More information on deployment of extra resources in Veolia contract variation

 

The problem of overflowing bins...

 ...and dumping

 

Brent Council officers have supplied Cllr Suzanne Gallagher (Green Party Kilburn Councillor)  with further information on how the extra resources in the 12 month variation of the Veolia contract will be deployed:

  

Distribution of Resources

Could officers please advise:

      1. How the additional litter pickers will be allocated across the borough.

The deployment of the additional litter pickers will be flexible to account for emerging pressures on a day to day basis. Each Brent Connects area will receive 1x extra dedicated litter picker.

     2. How many of the additional litter-picking resources are expected to be deployed within Kilburn Ward.

As above. There will be 1 litter picker for your Brent Connects are, and any deployment specifically within Kilburn ward will be determined on a day to day basis depending on need and other priorities.

    3. Whether there is a ward-by-ward or area-by-area breakdown of the anticipated allocation of resources.

The additional litter picking resource is being applied on a Brent Connects area basis. The mechanical sweeping and the two additional fly-tip clearance teams are being deployed on a north of Brent and south of Brent basis.

    4. What criteria have been used to determine where the additional resources will be deployed.

Neighbourhood Mangers will determine the day to day deployment through discussion with their counterparts at Veolia. The decision-making will reflect monitoring outcomes and FMS data.

   5. Whether historic complaint data, Fix My Street reports, fly-tipping reports or cleanliness indicators were used in determining allocations.

Yes, this will be helpful in determining day to day deployment.

Housing Estates Trial

The decision refers to a trial of an additional vehicle and two-person crew for Brent Housing Estates. Could officers please advise:

   6. Which estates will be included within the trial.

A select range of the most challenging estate locations across Brent.

   7. Whether any estates within Kilburn Ward or the wider South Kilburn area will benefit from the additional resource.

Blocks at Stafford Road, Malvern Road, Cambridge Road, 

William Dunbar House, William Saville House

Gorefield House, Canterbury Court

   8. How estates were selected for inclusion in the trial.

A review of historic issues and ongoing difficulties.

   9. What specific services the additional crew will provide.

Rubbish clearance form grounds and bin stores

  10. How the success of the trial will be measured.

A basic assessment only of any improvement in visual amenity.

11. What performance indicators will be used to determine whether the trial should become a permanent service.

Basic improved visual amenity, and value for money.

Service Improvements and Outcomes

12. What baseline cleanliness standards or performance measures are currently being used against which the success of the investment will be assessed.

We measure cleanliness based on national guidelines relating to levels of litter that are visibly present.

13. What specific improvements the Council expects residents to see as a result of the £1.54m investment.

We seek only reduced levels of litter and dumped waste and better visual amenity and cleansing standards.

14. How councillors and residents will be able to monitor whether the additional expenditure is delivering value for money.

Through a general appreciation of improved cleansing standards at problem locations.

15. Whether there will be any public reporting of outcomes associated with these additional services.

This is yet to be determined with the Lead Member, but may be similar to reporting against NCIL funding for similar activity last year.

Contract Performance

Residents frequently raise concerns with councillors regarding street cleansing standards despite the existence of significant contracts with both Veolia and Krinkels. I would therefore be grateful if officers could advise:

16. To what extent the decision to provide additional funding reflects increased demand pressures as opposed to shortcomings in existing service provision.

The funding is necessary to improve standards beyond what the current contract is resourced to achieve. The current contract meets its current KPIs in relation to cleansing, so this will create an enhancement.

17. Whether any lessons from resident complaints, Members' Enquiries, Fix My Street reports or service performance monitoring informed the decision to increase investment.

Yes, this information establishes the correct locations and the overall demand for greater intervention.

18. Whether the Council considers that existing contractual service levels have been sufficient to meet resident expectations.

Current KPIs are being met. Demand is increasing most definitely, however, and the current contract scope was much reduced in order to remain affordable at the time of award. 

19. Whether any performance concerns have been raised with contractors in relation to litter, cleansing, weed control, fly-tipping or estate cleanliness.

