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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.