Minutes

You Said

Our Response

A resident expressed concern over the alarming number of waste-related incidents – 296 in total. Fly tipping, in particular, is becoming increasingly prevalent, with bulky items such as mattresses being dumped. He noted a possible link between these incidents and Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and thus asked if there is a plan to differentiate such incidents between general resident behaviour, and potentially irresponsible landlord practices.

Response from: Corporate Director for Neighbourhoods & Regeneration

In the meeting, the Corporate Director for Neighbourhoods and Regeneration mentioned that the HMO licensing schedule has recently been reviewed, with more stringent measures introduced. After the meeting, they added that this was presented to Cabinet on 13 October, which demonstrates the Council’s commitment to addressing the concern more robustly. As of now, the team is awaiting confirmation on whether the proposals were approved.

A resident living on Connaught Road raised several issues, including street lighting and safety. For example, they reported that the area is poorly lit – this contributes to a sense of insecurity, particularly because of individuals engaging in substance misuse nearby. This has made the resident fearful of returning home when it’s dark.

Response from: Highways Management

The Highways Management Team confirmed that a night scout of Connaught Road was carried out on 16 October 2025.

The contractor reported that all streetlights were working, although some of the light was being obscured from reaching the ground by tree foliage.

As of now, two of the lamp columns are out of light. Our contractor will be attending to inspect and repair. With the trees bare of foliage at present, there should be a great spread of light. The trees of Connaught Road were pollarded (cut back) in 2023/24 and are not scheduled for further planned maintenance until 2027/28. We will monitor the situation in Spring when the foliage returns and consider if reactive tree maintenance is required to improve any lighting issues that may arise.

The Highways Management team also said they would liaise with the Community Safety team about the anti-social behaviour. Specifically, Community Safety will be asked to review reports and evidence of anti-social behaviour for Connaught Road and confirm if it would be beneficial to increase the lighting levels to design out crime.

The Connaught Road resident also spoke about the frequent presence of temporary traffic lights, particularly on Harlesden High Street, and that the end date for the roadworks (Feb 2026) is prolonged – especially as more time (approx. 30 minutes) needs to be allocated to journeys as a result. The resident emphasised that this has been a huge inconvenience.

Response from: Highways Management

Temporary traffic lights are often required to facilitate safe working along the public highway and are mainly used for utility repairs when work at, or in proximity, to junctions. Officers review all traffic management submitted by utility contractors for planned works and only agree to the use of temp signals if other options are not considered feasible.  We are not aware of temporary lights being used on Harlesden High Street and will investigate if further information is supplied.

The carriageway reconstruction works, envisaged to take 22 weeks to complete, has been postponed until the New Year. The work involves the complete reconstruction of the carriageway and drainage, which is why the works are 22 weeks. The closure will require buses to be diverted, all other traffic is not permitted to use the high street, so the impact is not thought to be disruptive. The above postponement is to enable Cadent (gas contractor) to carry out gas connection works during November. There are currently no works taking place on Harlesden High Street.