Agenda item

 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 and pictorially.  An example was given where a trader had placed a poster of a drawing showing a black bag of rubbish and a large cross in red and £80 fine written on the poster. The problem of dumped rubbish in that particular area stopped.

Another approach suggested was the workshop approach, which had been used in Hayes to improve poor food hygiene and encourage compliance with regulations. This was done by staff from public health talking face-to-face with traders; particularly some of the traders with poor “scores on doors’ rating and critically having a Somali speaking and Asian speaking gentleman present to assist with interpretation. Included in the presentation were issues about rats and mice, as well as a short brief on the management of trade waste.

Mr Brough added that Hayes Town Business Forum would be happy to work with the Council to set up similar workshops to get the message through.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to the challenging problem of people living above shops and the high turnover of renting in the area; meriting the need to have some leaflets to ensure that people were made aware of which day refuse was collected. It was suggested to Members that more pictures should be used to get the message across and the Council could get a sponsor to produce a calendar that could be placed in kitchens, giving information about waste and recycling.

Sinead Lee added that Paradigm Housing as landlord would remedy breaches on tenancy agreements and highlighted that, as with many other organisations, Paradigm Housing also had to deal with issues of stretched resources. 

With regard to what the Council would expect of Social Landlords in tackling the issue of pest control, the following was suggested:

·        The provision of refuse containers for better waste management.

·         A more rigorous approach to enforcing tenancy agreements.

·         When designing buildings to take account of refuse storage.

·        Planting schemes that did not encourage harbourage for rodents.

·        Provision of locking refuse bins, which would assist in easier identification of residents living in flats in regard to anti-social behaviour.

·        Undertake inspections and enforcement against tenants who did not manage their waste properly.

·        Where there was a high turnover of tenants, provide a welcome pack to include information about refuse, Council Services and public health issues; tenants should be required to sign to confirm their responsibilities prior to being given the keys to their homes.

Les Drussel expressed concerns about the health implications of rats going down drain pipes and some businesses in Ruislip Manor repeatedly leaving rubbish outside before collection days, with bins frequently seen full and overflowing. These incidents were said to be constantly reported to the Council.

Members commented that:

·        Developers should ensure that where land was contaminated with rats, they should ensure that the land was cleared of vermin before commencing building work.

·        Residents should not be required to pay to address the problem of rats coming from the canal.

• From April 2013, Public Health issues would be the responsibility of the Council and it would then be a case of making the developer aware.

• Raised concerns about the management of rats around demolished buildings and how derelict lands were being cared for to prevent fly tipping and dumping of large items such as mattresses.

• Highlighted that there should be a clear procedure for when issues were reported.

Officers responded that:

·        The most appropriate way of tackling development issues would be through the Building Act (1984) rather than through planning conditions, as the legislation enables quicker resolutions (for example in dealing with defective drainage) or Prevention of Damage by Pest Act (1949).

·        The onus rested with the owner or occupier to engage pest control services, if the rats were coming from another property, enforcement action could be taken against that property.

·        The Building Act could enable quick remedies where appropriate.

·        With regard to putting rubbish out on the wrong day and causing infestation, the Committee was advised that legislation could be amended, so that private landlords were regarded as businesses; this could then be used to encourage them to ensure that their tenants properly managed waste.

·        Whist the land was the responsibility of the Canals Trust, it was not realistic to rid a canal of rats, and therefore, properties near a canal would need to take precautions by not leaving food waste out doors.

·        Pictoral signs had recently been produced by the Council and were displayed in Hayes Town Centre.

·        Since summer 2012, the Hayes area had been subject to prolonged inspection and enforcement by Council officers which had resulted in some improvements.

The Committee considered that pictoral posters would be an effective way of getting the message across, particularly in areas which experienced repeated dumping and where residents threw their rubbish from the top floor. Members considered that successful prosecution could be publicised as a way of sending out the message.

On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman thanked the witnesses for providing invaluable information for their review.