Ding ding: Claralou's overgrown vegetation versus Council, Round 2

clare
when you phone the council dont forget to tell them that you have seen young children playing in and around it and you have GRAVE concerns for their safety !!! children have been known to die in abandoned fridges and freezers ( if able i would be inclined to turn it so a small child couldn't do so )
also contact local newspaper with details maybe they will high light the Flytipping issues along with the safety aspect after the children are just about to go on 6 weeks of school holidays with nothing better to do then explore

 

They've phased out the fridge freezers that can't be opened from the inside now, for that very reason.

 

Hi ClaraLou
I have been reading this post, then feeling I wish I won the lottery and we could have a GC area to live in , I know other councills have put gates in to stop this, Liverpool being a good example and it has realy cut down on crime and dumping stuff.
I had a small lane running along one side of my house (3 houses ago) and the manky family that moved in across the way and just ruined it for all of us, dumped a old hoover I went out and told the son to shift it which he never so I picked it up and walked up the path and threw it on to their drive ( I had just had enough) . And the the couple in the 80's that lived next to them gave me the thumbs up at his window with all the racket that was going on, finaly months later through harrasing people constantily they got kicked out we all felt like throwing a party.

I would bombard the local council and your MP and send Freedom of information letters asking so many questions which are very time cosuming that will make then stand up and listen.
And to think they moaned about your climers being overgrown no wonder you left it to block out what was at the back of you.

Spruce

 

yes but they can still get trapped if it was to be pushed over and there is no way that they would be able to turn it back over

 

That dont work.
Councils employ and train people to be very nice, they listen to your problem and then forget it. They give you a complaint number.
They even agree with you, that is the most annoying part.

I'm sure I've been put on a moany old git list at MBC, as they just agree with me and do nothing.

 

Good point Kaz.

 

Getting back to basics, because many rear service/access roads are still owned by developers/councils/housing associations/etc. and have not been 'adopted' by the highways authority, they are not necessarily public rights of way. If you are an owner of ex-local authority housing stock, then the 'Council' are usually toothless in attempting to impose the same tenancy conditions on bought properties, as those they still own/control.

So is that rear access/service road adopted by the local highway authority?, plus have you checked with your local councils' Rights Of Way officer ?

 

'The reason the council has got involved is that they're obstructing the pavement'

Are they taking the ****. Stuff like this makes my blood boil
Hope you sort it soon claralou

 

I wouldn't. Fly tipping is not a criminal offence, you would be seen as a time waster.
Fly tipping is a civil offence.
By all means call the council if any one dumps anything, its not your job to remove it, but I can see where your neighbours were coming from.

If there is a plain wall (as there is now, paint not counted) and there is a climbing plant growing / hanging over it it may look nice to you, as its covering the bare wall, but its the "odd thing" on a bare wall, so once one odd thing is there, then another thing will be added.

You could offer to let the council install a CCTV camera in your garden for a short while looking at the area. If you do it, you have to notify the council, put up notices etc.

 

The dumping predates the plants by a long way. It's the dead end that's the problem, as we said when the council approved the ill thought out development that left us with one. Now that my wall is cleared, it will be a perfect surface for graffiti, which always encourages further poor behaviour.

To be perfectly frank, I no longer give a toss. The plants have been removed and as far as I'm concerned the place can continue its long descent into rack and ruin. I stopped using my back gate a long time ago as the experience was just too depressing, so I shall just turn a blind eye and concentrate on decamping somewhere else. Sad to say, the best thing you could do with certain parts of this area is put an electric fence around them and do a quick air drop each week consisting of Big Macs, fries and baseball caps. The inhabitants would be perfectly happy and the rest of us wouldn't have to suffer.

 

I don't care if people are plant haters but come on ....a few stray plants have got to look better than junk and dog doins even to the chavviest ....maybe not ....it makes my blood run over ....councils eh...don't you just love um

 

I think I'd take the following approach.

1. Make a formal report to the department for environmental health, or in the case of your council, it is probably called something like 'The grand department for the environment, cultural diversity and the inclusive health of the environment and ecology of social inclusion'. Tell them you've seen rats there, and a few times you've caught young kids playing with discarded hypodermic needles.

2. Phone the Fire Brigade (the non-emergency number of course) and consult them about your concerns that all the dumped rubbish is an obstruction to fire appliances in the event of one of the houses catching fire when the flames from a burning twoc spread too far.

3. Phone the council and make a formal complaint, ask them to confirm that they will be happy to pay compensation for any loss of earnings through ill health, or any other losses caused by their negligence in the matter of maintenance of the area. That's assuming of course it is theirs to maintain, if they say it isn't, then get that in writing, team up with your neighbours, and stick a big steal gate on the end of the alley.

 

Yes, that's exactly it, Pete. It's a completely worthless procedure.

The local police have a similar system; there are now 'Community Officers' who come around, pretend to listen to your concerns and then ignore them. Until you realise that they are there simply so that you don't reach people who might - perhaps - do something, you are stuffed. When we had a problem house nearby, we were told that nothing could be done, because no one had rung up and complained. It turned out that quite a lot of people had done so, but hadn't realised the importance of phoning the right person and extracting a 'police incident number'. You have to collect them, like green stamps. When you have a book full, the cops might take you seriously and come out occasionally. Or at least give you a free coffee maker.

 

Hello Clueless

Thank you for your suggestions. Actually, OH has already done some of the things you've suggested. He has made a formal complaint and he has said that, since several cars have been burnt out behind our house over the last couple of years, the remains might well contain dioxins, which are apparently highly carcinogenic - more of a problem than asbestos. He's written tons and tons of angry e-mails, and the result is that he's worked himself into a froth and isn't sleeping properly. Meanwhile, the council doesn't give a toss and simply passes the buck. My approach will be rather different. If I can bear to go out there, I'll simply post regular photo updates of our tippy access road to the council jobsworth and his boss. Nothing like getting pictures of doo-doos, used nappies and other personal items arriving on your desk every monday morning to get your week off to a lousy start.