The contract is currently meeting its KPI commitments in relation to cleansing.

Kilburn and South Kilburn

Given the persistent concerns raised by residents regarding locations including the South Kilburn estates, could officers specifically advise:

20. What proportion of the additional investment is expected to benefit Kilburn Ward.

Not established, and will be determined on a day to day basis.

21. Whether any hotspot locations within Kilburn have been identified for enhanced cleansing activity.

The focus will be on those estates mentioned, and areas of high footfall, and those locations that are subject to repeated incidences of fly-tipping. Raakesh will be able to advise in terms of the specifics, and will gladly receive your recommendations, etc.

22. Whether officers anticipate a measurable improvement in cleanliness standards within Kilburn as a result of this investment and, if so, how that improvement will be assessed.

Yes, the intention is to provide an enhanced service to make areas cleaner. Improvement will be assessed through joint inspections with Veolia.

 

A temporary end to Brent's 'Dirty Weekends'? Scrutiny discusses call-in of the proposed variation of the Veolia contract and a possible review before implementation of measures.

 

Dump on Public Right of Way 27 between St Andrew's Road, Kingsbury and Grade 1 Listed Old St Andrew's Church. An example of an unregistered space, long a dumping ground.

 

Scrutiny Committee voted last night not to refer back the proposed variation of the Veolia contract. Conservative and Labour councillors outvoted their Liberal Democrat and Green peers. 

The call-in by Liberal Democrats and a Green  member wanted a review of Veolia performance before implementation of the variation measures, as the Lead Member, Cllr Promise Knight, had not consulted with councillors over the issue. As the Lead Member was not present Cllr Butt substituted for her.

Cllr Paul Lorber presented the call-in and began by challenging the sum of £1.54m quoted as the cost of the 12 month variation. It included 20% VAT. As public bodies spending for the public good do not pay VAT or have it returned - the true cost was actually £1.2m. 

Before the implementation of the additional measures he said there should be a Review that asked: 

What is wrong? {with waste and litter system]

 How do we improve it?

How much does it cost?

What can we afford? 

 

 

After Cllr Lorber and other councillors had spoken about the level of complaints from residents about litter and fly-tipping the Chair, Cllr A.Patel, drew attention to the 'disconnect' between that experience and a procurement report that said that Veolia was performing well and feedback was positive, satisfying the contract's KPIs (key Performance Indicators). Cllr Mary Mitchell remarked that perhaps this meant that the KPIs were wrong.

Cllr Butt said that the contract in 2023 was devised at a time when there was limited funding and even now councillors could not expect a gold-plated service. Veolia could not be expected to do things for free.  The Council were plugging the gaps with the variation operating over 12 months and then could evaluate and decide what was possible over the next period. He seemed a little confused because at one point he said, 'This is not a variation of the contract'. (2.41 in above video)

Environment Officer Chris Whyte pointed on that the latest contract came to an end in 2031 and that for such a large and complicated contract a review involving all parties would start in 2028 ahead of the procurement.

 

 

Cllr Butt said that the interim measures would address Brent's 'dirty weekends' when littering and flytipping took place but was not addressed until work resumed on Monday. Weekend and late night working would deal with some of the persistent problems. Chris Whyte said that the clear-up from weekend dumping lasted through to Wednesday so it was only on Thursday and Friday that Brent streets were really clean.

Questioning by Cllr Paul Ryan on the money available this year drew the information that an additional £3m, minus the £1.2m,  for public realm was available in this year's budget. Members could make suggestions on how this could be used but the process for doing so was not clear.

Variation of Brent's Veolia contract at Scrutiny tonight. Full review of Veolia's performance sought.

