Agenda item - Deputations from members of the public.

113.1.     The Mayor reported that two deputations had been received from members of the public and invited Mr. Knight as the spokesperson for the first deputation to come forward and address the council.

(a)  Council Owned Properties in Stanmer Village

113.2.     Mr. Knight thanked the Mayor and stated that;

“I’m here on behalf of a number of Stanmer Village households most of whom are here today. We are tenants of the council owned properties leased to the Brighton & Hove Estates Conservation Trust on September 28^th 2005 for 20 years, the board of which includes two elected council members, a partner of the Trust’s managing agent and a partner of their solicitor’s firm.  One of the many requirements of the lease agreement is that the Trust keeps the properties in good repair and condition, but we do not believe that the trust is fulfilling this obligation.  As the council granted this lease we feel this is a matter for which the Authority has a responsibility, and are asking for it to investigate our claims.

We also maintain the trust is not fulfilling its own stated objectives to pursue a policy of:

·           conservation and improvement of cottages in Stanmer Village, and

·           letting to local people whom it is hoped will contribute to the Village community

We have compiled a report which runs for some 50 pages including emails, photographs, and letters of support from various ranking officials.  It shows very poor condition of properties at the start of tenancies, and consistently substandard repairs. A newly let cottage was in such poor state of repair that as a last resort, the new tenant called an officer from the council’s Environmental Health. The house was uninhabitable and it deeply saddens all of us here that she got nowhere and has moved out of the village. The damp and cold in these properties has, we feel, been a contributing factor in the ill health of at least three children in the village.  We have raised the issue of non-sustainability, energy inefficiency and need for insulation on numerous occasions.

We are also concerned about rental Increases in breach of Tenancy Agreements.  A clause, in all of our leaseholds says that rental increases must be in line with the Retail Price Index.  When my wife and I were recently querying a proposed rental increase of 15% in a new 12-month lease, we were issued, with a Notice of Eviction. This still stands, despite a petition of support signed by the entire Stanmer Village community including the businesses.

There’s also a universal feeling of insecurity, references are consistently made to other prospective tenants who are interested in our admittedly very beautiful homes, then the higher rental at which our homes would be advertised should we not accept the Trust’s new terms. When questioning a 20% rental increase, a tenant who’d lived in the village for 30 years was told the increase was non-negotiable and if she did not wish to pay it, they would serve notice. There is also in this dossier, a record of the email which also told them that should they actually discuss this with fellow villagers the trust would be forced to take action.   

This report outlines the dubious regard to the listed nature of the buildings.In the farmhouse, the Trust stated an unsafe fireplace was a listed feature to the building which couldn’t be removed unless I would consider a 10% rental increase. They also said I was welcome to do the work myself because I was not aware of this listed nature of the item. My neighbour’s complaint regarding the classic iron-work guttering which was replaced with cheap ill-fitting plastic guttering, which continued to leak, resulted in the Trust emailing all tenants to say maintenance of guttering was our responsibility despite a clause in our agreement’s suggesting otherwise.

Despite many direct requests, or indirect cc’ing on email correspondence, the Trustees have, until the last few days as this deputation approached, consistently refused to engage with tenants on any specific complaints we have made. We are also very concerned that the Council’s elected Members on the Trust can support rental increases of 15-20% on these Council properties, given their backing to the recent motion put forward by Green Councillor Bill Randall, supported by Labour’s housing spokesman Chaun Wilson, which calls for a cap on private rental increases.

Councillor Summers recently met with us to discuss our concerns about the management of our properties and then raise them officially in a letter to the Trust on our behalf requesting a meeting. The response is here in this report, it ignores our request and maintains that as a charity all the income it receives from tenant’s rents aside from a small amount spent on administration is spent on maintaining the properties and making rental payments to this council.  However the most recent accounts available from the Charity Commission show that actually less than 50% of their income is spent on maintenance and rent, and the amount spent on repairs in 2013 was 50% lower than the previous year, yet their management fees costs increased by 13%.”

113.3.     Councillor Littman replied, “The Council is obviously deeply concerned to hear of the numerous and serious issues which are outlined in your deputation.  It does need to be said also, that the allegations are rejected by the Trust, their lawyers and their agents. As you know, the Council is not your landlord, we have no choice but to respect the legal rights of the Trust to manage the properties, as they see fit, so long as they remain within the terms of the lease with the council. Nonetheless, we are more than willing to work with all parties concerned to attempt to facilitate an outcome that’s acceptable to all.  To this end, we have asked officers to work with the trust to review the situation and the longer term future of the arrangements. As far as the immediate issues of your deputation are of concern, we hope all parties concerned will engage in a constructive dialogue and resolve the process by agreement.”

