Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies notified for this meeting.

There were no declarations of interests notified.

It was confirmed that all items on the agenda marked as Part 1 would be considered in public.

The minutes of the meeting held on 13 February 2013 were agreed as an accurate record.

 The Chairman welcomed David Brough – Chairman of Hayes Town Partnership, Les Drussel – Chairman of Ruislip Manor Chamber of Commerce, Councillor Janet Gardner – Chairman of Dawley Housing Co-operative and Sinead Lee – Paradigm Housing Group to the final witness session on the review of Local Pest Control Services and the Impact of Waste Management Processes on these.

Cllr Gardner suggested that there should be a condition requiring developers to address pest control issues arising as a result of new developments. Currently, residents had to pay to address problems of rats going into their gardens that had been disturbed as a result of the new developments. In addition, residents living close to canals were finding the rat problem further exacerbated by rats living in the canal and constantly having to pay to address infestation in their back gardens.

David Brough added that residents questioned why they should have to pay for the burden of developers who were causing the problem in their locality.

Also highlighted was the problems caused by the storage of rubbish in houses of multiple occupation, where rubbish was left outside, well before collection day; this tended to attract foxes and thus, opened rubbish bags encouraged rats.

Mr Brough welcomed that the Committee was taking a broader view by looking a pest control, waste management and anti-social behaviour.  Commenting on the figures circulated on pest control jobs, he highlighted that looking at the figures for Hayes Town; Botwell appeared to have increased from 40 in 2005/2006 to 100 in 2009/2010. Once charges for pest control were introduced, demand was drastically reduced, as people stopped using Council services and anecdotal evidence suggested that the problem of pest infestation was real. Members were informed that Hayes Town was working towards dealing with the issue by encouraging prevention through education, while accepting the important role of enforcement.

Work in Hayes was said to be around raising the profile of a cleaner and greener Hayes, through the Hayes Project in collaboration with the Hayes Community Engagement Group. The project involved working with Botwell House, Dr Tripletts school and Minet Junior School in raising awareness by getting the children to conduct surveys of bags and litter left in the streets, as well as producing a poster showing the children and the slogan “Hayes school children say make Hayes Town cleaner and greener – Help keep our Town clean”. A litter collection was also undertaken with the 3 schools. These initiatives impacted on the traders, as well as members of the public. Shop keepers were asked to put the posters in their shops. Mr Brough stated that there was clear evidence that these initiatives changed the attitudes of traders and the children became the advocates to the adults.

It was suggested to the Committee that the problem was about changing behaviour and not about the collection of rubbish, because the Council collected rubbish bags quite quickly.  Members were advised that the focus must be on giving people clear messages in plain language  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72.

James Rodgers, Head of Planning, Sport and Green Spaces informed the Committee that the ‘Beds in Sheds’ in Hillingdon: Progress report was reported to the Cabinet meeting on 21 March 2013. The report set out the robust approach that the Council was taking to deal with this issue. The main objective was that Hillingdon should be seen as an authority which took the issue of beds in sheds very seriously and would take enforcement proceedings against perpetrators.

Members were informed that Hillingdon was one of 4 Councils that had been successful (out of 9 other local authorities that were allowed to place a bid from the £790k Government Funding) in their bid to the Department for Communities and Local Government. Hillingdon had secured the £183,141, which would help to focus resources to deal with issue of beds in sheds. 

The Council was noted to have a dedicated prosecution lawyer who was supported by 2 other officers in Planning, as well as a dedicated housing officer and a Proceeds of Crime Investigator. There was now more joined-up action between Housing and Planning teams, together with the use of council tax legislation to tackle the problem.  The proceeds of crime cases would also be used to help resource the work in this area. In addition, a meeting was held fortnightly with all relevant officers to progress the issue.

Acknowledging the point raised about the growing issue of ‘beds in sheds’ being aggravated by the shortage of affordable homes, Members were informed that work was being done to link with immigration to stem the increase of this issue. Regular meetings were arranged with government agencies and other local authorities to share information and assess how best to deal with the issue.  Furthermore, regular checks were made by officers on alley ways on a random basis to check back gardens for ‘beds in sheds’ developments.

With regard to a query raised about the number of prosecutions to date, the Committee requested officers to report back to the meeting in September 2013, to give an update on this issue. The Committee also requested an update on the pilot scheme operated by Slough where landlords were repeatedly fined for not having a valid Energy Performance Certificate, which was required by law for places where people lived. This information would be circulated to Members outside of the meeting.

The Committee commended Mr Rodger on the successful funding bid.

Resolved

1.                  Requested officers to give an update at the meeting in September 2013 on the number of beds in sheds prosecutions.

2.                   Requested officers to provide an updated on the progress of the pilot scheme operated in Slough. This information to be circulated to Members outside of the meeting.

Having reviewed the Forward Plan, Members noted the Road Safety Programme, Traffic Congestion Mitigation Programme and School Travel Plan Programme listed on the Cabinet Member Decisions, to be taken by Keith Burrows, Cabinet Member for Planning, Transportation and Recycling in June 2013.  Officers were asked to provide details of the number of schools that had taken up the scheme in the Borough.

Resolved

Requested officers to provide details of the number of schools that had taken up the School Travel Plan Scheme in the Borough.

Comments in respect of the summary of recommendations regarding the Committee’s first Review of Regulations and Byelaws relating to Cemeteries and Burial Grounds within Hillingdon were agreed to be received by Tuesday 2 April 2013.

Resolved

The Committee agreed the work programme for 2012/13.