Neighbourhood Governance Note of East Acton Ward Forum Meeting Monday 6 March 2017, 7.30pm at East Acton Primary School, East Acton Lane, Acton W3 7HA Present: Councillors: Kate Crawford (Chair) and Hitesh Tailor. Attendance: 45 residents attended the meeting. Kofi Nyamah Community Management Team, Ealing Council Acting Sergeant James Clarke and PCSO Sandy Cumming East Acton Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) John Stanton and Noura Yamout Safer Communities Team, Ealing Council Mandip Rihal and Allison Forde - Regulatory Services Team, Ealing Council Navdeep Sachdev - Neighbourly Care No. Note Action Point/Information 1. Welcome and Introductions 1.1) Cllr Crawford welcomed all to the meeting and introduced Cllr Tailor and the attending officers and guests. 1.1) Cllr Gavan was not present at this meeting. 2. Request for Any Other Business items 2.1) Cllr Crawford invited residents to provide items of concern to be discussed later in the meeting. These items are noted in item 7. 2.1) 3. Officer reports 3.1) Local policing report from the Safer Neighbourhoods Team (SNT) A/Sgt Clarke provided the report. - The ward s current policing priorities include burglary. The recent Met Trace burglary prevention project has helped reduce reported incidents. Officers continue to raise awareness in hotspot areas. - Reports of thefts from motor vehicles have reduced. - Anti-social behaviour (ASB) is sporadic in the ward, but not a big problem. The team heard of problems on The Vale Estate and following good work with council officers, the perpetrators were evicted from their property. 3.1) East Acton Safer Neighbourhoods Team Unit 11, Europa Studios, Victoria Road, NW10 6ND Tel: (020) 8721 2708 and 07766 804405 Email: EastActon.snt@met.police.uk Non-emergency telephone number: 101 1
- The action counter terrorism campaign (Act) has commenced and the public are urged to report suspicious activity. - The SNT activities of street briefings are ongoing. 3.2) Are burglaries in houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) reported as multiple crime incidents? 3.2) A/Sgt Clarke one crime is recorded if there is a multiple burglary at a HMO property. 3.3) Safer Communities Team John Stanton (JS) and Noura Yamout (NY) provided a report: 3.3) - The team s remit is to work with police and other agencies to deal with issues from crime and ASB both proactively and reactively. - Through partnership work the team can start the eviction process for nuisance tenants, injunctions, noise abatement notices and Acceptable Behaviour Contracts. 3.4) Can a display leaflet with the Safer Communities team, the SNT contact 3.4) JS to investigate. details and other useful telephone numbers be provided to be posted on to community noticeboards? 3.5) Who can deal with abuse of elderly people? 3.5) Cllr Tailor this can be reported to the council s 3.6) Thanks to the councillors for helping to reduce the problems outside of Burghley Towers, but graffiti is now proving to be a problem. Is there something pending to tackle this? 3.7) Licensing the private rented sector/ HMOs Mandip Rihal (MR) and Allison Forde (AF) provided an update about the council s new property licensing schemes. - The council has introduced two licensing schemes to register properties in the borough s private rented sector. All such properties now require to be registered. - One scheme is for houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) and the other is a selective licensing scheme in five wards, for private rented properties. - Outbuildings and HMO properties with fire safety concerns are within the council licensing schemes remit. - Targeted action can be taken if a resident contacts the council with 2 Adult Housing Team or through ward councillors. 3.6) A/Sgt Clarke a lot of partnership work went into reducing issues outside and around Burghley Towers. This work is continuing. 3.7) Property Regulation, Regulatory Services Perceval House, 14-16 Uxbridge Road, Ealing W5 2HL Tel: (020) 8825 6622 Email: propertyregulation@ealing.gov.uk. concerns about a property. 3.8) Is there action taken against poor landlords? This scheme appears to 3.8) MR the law states that local authorities need to
help them? work with landlords. The first interaction with landlords is to set the bar. 3.9) How many landlords have had action taken against them? 3.9) AF at least four prosecutions have taken place, with one of the fines being the highest in London. 3.10) Is there a public register that can be checked? Can poor landlords with serial complaints be checked? 3.10) MR yes, a public register is available. However, there are protections regarding personal data. 3.11) If there are more than three floors in a property, it appears that action can now be taken by the council? 3.11) MR changes to the law now put properties with more than three floors within the council s remit. 3.12) What is the timescale for tackling a concern about a property? 3.12) MR inspections can occur within five days. There is an opportunity for landlords to make contact with the council. Up to three months are allowed for compliance. 3.13) Do the licensing schemes apply to AirBnB? 3.13) Cllr Tailor there is now legislation for a 90-day limit for AirBnB lettings in London. It is difficult to check although potentially homeowners could be in breach of mortgage conditions. 3.14) Lots of problems relate to waste from HMOs. What can be done to put conditions on a property s waste management? 3.14) AF all the licences have waste management conditions on them. Such as having a suitable amount of waste receptacles. This is a new scheme and will have high-profile inspections. - Cllr Tailor - most landlords are smaller operators that require advice on how to manage homes as they may only own one or two properties. 3.15) Does the council have a record of who manages properties? 3.15) MR officers carry out street surveys and also 3.16) There was a general discussion about waste collections, with a resident presenting photographs to councillors of missed waste collections. 4. Notes of the last ward forum held on 11 July 2016 3 contact managing agents. 3.16) Councillors to investigate the issue of missed collection as part of their casework. 4.1) The notes were reviewed for matters arising. 4.1) 4.2) Item 3.8 cyclists riding on the pavement near Goodhall Street 4.2) To be discussed further at the SNT ward panel. 4.3) Item 4.3 traffic calming in North Acton Road Is there any further news with the request for more traffic calming in this road? Will the zebra crossing be repainted? Acton Road by Harold Road. 4.4) Item 4.11 litter in North Acton Square This area is not looked after well and this leads to more litter. 4.3) Cllr Crawford suggested awaiting the outcome of the introduction of Keep Clear markings in North 4.4) Cllr Crawford while the development is ongoing there will be some litter.
