents going to and from St Mary's primary
school via the footpaths which lead on from the road. Not a very pleasant
street at the best of times, it only has a pavement on one side and the border
for the car wash is an ugly corrugated iron fence. Hardly salubrious.
Near the top of the road is the rear
entrance to what used to be the Kilburn job centre, now closed and unused for
many years. The rear entrance was to the underground car park of the job
centre. That entrance is now shuttered. Ever since the job centre closed there
has been a problem of rubbish accumulating at the back.
After previous complaints in previous
years, the rubbish got cleared, although local residents were never told by who
(which might have helped in the current situation).
To be clear, local residents (including
from the nearby Alpha, Gorefield and Canterbury TRA) have always recognised
that this is not public land and it is not the responsibility of the street
cleaners to clear this. However, we have asked Brent Council to do something
about it, not least on health grounds. They must be able to take action to get
the owners of the building to clear the rubbish, not just on a one-off basis,
but also regularly. Or arrange for Brent to clear it and charge the owners.
The current version of the problem
stems from - at least - September. Despite regular pleas, accompanied by
photos, to various Council officers the pile of rubbish has just grown (see
photos from 21 September and 26th November., it was not cleared once in that
period).
It’s not that Council Officers, and a
Councillor, haven't acknowledged the problem and recognised that it is
unacceptable, but nothing ever happens.
Report it to the Council's fly tipping
app, you get the response that, since it is on private land, it is not the
responsibility of the council.
Other Council officers have referred
the issue to the `fly tip team' (same response as we had) and other Council
departments.
One reply from an officer (24/10) said
"This is
not BHM land- I have absolutely no jurisdiction over it. [which we had never
claimed] I will come back to you today establishing who we can escalate
this to directly."
One of the
more substantial communications we were copied into (between two Council
officers) (25/10) said
I
inspected the location after the last email and contacted the owners of the
building and the previous occupants (which I more recently discovered are no
longer in control of the building- sadly the Business Rates database is not
updated).
I have
made subsequent visits to the location and whilst there appeared to be a litter
accumulation in the small recess area in front of the understorey carpark, it
looked as though it was a new accumulation
to the one originally identified.
I have
contacted Rossmore Properties Ltd again by email (office@aminpatelshah.co.uk )
and now telephone (+44 20 7278 7651) . Their representative has advised that
they had originally instructed a local maintenance firm to clear the location
and this should have been done. I have requested routine maintenance; however
it is unlikely that the routine maintenance will be more frequent than our own
street cleansing or refuse collection schedules and would be unreasonable for us
to expect this. I am expecting a confirmation email with regards to remedial
works here by the end of the day.
Generally
speaking the issue is more related to litter accumulation and evidence of ASB
activities ( drinking and laughing gas evidence) as opposed to “fly tipping” of
larger items.
The last
several inspections of Coventry Close would also indicate a lack of general
street cleansing for this busy thoroughfare into Kilburn High Road, however the
road surface and parked cars may have an impact with this regard.
3
Cambridge Avenue remains empty and lends itself to ASB type issues in its
current state. This is another location of concern to add to the list of
hotspots for patrols in the Kilburn locality. Whilst there has been a planning
application submitted to convert the building into 19 flats, it appears that
this application may have already expired ( according to the agency whom
submitted the application) therefore its empty state may continue and one
wonders what the financial incentive would be to leave a building like this
unoccupied.
The
carpark area off of Coventry Close/Bristol Walk is managed by Catalyst Housing
/ Peabody Trust.
Any issues
relating to this area should be directed towards them.
Anyone
reporting issues here should be advised to send in photos which always helps to
identify and action issues accordingly.
One
solution may be to introduce Catalyst /Peabody representatives to Rossmore
Properties Ltd to see if this small tiny recess area can be maintained at the
same time as the routine maintenance for the estate; for an appropriate fee.
As soon as
I get an update from Rossmore Ltd, I will let you know.
Sound useful? But nothing
happened. And quite why Catalyst/Peabody (which now have some nearby
properties) would take any more responsibility than Brent , which not only has
nearby properties, but should also take some responsibility for obvious health
issues, is a mystery.
As you might expect by now, nothing
happened. When we pointed this out, we got this response:(30/10)
To
clarify, the email I previously sent was to explain who is responsible for the
small recess area in front of the understorey carpark for 3 Cambridge Avenue (
access area located on Coventry Close) and to differentiate the adjoining
private land managed by Catalyst/Peabody ( which also suffers from waste and
highways issues from time to time).
The litter
accumulations periodically accumulate either as a result of wind blowing it
from the public highway sections of the street or as a result of itinerants
whom congregate around here to take “rest” on the small wall away from prying
eyes.
I have
previously served notice on the owners to clear the land in question and put
measures in place to prevent future waste accumulations. As a result the metal
shutter was installed some time ago. However as a result of the angle of the
slope and the layout of the building lines, the shutter could not be installed
up to the boundary edge of the public highway and hence you have a tiny recess
that continues to suffer with this problem from time to time.
I am aware
that the owners of the property have a locally sourced private maintenance
contractor whom periodically attend the site to clear any accumulations ( as
was advised in the original Notice served on them).
I have
spoken with a representative of the company that owns the property to advise
them that there is an existing accumulation that requires attention last week.
I have
further contacted them today to insist upon action.
Unfortunately
the landlords are not based locally and are reliant on their private
contractor.
Brent
Council can pursue enforcement and issue penalties when non-compliance of a
Notice is observed, however in the initial instance would prefer to work with
private individuals and organisations to effect a solution. Previous
correspondence with the owners have generally been met with compliance whenever
this issue has been brought to my attention.
With
regards to rubbish bins on Coventry Close I am aware there are a number of
recycling bins that were positioned along Coventry Close to serve the blocks of
flats and are also accessible to anyone passing. However it is my understanding
that the Veolia Street Cleansing contract no longer accommodates litter bins on residential
streets unless there are some exceptional circumstances. Furthermore the only
section of Coventry Close covered by the street cleansing contract is between
the top block of Alpha House to Kilburn High Road. The remaining section from
the top block of Alpha House to Canterbury Road is the remit of BHM’s
maintenance regime
If you
continue to experience negative impacts resulting from waste accumulations on
private land please report these to waste.enforcement@brent.gov.uk or
via Fix My Street platform. If you can include photos at the time of reporting
will also be useful to help us identify locations and deal with the issues
accordingly.
We then had to point out that there
are, contrary to that message, no rubbish bins on Coventry Close (which is why
we have been asking for them for years.....) And Coventry Close is not a
residential street.
From what locals observe, while
obviously some of the rubbish comes from street drinkers, the majority comes
from people walking through and from those who park on Coventry Close. But it
doesn't really matter who causes the problem, it needs dealing with both in the
short and long terms and while Brent talks of doing so, the rubbish continues
to pile up.
We wonder whether this would happen
in other parts of the borough or is yet another sign of how Brent neglects its
basic responsibilities in South Kilburn. Building showcase new housing looks
nice, less so when surrounded by uncleared rubbish. And before anyone accuses
us of exaggeration, Council officers have repeatedly accepted that the area is
neglected and promised to sort it. And little happens.
Pete Firmin
