Agenda item

It was noted that Councillors Lynne Allen and Peter Curling had been unable to attend the meeting and had submitted their apologies. 

Concerns and suggestions raised by petitioners included the following:

• Children were increasingly using the road as a football pitch and had even marked the road surface as such.  It was noted that the issue was prevalent after school, at weekends and during school holidays and could involve 4-8 participants (it was becoming less frequent during the darkening evenings);
• Although residents had asked the young people (who ranged from the very young to 16/17 years old) to stop playing in the street, they had refused and, on occasion, had been verbally abusive;
• Petitioners were concerned for the safety of the very young children as they would often run out from behind parked vehicles and risked being hit by moving vehicles;
• Furthermore, during their games, the young people's balls had been kicked into residents' vehicles and when they landed in neighbours' gardens, they retrieved the balls without permission from the occupier;
• The petitioners were requesting that the Council erect 'No ball signs' in Fairdale Gardens as a reminder that ball games should not be played in the road;
• It was acknowledged that the Council had sent letters out in August 2015 to a number of households in Fairdale Gardens asking that they find an alternative place for their children to play football.  However, the turnover of tenants in many of the properties in the road was high which meant that subsequent families moving into the area would be unaware of the nuisance that it caused and potentially let their children play in the street; and
• As well as children that lived in the cul-de-sac playing football on the highway, residents advised that there were some that came from elsewhere.

Councillor Douglas Mills listened to the concerns of petitioners and responded to the points raised.  He advised that, although there were signs in Hayes Town prohibiting certain activities, these were regularly enforced and fixed penalty notices issued.  It was noted that those ball signs that were still visible in the Borough were generally on housing estates or very old signs.  The Cabinet Member stated that signage was not necessarily the answer to this type of issue as it would be difficult to enforce as the Council would not be able to levy fixed penalty notices for breaches. 

The petitioners were advised that, following the letter that was circulated to households in August 2015, the Council had received calls saying that there were no signs in the street advising that ball games were not permitted.  It was agreed that officers would hand deliver personalised letters to all households in the cul-de-sac to advise that it was unacceptable for children to be allowed to play football on the highway as it was unsafe and was causing a nuisance to their neighbours.  This face-to-face contact would enable officers to answer any queries that residents might have, address any language barriers and advise that legal action could be taken in relation to breaches.  Residents would also be reminded that there were green spaces locally that could be used to play football and advised that the letter was in lieu of a street sign.  As the occupancy turnover in a large number of properties in the road was high, it was recognised that this contact would need to be made more than once. 

Councillor Mills asked that officers contact the local Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) to ensure that they were aware of the issue and of the action that was being taken.  The SNT would be asked to check on activity in the cul-de-sac if they were passing on their patrols.  Consideration would also be given to the inclusion of information in the Council's Hillingdon People publication as part of a wider anti social behaviour article. 

RESOLVED:  That, having met with the Petitioners, the Cabinet Member:

1.      noted the views and concerns of the petitioners;

2.      asked officers to hand deliver personalised letters to every household in Fairdale Gardens advising that it was not acceptable to play football on the highway;  and

3.      instructed officers to request that the Local Policing Teams patrol the area from time to time.

Reasons for recommendation

To address the concerns of the residents of Fairdale Gardens Hayes.

Alternative options considered

No ball games signs could be erected, as requested by petitioners, but this is not recommended due to the risk that many similar requests for signs could come from other roads in the Borough, enforcement would be difficult and therefore would be unlikely to deal with the under-lying problem.