4.5) Item 7.6 - Transport for London (TfL) land in Western Avenue adjacent to Westcott Park Estate This land is being used for vehicle parking. Has an application been made to the council for this? 4.5) To be investigated. 5. Tackling loneliness and isolation - supporting older people 5.1) Navdeep Sachdev presented on the work of Neighbourly Care: - Neighbourly Care specialises in working with older and vulnerable people and currently run 16 hubs/ daycentres around the borough. - Members are encouraged to set activities, which include health talks, exercise classes, bingo and green space activities. - There is a befriending service for those that are housebound to provide social contact. Diseases are more likely to be caught by people who are isolated. - Volunteers are required for befriending and we receive many referrals for those that need help. 5.2) Can Neighbourly Care provide ideas to elderly people that are surrounded by building developments? 5.1) 5.2) Cllr Tailor Neighbourly Care is a council health partner. In Ealing, there are many campaigns to work with isolated people, particularly at Christmas. - There are also many young males that are isolated and different ideas are being looked at for this. - Ealing Community Transport recently launched a transport fund, to support organisations in Ealing that create social opportunities for isolated people. - Community groups can bid up to 1,000 for the cost of transport. 6. East Acton ward budget 6.1) Kofi Nyamah asked the meeting to review the ward budget summary and listed 2017-18 new budget proposals. 6.2) The meeting reviewed and discussed the merits of all the new budget proposals. 6.1) A list of 2017-18 ward budget proposals and a summary of previous budget spend was available to the meeting. 6.2) The forum recommended the following projects for its 2017-18 ward budget: Wesley Playing Fields outdoor gym equipment 4
Repair of Wesley Playing Fields flooded areas Horn Lane verge low-level metal railing Contribution to the junior parkrun in Acton Park Automated External Defibrillators Acton Vale Estate playground upgrade. 6.3) Can consultation be held about Westcott Park Estate access signage? 6.3) To investigate with TfL 6.4) Can signage be introduced to Taylors Green and Carlisle Avenue to direct people to John Perryn Primary School? 6.4) Cllr Crawford to speak with the head teacher of John Perryn School. 6.5) Can a community orchard of fruit trees be introduced in local parks? 6.5) To be considered. 6.6) Can the roundabout in Atlas Road be reviewed and repainted? 6.6) To be considered. 7. Any Other Business 7.1) Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) in North Acton Road There are many HGVs parking in North Acton Road between 11pm- 5am restricting access for other drivers. 7.2) Traffic management at Gypsy Corner and Wales Farm Road Can concerned residents meet with TfL and council transport officers regarding the ongoing issue with the poor road layout? Drivers are constantly delayed when trying to turn from Wells House Road into Western Avenue. 7.3) Litter in Bromyard Avenue Can litter bins be placed in Bromyard Avenue near the Virgin Gym? Many energy drinks are being thrown onto the street after people have finished training at the gym. 7.4) Can signage to deter fly-tipping be installed in Ashfield Road at its junction with Bromyard Avenue? 7.5) Speeding in Old Oak Common Lane What is the update on calming speeding vehicles along the stretch of this road by Wells House Road? 7.1) To be investigated. 7.2) Cllr Crawford officers are currently looking at this issue. 7.3) To be investigated. 7.4) To be considered. 7.5) Cllr Crawford this is being actioned with officers. 8. Date of future meeting 8.1) The date of the next ward forum meeting is Monday 30 October 2017. The meeting ended at 9.45pm. 5