Agenda item

(Director of Neighbourhoods) To consider and note the Enforcement Activity for 2017/18.

Members agreed to bring forward item 13, Environmental Enforcement Activity Annual Report 2017/18.

The Environment and Neighbourhoods Manager, R Gardiner, presented the annual report for the period 2017/18, which summarised enforcement activity that had been carried out by the Council’s Environment and Neighbourhoods (EN) Team. Fly-tipping incidents currently took up the majority of the EN Team’s time and such incidents were on the increase, as detailed in this report. Much of the waste fly-tipped was commercial in origin, and there were areas across the District consistently being targeted, one of which was Stapleford Abbotts. Appendix A of the report listed fly-tipping / waste prosecutions between 1 April 2017 to 5 March 2018. From April 2018 legislation would also allow the Council to prosecute the registered keeper of a vehicle seen disposing of litter from that vehicle. Penalty charge notices (PCNs) could be issued and the fee would be rising from £75 to £100. The Council had run campaigns with the Cleaner Essex Group to push owners into disposing of their rubbish correctly. Promotion of the current campaign ‘Your Rubbish, Your Responsibility’ was ongoing and there was a short video on YouTube to view. Many rogue traders offered to dispose of people’s waste, but it was important for residents to check that the waste carrier was legitimate. The ‘Crime Not To Care’ campaign specifically highlighted the dangers when this was not undertaken and that people would be prosecuted by the Council if their waste was subsequently fly-tipped. Essex County Council audited waste carriers so it was safe to use this list. The Council was just starting to do this and was working with one company with a view to expanding on this. It had also begun to carry out spot checks on vehicles and could ‘stop’ any suspect vehicles in the District.

Noise complaints were the second most frequent problems the EN Team would investigate. This was not an easy subject for officers to handle. The Council’s role in resolving noise nuisance was difficult but could make a significant difference to the neighbour who being subjected to unreasonable noise. Catching noise nuisance in operation was the challenge and officers were on call to deal with complaints when they were reported. The EN Team would provide advice and try to resolve most noise complaints informally. Noise abatement notices could and had been served on noisy premises and cases escalated to a formal caution when required. EN officers were also involved in other neighbour nuisance issues, such as smoke, dust, odour, dog fouling, litter and light nuisance. The EN Team was also involved in licensing issues. Such work could involve the monitoring of taxi drivers’ licences to ensure these were all in order, and to help eliminate unlicensed taxi drivers, as much as possible.

Unauthorised encampments (UE) generated much concern to residents nearby and when they were reported, the EN Team gave them priority. All UE that were on Council owned land were visited by the EN Team on the first day of their occupation. This enabled the process of eviction to be started as soon as possible. Officers normally took the paperwork down to the Courts themselves to get the proceedings started without delay. The Council did liaise with Essex Police but usually they would not use legislation at their disposal immediately, as the UE would be more likely to move onto another site. However, if anti-social behaviour or evidence of fly-tipping by the UE was reported, the police would use s61 powers to evict the travellers, who would face prosecution if they returned.

Councillor N Bedford asked about the use of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) and that the Council had set the fine at £200 but the maximum levied could be up to £400, so could this be revised. The EN Manager said that a FPN was normally issued for a small infringement, i.e. two to three bags of rubbish. The risk was that if this was increased to £400 then it would be make it more difficult for individuals to pay as they might not be able to afford a higher fine. A FPN was issued so the Council could deal with the problem / infraction quickly. Councillor N Bedford said that some people could be fly-tipping in different areas several times a day so he thought the FPN should be increased to £300. The EN Manager replied that he could look into increasing the fine and report back to the Neighbourhoods SC, which was agreed.

Councillor R Morgan said that fly-tipping was worse in rural areas with incidences happening every week. Officers were very good at investigating and if the perpetrators were caught then the courts were taking the issue seriously.

Councillor J H Whitehouse commented that many noise problems were because houses were not insulated properly and were these problems mostly reported for council properties or private ones. The EN Manager replied that it was mostly for council properties, especially blocks of residential flats, but some new builds, which had met the regulations by using thick carpet. If the flooring was then changed to a wooden floor, more noise would be generated. Poor insulation could also be a problem. Noise nuisances created tensions between neighbours, but there were neighbours that were unreasonable.

Councillor J H Whitehouse asked if fly-tipping was increasing because of the Essex Recycling Centres having tighter procedures in place. The EN Manager said that London boroughs also had stricter regulations and that statistically this was hard to prove. People needed to take responsibility for their own waste and carry out checks on any waste carrier they were considering using to minimise hiring rouge traders who might then fly-tip their waste.

Councillor M Sartin asked if the Council dealt with all fly-tips in the District. The EN Manager confirmed this was the case, except those reported to the Council that were on land owned by the City of London Corporation.

Councillor M Sartin asked if the Council received intelligence on UE, to which the EN Manager replied that colleagues in other authorities would pass on information and there was also the Farmers Action Panel, which helped to warn people.

Councillor H Brady thanked the EN officers for their work but that they were not able to overcome the fly-tipping problem. Local residents would be pleased that cameras were being used where fly-tipping was prevalent but the fly-tippers were still not being caught enough. The EN Manger said that it was evident that some of the fly-tippers were organised criminals because of the extremes they went to, to avoid detection / prosecution.

Councillor J Jennings asked if the Council had more success with intelligence-led investigations, to which the EN Manager replied that officers did gather evidence from fly-tips and they had managed to track waste back to where it had originated.

Councillor N Bedford asked for an update on the formal caution the Council had issued in relation to the breach of an abatement notice when the duty EN officer had witnessed a loud party in the early hours of the morning but complaints persisted. The EN Manager said that options would include instigating court proceedings, and if a council tenant then possible eviction.

Councillor M Sartin asked how many officers were in the EN Team. There were seven officers, which included the EN Manager and the Neighbourhood Response Officer. The District was divided into three geographical areas and comprised three area officers.

            Agreed:

            The Assistant Director (Technical Services) to liaise with the EN Manager and report on the impact of raising the FPN charge from £200 to £300.