Front Gardens as rubbish tips

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Liz on October 10, 2013 at 10:43

The Environmental Protection Act enables the Council to require occupiers and landowners to remove waste that has been deposited illegally. The Council can also take steps under the Town and Country Planning Act to require land to be cleared up if its condition has a negative effect on the amenity of the local area.

From the council website. 

The key here is has a negative effect on the amenity of the local area - thus someone who puts a few items out before going to the tip isn't going to affect anyone in the long term. A builder who is developing a property and clearly needs a skip but doesn't get one storing dangerous levels of waste in the front garden for weeks at a time is creating a negative effect. Ditto a house/landlord that uses a front garden to dump without any intention of clearing it to the tip Another side effect is pest invasion, namely rats, can result from this kind of behaviour as well as being a safety hazard both to visitors to the property or, in the case of the above house, even to those passing it. 

So my post is aimed at dealing with front gardens that are used long term where a skip can and should be used or ones which landlords see as a sort of waste disposal area because they are too cheap to get things taken away.

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Permalink Reply by Bethany on October 10, 2013 at 11:00

Okay, thanks for clarifying...Although it does seem like a slightly grey area.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on October 10, 2013 at 11:24

I agree with both of you. The two extremes of the spectrum are pretty much common sense. But there seems a grey middle. Perhaps this might help.

Member Enquiry (Sent by me to Haringey at 11:12 am. Copied to the councillors for Harringay and St Ann's wards; to Lyn Garner, Director of Environment; and John Bevan "cabinet" councillor.

Please see the discussion thread on Harringay Online Community website. http://bit.ly/15q1ze9 The particular issue under discussion is: how far it is permissible/reasonable for residents to use their front gardens/yard or similar for the temporary storage of waste? And in what circumstances would this be considered unacceptable by the Council and could lead to legal action?

 

Contributors to the discussion thread have, very reasonably, pointed out that they will reluctantly use their front garden/yard as temporary holding space e.g. when works are underway and they are gradually moving decorating or other waste from their homes.

 

On the discussion thread two extremes are described. 

 

Action is plainly needed where rubbish is piled up; doesn't get removed, and even starts to encroach onto the pavement. (Sometimes by landlords or owners who do this repeatedly.)

 

The other end of the spectrum is where residents use their front garden/yard as a very temporary holding area. I assume examples might be: awaiting a Veolia collection; or en route to the Reuse & Recycling Centres at the weekend. I also assume the Council would not be concerned about this and leave it to residents' common sense.

 

But the middle range is uncertain. One resident has now asked: "What are the rules exactly?" 

 

Can you please arrange for someone to read the discussion thread and post a helpful, practical and authoritative response on Harringay Online website. If this information is already set out on the Council's website, please provide the link.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Alan Stanton

Tottenham Hale ward councillor

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on October 10, 2013 at 1:57

Apologies Liz, because you - sort of - invited me to comment in this thread, and so far I haven't picked up your specific invitations. 

I must admit that I found it hard to know where to start since "Finsbury Park Ranger" seems so ready to dismiss the possible value of Council staff.  Where do you begin a dialogue about a range of services with someone who says the people providing them "probably deserve"  to lose their jobs. And who thinks solutions to problems are "pretty simple".

Blame All; or Praise All. Not a choice I can accept. Or at least not for very long. Although increasingly there are situations where the enormity of failure by the Council leadership and some senior officers is breathtaking.

(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on October 12, 2013 at 19:59

I am not a practising lawyer, but it's not my reading of this section that it's restricted only to front gardens. (Although your previous post did say you were complaining about "a tip front garden.")

A very brief websearch took me to this Best Practice Guidance issued in January 2005. It does specifically mention frontages. But it also contains rear gardens among its case studies.  So unless this has been subsequently amended the answer you got appears inaccurate.

Although I'd guess that not everyone shares the same idea of what constitutes a tip rear garden. Also please bear in mind that a local council will have to convince a court.

Anyway can I suggest FPR, that you contact your ward councillor, copy them your photos and ask them to take this up. This is the very best time to get their cooperation as the London borough elections are in 221 days. (Figure taken from the very handy countdown clock on the website of Barnet Blogger Mr Mustard. It shows the days, hours, minutes and seconds ticking away.)

(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)

(P.S. I've had it confirmed that Kober's Council  does plan a cut of over £200,000 to the "Frontline" Environment Service in the budget for next year. After the election; what a surprise. True this is due to government cuts. But at the same time there always seems enough money for some consultants; a few vanity projects; and stupid decisions like Pinkham Way.)

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on October 23, 2013 at 14:40

On 10 October I asked Haringey's Environment Department to read this discussion thread and give some helpful, practical and authoritative advice. Where information is already set out on the Council's website, I asked them for the link. I'm pleased to pass on that advice - received today from Mr Tony Chapman. This is what he wrote:

 

"The Council web site also has information on rubbish in front gardens which can be found at http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/environment_and_transport/refuse-r...."

"The Neighbourhood Action Team does take steps to reduce the impact of unkempt front gardens on local residents and community as a whole. Our intervention is generally triggered when we receive a complaint from someone affected by the state of a front garden, usually a neighbour or someone living close to the problem but we will be proactive ourselves when we identify unsatisfactory situations. The legislation we use requires that before we can intervene, we must be reasonably certain the front garden issue is 'detrimental to the local amenity' and therefore local complaints are useful in supporting intervention."

"However, we also take a pragmatic approach while dealing with these front gardens. When officers visit to assess the issue, we do take into consideration why rubbish is present and how long it has been there. Property alterations, decorating, gardening all produce some waste that needs to be disposed of, we have no objection to this rubbish being in front gardens for as short a period of time as possible, to avoid the likelihood of someone making a formal complaint."

"Our main goal is to ensure the issue is resolved in a reasonable time. In most cases this can be achieved during our initial conversation with the person responsible for the rubbish. We understand residents do on occasion need to put rubbish in front gardens prior to its collection but there are no rules to advise how long it is required to be there before it becomes 'detrimental'. Therefore, each issue is investigated on its own merits, and the severity or impact of the issue would dictate if the problem can be dealt with informally or by Statutory Notice. If Notice is served, the resident has a minimum of 28 days to comply with our instructions to clear the rubbish, the process is clearly not an overnight solution and therefore allows residents ample time to act before the issue is escalated to formal court action."

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