Forum Topic

Filthy greasy Acton

Acton  High Street has Been particularly these last two weeks And what really stands out is the amount of grease  and cooking oil that leaks out of the plastic bags piled around lamp posts, trees, telephone boxes and bike racks. And  chewing gum !!!Just where do you start. The council has to start engaging with the commercial properties, eateries, etc. In a much more imaginative way.. They have penalties but obviously it’s they’re working. As a starter how about Giving prizes/ Publicity to the most improved premises, encouraging  businesses to clean up in front of their own premises, Jet washing particularly  bad areas. Encourage competition between businesses, give out small grants or assistance to newly open businesses, have a dedicated street officer. I’m sure the general public And the council can come up with many more ideas.Yes I know they all saying we haven’t got the money, that’s why they have to encourage more community spirit And social responsibility.I know we are not Chiswick High Road, But they must be doing something right.

Jeremy Beckett ● 2756d45 Comments

Going back to the original post:Are the businesses being checked so that they are disposing of their waste in the best way - and regarding filthy greasy Acton - Cooking Oil.http://westlondonwaste.gov.uk/reuse-guide/cooking-oil-2/I watched someone last week at Stirling Road tipping their used cooking oil into the container.Here is a 2008 article which mentions the system that LBE set up when Thames Water noted that they had a tremendous number of sewer blockages to deal with in West London due to fats solidified in the sewers.https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/london-borough-offers-free-waste-oil-collections/

Philippa Bond ● 2742d

This is why I liked www.fixmystreet.com.  It was easy to use, the map was easy etc and other people could check whether something had been reported and when as well as you yourself.  Your report was also sent to the right Council including District or County and to TfL if the problem was their responsibility.

Philippa Bond ● 2743d

There is a systematic failure on behalf of Ealing Council, residents report weeks of chasing up and hear nothing in response. As for the local Councillors you only get lip service waste of time contacting them...

Nicolas Ozegovic ● 2744d

Why not see if you can get a response by reporting on "My Account" on the LBE website?  Or your Councillors?  This is when you need some good local guerrilla gardeners.

Philippa Bond ● 2744d

I have been using the 24/7 app but woukd agree the response is slow.Better than nothing I guess, maybe thngs will improve when the council gets rid of AMEY and brings street cleaning and rubbish collection in house. We are about to lose a lovely sapling tree in our street as it is now leaning badly despite our efforts to support it after vandals removed the wooden supports. I have reported this twice in the last week - no response so far!

Jean F Fernandez ● 2746d

I went to the councillors surgery yesterday to complain about the state of street cleaning in acton. The councillor asked me to download the "Ealing Council 24/7" app which i think is the "I Love Clean Streets" App with a different skin on it. I will try it and see if the response times are different to the clean streets app. "I Love Clean Streets" gets a very slow response. I log cases consistenly (8 in the last week for my street) but they take a long time to get completed. I had a street cleaner on my street Wednesday and pointed to all the rubbish in the gutters which should be cleaned he gave me a half hearted response. I came back later and it was still in the gutters. I'd previously logged the issue on the app. Not only do they not have enough cleaners on a regular schedule but the ones they do have are lazy! I told the councillor this.

Nathan Macrides ● 2746d

I find that even using the 24/7 app on my phone gets a slow response now.When Streetwatchers was supported reports were actiomed quickly, and we were able to report viaso email or a dsignated telephone number. They responded  by email so it was easy to keep track of things.Using thr 24/7 app gives no feedback which means we have to keep checking to see whether action has been taken.Also there is a problem with the 24/7 system as some things do not fit into their category. There is no way to add anything not on their list!I reported the fact fhat a tree sapling is about to fall over because the tree supports appear to have been broken off leaving only 1 support. I could not to anything but take a photo and send it using the 24/7 app on 23 July. No action has been taken so I sent a report again yesterday. I fear it may be too late to save the sapling.It is a shame we do not have Streetwatchers any more. Fixmystreet was also helpful and we had a quick response back then.