 

A fly-tip on Birchen Grove, Kingsbury. Part of the Capital Ring Walk Route

 

Wednesday's Public Realm and Resources Scrutiny Committee will consider a call-in request by Liberal Democrat and a Green Party councillor regarding the decision to add additional functions to the Council's waste contract with Veolia at a  12 month cost of £1.54m. LINK

The councillors call for a full review of the contract involving members of the Council before any variation of the contract. The meeting starts at 6pm and can be viewed on-line HERE

   

Decision called in

 

Authority to vary the contract for Integrated Street Cleaning, Waste Collection and Winter Maintenance Service with Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Limited See LINK

 

 

Reasons for Call-in

 

The contract should not be varied at this stage, before Members of the Council and the Scrutiny Committee have had a full opportunity to review the operation and performance of the existing contract and to recommend improvements in response to concerns raised by local residents.

 

This is particularly important given that the report states that no consultation has taken place with ward Councillors, other than the newly appointed Lead Member.

 

Comments from residents, together with Councillors’ own observations, indicate that many streets across Brent remain dirty and that the current approach of “intelligence-led cleaning” is not delivering the standard of service that local people deserve.

 

There is also a significant concern that too much litter and waste is ending up in landfill, while too little is being recycled, with Brent lagging behind comparable authorities.

 

Additional funding should therefore not be added to the existing contract until its current performance has been properly reviewed, its failings and shortcomings identified, and  potential improvements fully considered.

 

Alternative Action

 

That the decision be referred back to the Cabinet Member for reconsideration on the basis that prior to any additional funding or changes to the contract being agreed, Members should have a full opportunity to scrutinise the existing service, consider the concerns raised by residents and councillors, assess its current performance against the specific term of the contract and determine what improvements are required.

 

Areas that should be reviewed include:

 

1. Frequency of cleaning: Review the frequency of cleaning in shopping areas and on the side roads serving those areas.

2. Sweeping standards: Ensure that the service provides genuine mechanical or manual sweeping where required, rather than relying primarily on litter picking.

3. Waste collection and pick-up arrangements: Review how waste found on streets is  dealt with. This should clarify whether contractors only collect waste that has been specifically ordered or reported, whether they are expected to collect waste they encounter during their rounds, and how both reported and unreported fly-tipping or dumped waste is addressed.

4. Unregistered land: Set out clearly the process for collecting waste from unregistered land. The Council should also explain how the register of unregistered land will be maintained, documented and made available for inspection.

5. Housing Revenue Account: Confirm that item (g) in the original decision will be charged to the Housing Revenue Account and not the General Fund.

6. Night-time cleaning: Fully review and, where appropriate, extend the areas receiving night-time cleaning.

7. Jet washing: Review the frequency of pavement jet washing in busy areas, with a view to carrying it out more regularly rather than concentrating activity immediately before local elections.

8. Financial implications: Fully review the financial implications for both the 2026/27 and Variation of the Veolia waste contrcat 2027/28 financial years, including the allocation of costs between the General Fund and the Housing Revenue Account.

 

It is clear that the current service does not meet the clear specification in our contract including for example keeping street litter bins clean, for litter bins not to be over flowing and treating weeds on pavements as litter. The prime objective should therefore be to ensure that any variation to the contract, and any additional expenditure associated with it, delivers real, measurable and visible improvements in the cleanliness of streets and public areas across Brent.

 

September 2nd Scrutiny Committee to consider call-in of £1.54m payment to Veolia for extra work

 From a Wembley Matters story six years ago - has there been improvement since?

 

Following the story on Wembley Matters LINK on the additions to the Veolia contracts, Cllr Paul Lorber commented;

 Labour Councillors who signed up to a very bad contract including their so called "intelligence led cleaning" idea now want to pay more money for some extra service - even before they checked if Veolia are already doing what they are being paid for.

Liberal Democrat Councillors have "called in" the decision, with the support of one Green Councillor, to Scrutiny Committee on 2 September - so the decision can be properly scrutinised to clarify what improvements to our dirty streets will be made and whether the £1.5 million extra is the best use of the money.

In our view the whole issue of street cleaning, recycling and dumping in Brent needs to be looked at - but the 'call-in' is restricted to looking at the areas of work included in the £1.54 million proposed.

£1.54m 12 month variation to Veolia's waste contract for additionl work to address the issue of maintaining clean streets in Brent

 

A recent dump on the Pilgrims Way Council Estate

 

A recent decision by a Brent Cabinet member became effective on Thursday and its impact will be watched with interest by residents.

