Any comments for my meeting with Veolia managers tomorrow?

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Permalink Reply by Liz on June 15, 2011 at 13:53

A very useful morning spent with Veolia managers, Fabrice Bouchon and Jean Francois Moreau, Chris Collings from waste management and David Cook who is the 'village manager' i.e. the chap looking after Harringay and St Ann's wards. They met with myself, David Schmitz and Karen Alexander (Gina was also invited but was forced to cancel at the last minute, unfortunately), Osbawn and surprise guest, Glyn Kelly from Harringay SNT. En route, we also picked up Ian Sygrave of the LCSP who joined us for part of the walk and talk.

We raised all the points below and I passed a copy of all the comments to both councillors and Veolia. We walked the length of Harringay, taking in Colina Mews, Harringay Gardens and St Margaret's Avenue. All the points raised were received and discussed at length. 

Some immediate questions were answered re the weeds. Spraying has begun in the east and will continue for the next month, no firm date for this area. It was accepted that a first spray should have been done earlier and will be next year. We visited many of the places highlighted and particular attention was also paid to Duckett which is having real problems with dumping. Additional bags left by wheelie bins should be taken away from front gardens and we made the point about why leaving wheelie bins in the path was a bad idea. HMOs and the problems they experience with waste were graphically illustrated by a visit to a certain notorious Green Lanes landlord, who came out to speak to us about why there were piles of stinking waste and no bins. He was promised a return visit. Another property in St M's Avenue also helped to illustrate the problems of waste in multi-occupancy dwellings. 

We also passed on all the positive comments re cleaning. Many of the problems such as purple bags and delay in collecting fly tipping were down to teething problems with systems but they assured us that things were in in hand now although there may be hiccups. At every stage, they emphasised how important it was to let them know of problems as soon as possible, including non-collection of waste.

On the topic of workers pay and conditions, they remain the same as under Enterprise and they pay their workers the London Living wage. There are still a number of agency staff but they are recruiting permanent staff. We raised the issue of the depots and they are holding meetings with relevant folk about the use of the depots by their staff.

Overall, it was clear that the Veolia staff are ready to engage and listen to residents and have a flexible approach to making things work. I'd like to have more informal walkabouts as and when problems are highlighted. Hopefully, this will be part of a fruitful process of engagement between residents, contractors and the council. In the meantime, use the report a problem button, raise issues here and take photos! 

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on June 15, 2011 at 14:15

Well done!

I hope that, in between conversations, you managed to squeeze in a few moments for a couple of photos. Especially of "a certain notorious Green Lanes landlord" surrounded in glorious colour by his bags of stinking garbage.

I take your points about people not having the time to commit to endless meetings and committees. Although regular walkabouts in every part of Haringey may not be feasible. Perhaps there are helpful alternatives. An edited podcast?

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Permalink Reply by Liz on June 15, 2011 at 14:26

Actually I only took one and it wasn't of the notorious landlord, I'd already had a go at him to his face and I didn't fancy trying a photo. He's probably not a very nice man. I did take one of a classic nightmare front garden probably soon to be on Flickr! 

Oh the P word again...keeps coming back to me :)

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Permalink Reply by Nilgun Canver on June 16, 2011 at 4:06

Hi Liz, thanks for arranging this. I was going to arrange it through the GLSG but you beat me to it. Any how, I am glad you found it productive. Love Clean London is lead by Veolia and Haringey is the lead partner. In the next 3 or 4 moths the relevant technology will arrive to Haringey which will enable residents to report dumped rubbish or a problem area through taking photos and sending them to Veolia.  I'll provide some details on this.

 

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Permalink Reply by Sapphireblue on June 15, 2011 at 15:28

This may b too late but, the old dental surgery in our road (basically) a Nissan hut) has been converted into FIVE bedsits without planning of course. No provision for rubbish,which was going out on the street. After numerous residents complaints,rubbish no longer on street (where gone not clear as no garden front or back. Nothing happened yet re our complaints re flagrant floating of planning, but D Lammy contacted.

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Permalink Reply by Liz on June 15, 2011 at 15:56

Hi SB, we did pay a visit to the dental surgery and David Schmitz seemed well aware of the problems. We talked about the waste issue and also wondered where it was going...redistributed to nearby litter bins perhaps?...and what the dentist did to remove their waste in the past. Anyway, we did take it in on our trek across Harringay

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on June 15, 2011 at 16:01

As a general point, Planning officers are supposed to contact Waste Management and ask for their comments on the waste arrangements for proposed new developments. At least in a few instances this system has fallen down badly. ( Here's an example in Avenue Road! )

So if you're concerned about a local application, as you read through the online documents, it's worth looking hard at the proposals for waste storage and collection. Residents in nearby properties will sometimes know more about likely problems - and be able to include this information in their objections. And/or pass it on to ward councillors.

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Permalink Reply by Harringay SNT on June 15, 2011 at 16:04

Liz

Thanks for organsing this, Glyn found it very useful and his legs are worn out!!

Jono

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Permalink Reply by Karen Alexander on June 16, 2011 at 14:32

Liz, thank you for organising this meeting with Veolia - it was incredibly useful and hopefully will enble Veolia to iron out initial teething problems.  I was really impressed by the way they were really open to engaging with residents to sort the gremlins out.

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