Jean F Fernandez ● 2747d

I think that is why that www.fixmystreet.com wasn't liked by the Council.  It worked very well for me and many others and was easier and more satisfying to use.  It also showed or made it easier to deduct with its usage which properties were repeat offenders...

Philippa Bond ● 2747d

The problem lies with social landlords as they are the ones that rent 1000's of properties, Ealing does not have masses of student renters fact....

Nicolas Ozegovic ● 2747d

Nicolas, you can disagree with me as much as you like but that is what I have seen.Perhaps the student accommodation you are talking about is managed?  Not all of it is or it is managed poorly.  Basically it is anybody whose tenancy has come to an end and who can't or won't take all their stuff with them and the way that the landlord and/or whoever he/she employs to clear/redecorate/manage for re-letting deals with the property.

Philippa Bond ● 2747d

WOT, actual Enforcement and Payment/a Fine perhaps?!!!I need a good lie down.Mind you, more ££££s for Two Houses, Two Jobs, Tory Cuts and his Southall Posse.

Rosco White ● 2747d

That is what I would expect from Ealing they should be chasing flytippers and making them pay...

Nicolas Ozegovic ● 2747d

Nicolas he/ she left there name on a delivery package and the council have chased them  up and hey are paying for the collection .

John Kennedy ● 2747d

Getting back to the mess on the high street, could they have a lockable bins within view of CCTV, that way only the shops would be able to use it.

Janice Evans ● 2747d

How do you know its a landlord.. Rubbish can come from anyone, unless you know the person committing the crime. The fact is that fly tipping costs everyone money, as the Council has to pay the Refuse Company a premium to clear it.

Nicolas Ozegovic ● 2748d

Bollo bridge road some landlord just to dumped a whole flat of rubbish from beds to chairs kitchen pots and pans etc just overnight.

John Kennedy ● 2748d

The dumping of rubbish did get much worse when the recycling waste depot in Sterling Road became fussy about what they would accept and there is a problem with short tenancy rubbish as well, if the waste depot won't take something they are not going to pay to leave it there and they are not going to take it back home are they and the obvious happens it ends up on the roadside. Whoever comes up with these ideas don't think them through or don't care enough.

Janice Evans ● 2748d

Philippa, I have never heard so much "rubbish" in what you have written.. The issues with Ealing has nothing to do with student accomodation! Fly tipping is caused by selfish individuals who don't wish to pay to remove rubbish, it may also be a knock on affect that our local rubbish dump is choose about what they take "No Commercial Waste"  As for law abidding landlords they pay to remove rubbish and charge the tenant out of their deposit when leaving. As for charities they have become choose about what they take so rubbish is rubbish where ever you go....

Nicolas Ozegovic ● 2749d

At this time of year I think there are many changes in tenancy as students go home for the holidays.  They are unable to cope with the amount of "stuff" that they have bought on credit and which they haven't given themselves enough time to sell or donate to charity with all the leaving parties and other socialising that is so important to them.Suddenly it is time to go and many will not have any or enough suitable transport to remove their "stuff".In some cities the universities are working with the charities to help these students to clear their flats and houses.Once the tenants have left whatever they have left becomes commercial waste and will cost the landlord when he wants it cleared.  This is when there is a lot of fly-tipping and excessive waste (a lot of which shouldn't be waste) arises. 

Philippa Bond ● 2749d

Why don't you ask your Councillors?  Or the Chief Executive and other officers of LBE? There is a thread on www.ealingtoday.co.uk that you might find interesting.There have been some good programmes recently about the increasing number of homeless working people. Poor people need cheap food.Once you outsource services you lose a lot of the in-house expertise and you can never depend on self-monitoring.  Then many contracts fail and have to be bailed out. It is a failure of the Tory party that they still dogmatically promote outsourcing.

Philippa Bond ● 2749d

Its impossible to provide for so many arriving over a short time, I'm not really allowed to mention overcrowding on here but that is what's happened and services can no longer cope.