Cllr Promise Knight, lead member for Cleaner Streets, Transport and Public Realm, after consultation with Council leader Muhammed Butt, has agreed a £1.54m extension to the £275m Veolia waste contract for a 12 month period.  

The changes address some of the issues raised by residents, including dumps on council estates made by outsiders,  as demonstrated above.

Any extension of the additional services beyond the 12 months will be subject to review, including the necessary finances being available.  The cost of this variation of the Contract will be funded from £3m growth awarded to Public Realm as part of the budget setting process. This was awarded as an investment in Public Realm and Street Cleansing to deliver clearer and more visible improvements in cleanliness across the Borough.

 

The proposed changes/additions  

 

(a) To include the provision of two small mechanical street sweepers to address street cleansing. Following recent funding from NCIL, mechanical sweepers were trialled for additional street cleaning, and they have been key in keeping Brent’s side roads and residential roads clean and have made a huge difference to the look and feel of the public realm.

 

(b) To widen the scope of the contract to include 5 additional litter pickers in each Brent Connect area to cover town centres and high streets cleaning. Litter pickers were another feature trialled recently. This brought in a significant change in the borough cleanliness. Litter pickers are important as they pick up surface litter that would be missed, as many roads are swept once a month even with rapid response crew help. This proposal of extra litter pickers operating on weekdays and weekends to cover from Friday- Tuesday, will help deal with extra pressure and demands generated over the weekends.

 

(c) To widen the scope of contract to include nighttime street cleaning and waste collection. Brent currently has a trial in place for nighttime street cleaning/waste collection. This overnight service from 9.00pm till 6.00am has improved the look and feel of our town centres in terms of overnight dumped waste. The borough looks much cleaner in the morning and the morning collection crew are able to complete their rounds efficiently and on time. The service feels that this initiative will immensely help towards maintaining a cleaner borough.

 

(d) To widen the scope to include a dedicated Persistent Organic Pollutants (PoPS) waste collection 7 days a week. In 2024, PoPS legislation came into effect and PoPS could not be mixed with other waste and necessitated a separate arrangement for PoPs collection. Due to the urgency and limited time period to put arrangements in place, a rapid response crew from Wembley North was re-directed to collect PoPs instead without incurring additional costs to the Council. The PoPs collection has worked so far but this has had an impact in street cleansing standards in the North of Wembley. Therefore, the service will benefit from having a separate collection crew and bringing the Wembley North crew back to meet the core contract requirement.

 

(e) To widen the scope to include waste collection from unregistered land. The NCIL project funding for waste on private land clearance has helped neighbourhood managers to get ad hoc cleaning done on parts of land that gets neglected and becomes an issue for ASB or a hot spot for dumping waste. If these ad hoc services are agreed and arranged with Veolia then it will help neighbourhood managers to keep on top without it turning into a big problem requiring huge resources for clearance.

 

(f) To widen the scope to include a weekend rapid response street cleansing crew.  In the current contract there are no pick-up crews collecting from residential areas during weekends. Due to the high volume of waste and fly-tip events occurring over the weekend period, this results in delayed responses and backlogs that significantly impact service delivery and Monday operations. The accumulation of waste over two days creates operational challenges and increases the workload for weekday crews. The introduction of two morning shift pick-up crews to collect from residential areas, with one crew covering the South and one crew covering the North of the Borough will help keep our streets clean. The shift will operate from 07:00 until 13:30.

 

(g) To widen the scope to trial an additional resource of a vehicle and two crew  members for our Brent Housing Estates. There is a requirement for a dedicated service to support Brent’s housing estates in the collection of Fly-tipped and excess waste. Due to the high volume of this type of waste on our estates, the existing in-house service is unable to cope. Officers have worked with Veolia to come up with a solution which would cover these services on 15 of our estates which needs additional service. This service will consists of 1 x 26t tonne RCV and 1 x Caged vehicle (Rapid Response) and a supervisor. The RCV will be used to collect Fly-tips (non POPS) and excess waste. The Caged vehicle will be used to clear POPS items as well as provide a rapid response element which can be quickly dispatched to attended to priority jobs. The supervisor is needed to co-ordinate the teams and act as a direct contact between Brent Council and the crews. The service is proposed to run for a trial of 12 months, Monday – Friday during normal working hours.

