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.

 

Bid to call-in Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Cabinet contract award to Veolia

 

Editor: Veolia workers being included in party political tweet and lead member social media

 

A group of opposition councillors have submitted a request to call-in the recent Cabinet approval to award  the Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing contract to Veolia. The request is in the name of councillors Georgiou, Lorber, Matin, Hirani and Maurice.

Please provide below an explanation as to why you are calling in the decision and if you are calling in all or part of the decision:

 

 

As a service based organisation, Brent Council should be putting residents’ needs and concerns at the forefront of all we do. This call-in is based on our belief that the views of residents have mostly been ignored throughout the tendering process and that the decision made by Cabinet will in fact lead to worsening outcomes for local people for this very important and valued service.

 

We believe the way that this process has been handled has always advantaged the current contractor. In order to increase competition and as a result a better service for our residents the Council should have considered splitting the contract into smaller areas, perhaps the Brent Connects areas, or grouping of wards, which might have resulted in more interest from contractors other than the current contractor.  

 

We are particularly concerned about two key aspects of the decision:

 

The use of sacks for the collection of some recyclable materials (paper and cardboard).

 

A move towards a so called ‘intelligence led’ street cleaning service.

 

Our view is that both changes were highlighted during the consultation period as being unpopular with local people and will in fact not work in practice.

 

During the trial period the size and sturdiness of the sacks to be used was questioned by residents. In the Scrutiny session on this item at the end of last year, numerous Councillors, who were also involved in the trial, highlighted this concern. A recommendation from the Committee, whilst being noted in the Decision, has effectively been ignored, as there is no clear indication that an alternative will be implemented.

 

On street cleaning, we have huge concerns about how a new ‘intelligence led’ approach will impact local roads in our wards. There is already a significant issue in our areas when it comes to upkeep and cleanliness of streets. As admitted by an Officer of the Council at the Scrutiny session last year, this new approach, “will not make the situation better.” If our purpose as an organisation is to improve the standard and quality of our area, it is evident that in fact this decision does not do this, therefore, an alternative needs to be found.

 

We are also specifically concerned about the reduction of Zone A ‘headers’ (side roads) from 50m to 20m. There are already significant issues on roads closest to High Roads and Town Centres. Our belief is that the reduction of this aspect of the service will both be incredibly detrimental to the residential roads close-by and in the long run costlier for the Council to deal with.

 

Please provide below an outline alternative course of action to the decision being called in.

We propose on sacks that the Council agree in full with the recommendations by the Scrutiny Committee that wheelie bins be provided where possible to residents who wish to have them, so as to avoid the possibility of sacks being misused, broken and lost. If necessary, by revising recycling collection routes.

 

To maintain the Zone A ‘headers’ (side roads) to at least 50m, as is the case in the current contract.

 

A review of the way service consultations are conducted so as to ensure they are proper, thorough, and rather than imposition of an already agreed to decision. This will give greater confidence to the residents that the Council are listening to their concerns and acting on them.

 

As suggested during the consultation process with residents, to increase the number of waste and recycling bins on local streets.

 

 

 

BREAKING: Veolia to be awarded new integrated Brent Council Public Realm contract worth £137m over 8 years

 The first Brent Council Cabinet of 2023 will be requested to award the new  Integrated Easte Waste Collections and Winter Maintenance contract to Veolia:

[Approve] the award of the Integrated Contract to Veolia Environmental Services UK Ltd for an initial contract period of eight (8) years, with an option to extend for a further eight (8) year contract period in the estimated sum of £17.13m for 2023/24, circa £137m over the initial 8-year term of the contract or circa £274m over the full 16-year contract period.

The new contract introduces a twin stream recycling system of paper and card recycling in bags one week and remaining blue bin recycling in the next week.  There will also be a new small items collection service. Education and Communication on waste services will be provided in-house.

Frequency of street cleaning on a rota basis will be ended and instead there will be an 'intelligence led' response by a Task Force to respond to litter hot-spots.

The webcast of the Public Ream Scrutiny Committee meeting  that considered the issue can be viewed HERE.

The Committee had been concerned about the discrepancy  between the on-line consultation rejection of the changes and the acceptance of the changes in the much smaller face-to-face consultations. An officer had admitted that the street cleansing changes would not produce a better outcome but were made necessary by financial constraints. 