Janice Evans ● 2749d

The people to blame is Ealing Council its failure to properly plan for the increase in local population. Their local plan should have taken into consideration that increasing the density of flats in an area, you will get problems. They need to properly plan and provide services to cope with the addition population. Clearly they collect council tax on these properties and need to budget accordingly whether it be local services like: schools, social services, rubbish collection, highway maintenance etc. The Maladministration of the borough does not help existing residents or the new influx of people looking to set up home.. They can blame everyone else but they are currently in control of Ealing Council they are setting the agenda.

Nicolas Ozegovic ● 2749d

Rosco, you cannot expect one person to reply on behalf of the whole Council, appreciate a lot of people are very unhappy with how services are coping but we were warned of this a long time ago if the increase in population continued at the rate it was.

Janice Evans ● 2750d

Ealing Borough as it is now is too big and it's why they're having problems as the "one fits all" approach can't work when you have such varied demographics. The streets in Ealing Broadway don't seem to be such a mess, so why are they in Acton?

Tania Bapuji ● 2750d

Also, if you are given to careful observation, you will quickly understand that Ealing is run by Southall.

Rosco White ● 2750d

Rosco, Ealing Council thinks that these fast food outlets are good business providing a service!!!I think that Ealing Council should take proper enforcement action to clean up the high street. Once they make examples of the fly tippers the others will get the message. However, the problem we have is that Ealing Council is poorly run they do not represent the people that they serve. LBHF a labour borough has also seen central government cuts an inner city authority is run by people who understand local authority responsibility. Rubbish is collected weekly roads are maintained and cleaned. Developments are in keeping with the enviroment etc.. All you need to do is look carefully at who is representing the people of Ealing a bunch of idiots!!

Nicolas Ozegovic ● 2750d

Maybe I was being unfair comparing with Hillingdon, the population is probably much lower there.

Janice Evans ● 2750d

Oh Dear, "they're" of course, not "their".I must learn not to post in haste.

Rosco White ● 2750d

"Be nice to find out the way Hillingdon Council is run, "....I suspect it's just run efficiently Ms Evans, by people who know what their doing regarding good management of budgets and getting value for money.Yes Mr Jarvis, Acton definitely should revert to having its own Council, the Borough is certainly big enough to justify.Acton will never improve while it is under the thumb of Ealing.All IMHO of course.  :-)

Rosco White ● 2750d

You can keep using the Politicians Trick of answering Questions that were not asked, or change the Subject/bring up new Topics Ms Bond, but unfortunately the Question remains, still is, and I state again, for the THIRD time:-Many other Councils seem to manage their Budgets just fine.Please answer the Question without resorting to "Two Houses, Two Jobs, Tory Cuts" Clr Bell's rhetoric.We have hijacked this thread btw and I won't post about this again.  :-)

Rosco White ● 2750d

If Ealing Council can't manage the whole borough, if the density is too much, then split it up and let Acton have it's own council.

Mark Jarvis ● 2750d

Be nice to find out the way Hillingdon Councul is run, all residents seem extremely happy with everything there., but as you say different problems in each borough.

Janice Evans ● 2750d

What makes you think that all the other Councils have the same density of exactly the same problems?Isn't it true that every time there is a Tory government that they roll back the influence of the state and every time that there is a Labour government that they feel that they have to ameliorate the damage done?  It's not very constructive, is it?  So the figures for those in work look good in the tables and sound good as a soundbite but unfortunately many are not earning enough to keep a roof over their heads.  That's not brilliant.  The biggest cause of rising homelessness is losing your private tenancy.

Philippa Bond ● 2750d

Yes, borrow ever more to pay off your debts. A magical Labour fiscal policy which has proved so devastatingly effective in the past.At what point does one actually try to start paying down ones debt then? Answers on a digital postcard please.And you haven't answered my point anyway, which is that other Councils seem to manage without whingeing?