113.4.     The Mayor thanked Mr. Knight for attending the meeting and speaking on behalf of the deputation. She explained that the points had been noted and the deputation would be referred to the Policy & Resources Committee for consideration.  The persons forming the deputation would be invited to attend the meeting and would be informed subsequently of any action to be taken or proposed in relation to the matter set out in the deputation.

Note:    Councillors Mitchell and West having declared a personal and prejudicial interest in the matter detailed above withdrew from the chamber and took no part in the discussion thereon.

(b)  Claredon Area Recycling

113.5.     The Mayor then invited Ms. Quinn as the spokesperson for the second deputation to come forward and address the council.

113.6.     Ms. Quinn thanked the Mayor and stated that; “I am making this statement on behalf of the residents of the ‘Clarendon’ area comprising Livingstone Road, Shirley Street, Clarendon Road, Goldstone Road, Ellen Street and the immediate surrounding area.   It represents the views expressed by the overwhelming majority of residents that Matthew Irish and I have spoken to over the last two months, and those who have emailed either Mr Irish or me. 

Since last summer there has been an ongoing issue with the collection of refuse and recycling from the above named streets and this has been a cause of considerable anger and frustration for local residents.  Residents have become confused about exactly when the refuse and recycling collections take place as there have been a number of changes.  What most concerns residents is the fact that many of the communal bins fill up so quickly that residents are left only being able to place their rubbish bags around the base of the communal bins – an entirely unsatisfactory situation as seagulls, foxes, rats and other wildlife then rip into the bags and rubbish is strewn all around the area – a serious environmental health risk – and generally this rubbish is not picked up – it just blows about the streets.  The recycling boxes have posed a similar issue with boxes being placed for collection but not being picked up because there is confusion about when they are to be collected.  Once again, the rubbish tends to end up getting blown about the streets - this creates a vision of neglect and lack of public resources in a city which should pride itself on its appearance to both residents and visitors.  Now there are communal recycling bins, but local residents are concerned that once again these will fill too quickly and recycling material will be left around the base of the bins – and thus nothing will have been resolved. 

The residents are urging the council to provide clear information about the times of collections – perhaps this could be posted on the bins themselves?  They are also urging the council to provide for more street cleaners to pick up the litter that arises from the refuse and recycling bins - to ensure that this area does not look run down and neglected, as it does at present.”

113.7.     Councillor West replied; “As you say, you’re referring to issues over the past year and we have experienced disruption in collection services for a number of reasons.  Firstly, we have had to resolve the historic issue of pay fairness for all staff in the council, and this is a matter that has been held over successive administrations and unfortunately, collection services were impacted through the period of negotiation with staff unions, but I am very glad to say we successful resolved an outcome.  We then had to implement massive changes that resulted from that deal to the collection services across the whole of the city, and this was a massive change for City Clean, the biggest change they have had to undertake.  But it also allowed us to create service improvements at the same time, like the introduction of bank holiday collections which has helped to resolve confusion for a lot of residents on an ongoing basis with when their collections would be.

Following our successful pilot funding bid, we have also introduced communal recycling, which you mentioned, we’re rolling that out, the roll out is coming towards to the end now.  But this is a new scheme and it will be for over 30,000 households and it was supported at committee by all the parties on the Council, including your own labour party. 

Another big change, this is another big change for City Clean to implement at the same time as other things, but it will result in less cluttered streets and higher recycling rates, and our pilot showed that recycling results in Brunswick & Adelaide went up by 70% with this easier to use scheme.  One of the benefits of communal recycling is that it allows residents to drop off their recycling at their convenience, which is why we don’t advertise collection dates, which is a criticism I noticed in your deputation.

You also mention the frequency of emptying your bins and whether they’re getting over filled.  With all new schemes, as the patterns of usage emerge, we actually tweak our emptying frequency, so this is to be expected, but in a normal case, we would be emptying the bins often enough.  The bins with missing lids that you have mentioned are due to be repaired shortly as part of our ongoing schedule of refurbishment of these bins.  Can I finally say again that I apologise for the problems you and other residents have experienced, but I do understand from Ward Councillors colleagues that have been to and inspected the area that they say to me, it is now neat and tidy.  I do note that we haven’t actually had any complaints from yourself or Mr. Irish, but if you do actually experience problems, the best thing to do is to let us know and then we can deal with them directly ourselves.”

113.8.     The Mayor thanked Ms. Quinn for attending the meeting and speaking on behalf of the deputation. She explained that the points had been noted and the deputation would be referred to the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee for consideration.  The persons forming the deputation would be invited to attend the meeting and would be informed subsequently of any action to be taken or proposed in relation to the matter set out in the deputation.