The Cabinet Report states

A report on the Integrated Contract procurement programme was considered by Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee at its meeting on 13 December 2022. The Committee's recommendations are included below and these will be taken forward by officers in early 2023.

i) Produce a diagram/flowchart detailing all milestones from May 2019 when the Redefining Local Services (RLS) programme was first initiated.
ii) Review household bulky waste collection charges, including consideration of a sliding scale of charges linked to the number of items to be collected, rather than the current fixed rate of £35 for up to five items.
iii) Undertake a feasibility study on the potential for introducing a mixed approach to paper/card recycling collections, to explore whether any recycling collection rounds in the borough would be more suited to the use of bins rather than sacks.
iv) Arrange a session with ward councillors and Neighbourhood Managers to inform the design and development of the new recycling engagement and communication plan that will accompany the roll out of the new recycling service. 
v) Liaise with the West London Waste Authority to ensure access is reinstated for pedestrians and cyclists at the Abbey Road Household Reuse and Recycling Centre.
vi) Improve collaboration between in-house enforcement teams and collection operatives in identifying fly tipping hot spots and collating evidence, to remove the burden from residents. 

You can judge for yourselves whether the final report to Cabinet takes the recommendations into account.

 I have embedded the full report below. Service changes can be found in 7.4 onwards (Twin Stream Recycling) and in 7.15 onwards ( Intelligence-led Street Cleansing).

 

Brent Council's confidential waste 'secure' during Veolia suspension

Brent Council CEO, Carolyn Downs, has confirmed that Brent Council's confidential waste is securely stored at Brent Civic Centre in Wembley, following the suspension of the confidential waste disposal aspect of the Veolia contract.

The suspension followed the spillage of confidential documents on the Croydon roadside during transit for shredding by Veolia.

Downs assured Wembley Matters that there was plenty of storage space at the Civic Cente. The council are now investigating the purchase of their own shredding equipment so that it will go to Veolia in unrecognisable form.

EXCLUSIVE: Brent Council suspends Veolia's management of confidential waste after data breach

Wembley Matters contacted Brent Council after a Coulsdon resident emailed:

 I'm a big fan of your blog Wembley Matters. I thought you might be interested in the below......

A Veolia lorry has driven through Brighton Road in Coulsdon (CR5 2BE), leaving confidential letters sown all over the street that look to be from Brent Council........

All sorts involved, letters containing full names addresses etc and some very confidential matters.

Many of these letters have ended up in people's gardens. Veolia and the council have been round picking them up since monday

Surely this is a serious breach of the DPO laws?? 

I didn't manage to get a picture unfortunately, but if you speak to some residents you might hear some interesting tales... you may also wish to ask the council about it?

Of course I did. 

I have established that Veolia transports Brent Council confidential waste to Croydon for shredding in purpose designed confidential information bags. This is also done by other nearby councils contracted to Veolia.

I understand that about 700 items were involved and Brent Council has been collecting them and informing those affected. Some of the items in the gutter were in a poor state and unreadable.

Brent Council told Wembley Matters that this collection and contacting of residents took time but only a small proportion of the 700 items were confidential.

 

A Brent Council spokesperson said:  

 

We sincerely apologise to the Brent residents affected by the data breach by our waste contractor Veolia. 

 

As soon as we were made aware of the error we took immediate steps, together with our contractor, to recover the information. Following several sweeps of the area where the loss took place, we have done everything possible to safely recover the information. We are notifying relevant parties, where appropriate, and the incident has been reported to the Information Commissioner.

 

We are working closely with Veolia and have suspended their management of the council’s confidential waste for the time being. A full investigation is now taking place into how this incident happened so lessons can be learned and more robust measures put in place to ensure this can never happen again.

 

A Veolia spokesperson said:

We would like to apologise to all residents who have been affected by this unacceptable incident and have taken immediate action to recover and secure any confidential waste.
 

We take this matter extremely seriously and are conducting an urgent investigation into the circumstances of this incident and will continue to work closely with Brent Council in order to limit any impact.

 

William Relton, Coordinator of Brent Green Party commented:

I understand that Veolia's contract with Brent is coming to an end soon. I urge Brent Council not to renew the contract and take all waste disposal and recycling, particularly items of a confidential matter, back in-house. Why any organisation would pay another commercial organisation to shred its confidential materials is quite beyond me.

Wembley Matters will report the result of any investigation by the Information Commissioner and any measures or fines imposed as a result of this breach.