Agenda item

Councillors Jazz Dhillon and John Morse attended the meeting and spoke as Ward Councillor.

Concerns and suggestions raised by the petitioner included the following:-

·         Advised the Cabinet member that he was the neighbourhood watch co-ordinator for the area, which had made a difference.

·         Had various concerns in relation to security and drug related issues.

·         The trees in the road had been pruned.

·         The Victoria Public House (VPH) had caused a lot of anti social behaviour in the area in the past but since it had closed this had decreased.

·         There were ongoing issues with youths congregating on the wall of No 2 Northfield Close.

·         Families who lived in the area had been followed and young girls harassed and physically intimidated.

·         There had been a number of prostitutes operating in the area.

·         Since the VPH had closed down the crime rate had reduced, but there were still pockets of drug related issues occurring.

·         There was drug dealing occurring by the parade of shops in North Hyde Road and the security gates were often left open.

·         There were concerns around CCTV cameras in a residential area and how this could be overcome on a permanent basis.

·         Made reference to the Ickenham Neighbourhood Watch alert scheme that had been introduced, which had reduced the number of crimes and robberies in the area.

·         This was something that residents would be happy to do with the support of the Council and was felt this would work in this area.

·         Understood there were no legal issues with private residential properties having their own CCTV installed.

·         Improved lighting was a key requirement if drug and anti social behaviour issues were to be addressed properly in the area.

The Ward Councillors raised the following concerns and suggestions.

·         All three ward councillors supported the petitioners.

·         Northfield Park and Northfield Close were small roads opposite the VPH.

·         The petition initially arose because of the problems associated with the VPH.

·         Because of the nature of these two roads it was easy for crime/drug related offences to be committed in the area.

·         Confirmed that the trees had now been pruned but the street lighting was poor and required to be updated as soon as possible

• Although the problems caused by the VPH had reduced since it had been closed, there were concerns that this would increase if another licence was granted and the public house re-opened.

·         There were still drug related issues occurring in the vicinity of Black Rod Close and if the issue was not addressed now, could become an issue again in the future.

·         The installation of temporary CCTV and improved lighting would help to reduce the anti social behaviour in the area.

·         Now the issue of tax discs had gone it was not possible to identify illegally parked cars.

The Cabinet Member advised the petitioners that the only place that temporary CCTV could be installed was at the junction of North Hyde Road and Northfield Park.  There was a plan to upgrade residential street lighting and generally but would request that Northfield Park and Northfield Close were put on a priority list.  

Officers advised that the installation of CCTV on private residential properties was legal and could include the area outside of the property. In regards to whether cars in the area were legal the DVLA provided a car registration check.  If the car was found to be untaxed on the road the registered keeper would be sent a letter by the DVLA who would then prosecute for failing to have road tax or declare  a car off the road.

Before the Cabinet Member made his decision on a way forward the Lead petitioner made the following points:-

·         Would prefer to see a restaurant/ family business to operate from the VPH site.

·         If the VPH opened as a pub it was felt that this would have an adverse impact on the regeneration of Hayes Town.

·         Asked the Council to support the private CCTV initiative in this area.

Resolved 

1.         The Cabinet Member agreed to speak to the Leader of the Council and officers and request that the lighting upgrade in Northfield Park and Northfield Close be given priority.

2.         That the installation of temporary CCTV be put on hold until April 2015 to enable officers to provide a  report to the Cabinet Member on the anti social behaviour in the area.  If the anti social behaviour had not improved by April 2015, authorisation was given for the installation of temporary CCTV cameras.