 

 Costs breakdown 

Each recommendation contains the 12 months estimated costs as listed below and are based on the hourly rates provided in the contract. Following the 12 months period, viability of projects and improvements made will be assessed and a longer-term plan for individual projects will be discussed with senior members and finance to establish budgets and additional contract expenditure.

(a) To include the provision of two small mechanical street sweeper to address street cleansing -£150k

(b) To widen the scope of the contract to include 5 additional litter pickers in each Brent Connect area to cover town centres and high streets cleansing- £250k.

(c) To widen the scope of contract to include Nighttime Street cleansing and waste collection- £120k.

(d) To widen the scope to include a dedicated Persistent Organic Pollutants (PoPS) waste collection 7 days a week -£180k.

(e) To widen the scope to include waste collection from unregistered land-£150k.

(f) To widen the scope to include a weekend rapid response street cleansing crew- £140k.

(g) To widen the scope to trial an additional resource of a vehicle and two crew members for our Brent Housing Estates -£550k

   

Climate Change and Environmental Considerations

 

The dedicated Persistent Organic Pollutants waste collection service helps the Council manage hazardous waste safely and in compliance with environmental regulations. This will reduce the risk of pollutants entering the environment.

 

The inclusion of waste collection from unregistered land will also help address accumulations of waste that can negatively impact neurodiversity and public health.

 

Whilst the additional cleansing and collection services may result in some associated carbon emissions, these impacts are expected to be outweighed by the environmental benefits that come from improved waste management, cleaner public spaces, faster responses to environmental incidents, and reduced levels of littering.

 

 

Croydon follows Brent's Veolia contract with reduced street cleaning and bin removal

 Brent Council's most recent contract with Veolia was signed in 2023 and included 'intelligence led' street sweeping (rather than swept on a regular rota basis) and the removal of litter bins from residential streets. 

The 'Integrated Contract' LINK also included winter maintenance and was worth £137m over 8 years.

Private Eye's Rotten Boroughs column (below) has drawn attention to a very similar contract recently agreed in Croydon. The borough seems to have got a rather cheaper deal than Brent managed. It also includes'winter maintenance' -  de-icing of streets etc in winter weather.

 

 There is more information on the Inside Croydon blog HERE.

Meanwhile in a walk around the block this morning:

 'Intelligence led' street cleaning on Greenhill Way, Wembley

 

 Removal of litter bin at The Paddocks 206 bus terminus

 

Wishing the residents of Croydon well with their new contract.

Just another story of South Kilburn neglect – a rubbish saga

 

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

 

Brent Council responds to residents' 'Blue Bag Blues'

 

A selection from many posts on Next Door

After seeing many posts like those above, as well as Tweets and Facebook posts I wrote to Brent Council:

Social media is awash with complaints about blue bins being rejected, petitions and protest meetings. Someone said Veolia workers were fed-up with the system and deliberately rejecting some bins as a protest.


Is there any message that the Council would like published re what appear to be teething problems?

 

Brent Council's response:

 

Councillor Krupa Sheth, Cabinet Member for Environment, Infrastructure, and Climate Action, said:

 

Whilst it is too early to know the full picture of how the changes have affected recycling rates, our trial of over 5,000 properties last year showed an increase in recycling, which is better for the environment and our planet.

 

We have also seen a 50% increase in the last fortnight in the amount of cardboard and paper recycling compared to the first two weeks of October, showing that compliance is increasing as residents get used to the changes to how their recycling is collected.

Veolia fully supports the service changes and their staff are trained to reject bins that have incorrect items in them, we do this so that recycling doesn't get rejected as this would be worse for the environment.  

Thank you to all residents who are separating their paper and cardboard. More information is available on the council's website, where you can also order a replacement blue sack.