Decision details

Cabinet NOTED the comments made by Mr John Bunn (as a local resident and representative of the Valley Drive Residents Association) in support of a petition containing 249 signatures seeking Council support for action to clean up and address issues of anti-social behaviour in the service road between Valley Drive and Fryent Way, to the rear of Kingsbury Road.

In thanking the Leader of the Council for the opportunity to present the petition, Mr Bunn acknowledged the efforts being made by the Council, highlighting that residents did not underestimate the current challenges faced by the Council.  Whilst recognising the need to balance priorities, he advised that the petitioners were keen to ensure that the less publicised, smaller, more hidden and complex issues that impacted on and blighted the daily lives of residents did not get missed, particular those impacting on harder to reach communities.  As one such example, Mr Bunn advised that the petition was seeking to highlight a number of concerns relating to the neglect of the service roads to the rear of Kingsbury Road, which he pointed out had been the subject of persistent complaints by residents and businesses.  Although acknowledging the complexity relating to ownership and management responsibility for the land, the lack of clarity was felt to have created frustration and uncertainty amongst residents and directly contributed to the deteriorating environment in the areas affected.

As a result, the petitioners had raised specific concerns in relation to a number of issues.  These included waste and fly tipping in the road which was felt to be unhealthy and hazardous to the nearby shops and buildings, increasing the risk of unwanted pests and vermin.  In addition, the uncontrolled management of the waste containers and where they were placed had also been highlighted given concerns relating to access for emergency vehicles and in relation to fire escape routes for residents living in flats above the retail premises.  This lack of clarity had also led to waste not being collected with clear signage required to ensure emergency escape routes were not obstructed and where parking and waste containers were permitted and should be located.  In addition, he highlighted a lack of knowledge and also compliance relating to the deposit and storage of household waste.

Other concerns raised included the overflow from building downpipes, which were leaking dirty water from height and stagnating in pools on the roadway or in potholes creating an unhealthy and hazardous environment.  This was compounded by the irregular cleaning by private landlords and the Council, of the road surfaces and drainage channels they were responsible for maintaining, causing the build-up of dirt, blockage of drainage channels and obscuring of road markings, including yellow lines making enforcement difficult.  In addition, concerns were highlighted relating to the lack of signage on the service road to indicate who was responsible for managing which area, along with the lack of clear boundary markers and adequate street lighting creating health and safety risks for pedestrian access at the entrance and exists to the main road.

Concerns were also expressed, given the issues highlighted, relating to anti-social behaviour and criminality taking place in the service road areas, including drug use, alcohol consumption, noise and disorder, defecation and urination adjacent to stairwells, doorways and spaces used by local residents including children and workers from the local shops.

In seeking to highlight these issues, Mr Bunn felt that improved sight lines, lighting and design were all issues requiring attention with the petitioners calling on the Council to consider undertaking a programme of small, planned improvements to address the health, safety and wellbeing of residents and workers in the area working in robust partnership with relevant land owners and managing agents to ensure they were also aware and delivered the necessary duty of care to ensure Brent’s communities and town centres were able to thrive.

In response, Councillor Muhammed Butt thanked Mr Bunn for attending Cabinet in order to ensure the views of those supporting the petition were presented.  As a way forward, he advised he would be willing to meet on site with representatives of the petitioners, relevant Cabinet Members and officers to explore what could be done to address the concerns highlighted and to hold other land owners and managing agents to account for the land they owned, with it noted that officers had already visited the site, prior to the meeting, for an initial assessment of any enforcement action required.  The concerns raised in relation to lighting and signage would also be passed on to officers to see what further action could be taken in support with reference also made to the links that could be established as part of the “Don’t Mess with Brent” campaign in tackling fly tipping & waste disposal in order to hold perpetrators to account and potential use of CCTV to support enforcement action. In responding to the uncertainty residents had identified over who owned the service road, Councillor Butt confirmed that the Council owned and managed the car park, with the remainder of the service road being privately owned. In concluding his response, Councillor Butt ended by once again thanking Mr Bunn for taking the time to ensure Cabinet were aware of the views and concerns being expressed by local residents and assured the petitioners of the commitment to continue engaging on the issues raised.