Issue - meetings

The Committee received a report from the Enforcement Officer.

 

Councillor Holland commented via email (ref needle finds P32, lines 12-25) the following streets were not in Castle Ward: Chesterton Rd, Mitcham's Corner and Thompsons Lane. WCAC commented there was a difference between city council and county council ward boundaries that may account for the discrepancy.

 

The report outlined an overview of City Council Refuse and Environment and Streets and Open Spaces service activity relating to the geographical area served by the West Area Committee.  The report identified the reactive and proactive service actions undertaken in the previous quarter, including the requested priority targets, and reported back on the recommended issues and associated actions. It also included key officer contacts for the reporting of waste and refuse and public realm issues.

 

The following were suggestions for Members on what action could be considered for priority within the West Area for the upcoming period.

 

Continuing priorities

 

Number	Priority details
1	Enforcement and City Ranger patrols in the City Centre to address issues of illegally deposited trade waste and littering. This priority has been included as a continuation to balance the high standard of trade waste management and litter patrols already existing in the West/Central area and to continue to build upon this work further.
2	Dog warden patrols to target irresponsible dog owners on Midsummer Common patrols are planned to focus on this area at key times and to gather intelligence / speak to dog owners about the issues in the area, dog fouling continues to be an issue in this area and officers recommend further works are done on the open space. .

 

New priorities

 

Number	Priority details
3	Enforcement patrols to address abandoned vehicles in the Castle Ward.

 

The Committee discussed the following issues:

       i.          Sharps bin locations would be reviewed in future.

     ii.          Suggested following up with the local health partnership a proposal to make needles retractable for easier disposal and to reduce risk of injuries to people finding/collecting dumped needles. Single use needles were desirable.

   iii.          Referred to Councillor Holland’s point about location of needle finds. If statistics were wrong and needle finds were allocated to the wrong ward, it may lead to the misallocation of resources to an area.

   iv.          Graffiti, broken windows, fly tipping (including hazardous items such as canisters) and litter were citywide issues.

    v.          Blood left in public toilets by drug users.

   vi.          Abandoned bikes and cars, particularly around the CB1 railway station and Lammas Land

 

In response to Members’ questions the Enforcement Officer said the following:

       i.          Enforcement Officers looked for and investigated issues such as fly tipping. Evidence was sought and fines imposed where possible. Forty two Section 47 notices had been issued regarding inappropriate disposal of trade waste.

     ii.          Blood in public toilets should be reported to council officers for clean-up.

   iii.          Churchill was the contractor who looked after public toilets on behalf of the City Council, except for Drummer Street, which was managed by a private contractor.

 

Action Point: Enforcement Officer to confirm who is responsible for cleaning of Drummer Street public toilets. Also if there are signs saying this is the responsibility of the City Council (WCAC advised premises are maintained by private contractor).

 

   iv.          A review of the Streets and Open Spaces Service was in place currently. This affected the Ranger Service who were one Ranger short at present, but the vacancy would be held in status quo (no action to fill or remove post) until the service review finished at the end of March 2018.

    v.          Offensive graffiti was removed within two hours of being reported. Other types were cleaned when possible. This was standard operating procedure already. The council kept a database of tags (ie signatures) to pass onto the police to be used in evidence.

   vi.          Mechanisms were already in place for targeted patrols to look for (used) needles, and the Rapid Response Team to clean them up. Making this a WCAC priority would not lead to faster action (as it was already) but could take resources away from other work.

 vii.          Tags were put on suspected abandoned bikes to say they should be removed within seven days or they would be seized.

viii.          A number of vehicles were reported as abandoned in Castle Ward as residents did not like other peoples’ cars being legally parked in front of their properties.

 

Following discussion, Members unanimously resolved to approve priorities for action as below (amended in bold/struck through text):

       i.          Enforcement and City Ranger patrols in the City Centre

·       Also to include fly tipping (investigation and clean up).

     ii.          Dog warden patrols

   iii.          Enforcement patrols to address abandoned bicycles in the West/Central area vehicles in the Castle Ward