Rosco White ● 2751d

Yes it is uncomfortable to hear but it is true.https://twitter.com/search?q=%23TalkFutureEaling

Philippa Bond ● 2751d

"..... would easily take care of this"

Rosco White ● 2751d

Existing Rules and Regulations would easily take of this. If there was a will to do so and they were Enforced. And if I hear "Tory Cuts" one more time I'll scream, many other Councils seem to manage their reduced budgets just fine.I'm surprised some on here haven't blamed Trump and/or Brexit on the state of Acton's streets.  ;-)

Rosco White ● 2751d

And everybody else would pitch i adding thee rubbish.  How long before the ubiquitous mattress appears?  Shopkeepers should be encouraged to keep the pavement outside their shops swept clean and to use the appropriate waste and recycling collectors at the hours stipulated.  Our pavements are disgusting and it would be good to see them cleaned on a regular basis.  Does anyone see this happening?At one time LBE organised free collections of cooking oil from restaurants.  Householders can of course take their used cooking oil to the collection point at the Reuse & Recycling Centre in Stirling Road.https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/london-borough-offers-free-waste-oil-collections/

Philippa Bond ● 2751d

The high street is properly disgusting. The council could put large bins at various points along the high street (either on a convenient bit of pavement or in a parking space) and ask the shops to put their black bags in one of these bins which then are emptied twice a week. If the shops don't, they get fined. I would think this would be cheaper than having to go and pick up bin bags randomly off the street. It would also improve the state of the pavements.

Tania Bapuji ● 2752d

http://www.cityharvest.org.uk/

Philippa Bond ● 2754d

Shopkeepers should all have commercial collections for waste shouldn't they?  Is the Council checking up on this?  Some of them also give some of their stock at the end of the day or week to local charities.

Philippa Bond ● 2754d

Perhaps some of the shopkeepers should take a bit more responsibility for the state of the area outside their premises!There is no excuse for putting heaps of rotten fruit, piles of rubbish and cardboard boxes on the pavement. Everyone should make an effort.

Jean F Fernandez ● 2754d

The austerity cuts are causing a lot of problems with the reduction of staff which often means a loss of expertise as well as a reduction in numbers. Perhaps your Councillor is on holiday?  We all have more than one Councillor and maybe you should chase up with ALL of them and if it is a dangerous situation then there is also the Fire Brigade and the Police that you could try - but they are all suffering from cuts.As for the weeds - my street has violets and snapdragons growing in the gutter.  It is also considered good for the environment and us to not go around spraying with weedkiller as was done in the past. That is why you will sometimes see roundabouts that have been planted with wild flower seeds - sometimes by guerrilla gardeners.  The Hogarth Roundabout was absolutely stunning at one time. There was a report just today about a court case being brought in the US against Monsanto - a very very powerful pharmaceutical company.  We soon won't have the protection of the EU laws from some of these chemicals.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardenprojects/8670893/How-to-turn-a-roundabout-into-a-meadow.htmlOne of the Council's biggest and growing problems is and will be the number of elderly needing care when their children if they have them are expected to work for more and more years as pension age increases. With families now more split up than ever across the world and the country it is harder than ever to stay in touch and help each other - and a lot of families fall apart.

Philippa Bond ● 2754d

Sorry but what do we pay council tax for? Our streets are riddled with weeds and fly tipping. I agree if you drop something you are responsible to dispose of it. However the council have become complacent. I reported dangerous fly tipping including gas cannisters to our councillor o er a month ago and nothing has been done.

Emma Daniels ● 2755d

You do sometimes see someone brushing the pavement outside their home or shop - but it is exceedingly rare.I think we should all be reminded to look after the pavement outside our homes and shops - and REPORT to the Council when there are problems.  After building work and utilities work there are often a lot of paving stones which need to settle down.  If they don't - they can become dangerous and cost us all and the NHS dear.

Philippa Bond ● 2755d

Sadly Acton High Street has been full of filth for quite some time. bags of rubbish, rotten fruit squashed into the pavement, it just seems to get worse.I did suggest a deep clean some time ago to Ealing Council, when I reported as a Streetwatcher, but no action was taken.It is really not a very nice place to visit but it could be much more welcoming with some input from Ealing Council.I cannot believe how massive that development (The Oaks) is going to be. The traffic problems will be much worse along Churchfield Road once it completed and the car park is open!At present I prefer to shop in Ealing Broadway!

Jean F Fernandez ● 2755d

Are they allowed to clean or is it the Councils job, it becomes complicated.The rubbish I would think is their responsibly to keep secure.

Janice Evans ● 2756d