From: Owen Ward

Sent: 19 July 2019 10:57

To: keir.starmer.mp@parliament.uk <keir.starmer.mp@parliament.uk>
Subject: FW: Bloomsbury Litter

Dear Mr Starmer,

Just to keep you updated on my previous email regarding litter, I have read up on the EPA
1990 and have notified the Council that I intend to complain to the Magistrates' Court on
Monday 22/7/2019 to seek a Litter Abatement Order (Section 91 (5)). They seem to be
unaware that this will have consequences, still have not cleared (all) the roads, and still have
hardly replied to me - certainly they have not acknowledged the notice. In fact it seems all
that they have done is continue to clean the main roads (which is scheduled anyway) and
clean the roads directly around my residence.
It seems that as they have subcontracted the waste services to Veolia, Camden Council
believe they have absolutely no duty to adhere to the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse.
The Code explicitly states that the subcontractors will not be held responsible for violations
of the code and any subsequent legal action. I have told them this also - still, I am being
largely ignored. It seems they are not taking legal advice on the matter.
I have also asked the Guardian to publish a story on this.
To give an idea of the amount of pestering I have done, I have sent in total probably about
25 emails (including repeats) to about 10 different persons over the past two weeks. Most
have been ignored. None have been of a vexatious nature. The first few were very co-
operative in nature. As I realised the Councillors did not want to work with me, they have
become more threatening.
I have forwarded my most recent correspondence with Cllr. Adam Harrison. He is the only
one who has replied at all to my enquires (bar those responses of the nature 'we endeavour
to blah blah blah as soon as possible'. One other person, a Senior Monitoring Officer
Matthew Lane did respond and explained a few things - but it was his last day in office.
It seems that the reason things have become so bad is because the usual street cleaner was
on holiday, and has not caught up yet with everything. Pretty shameful excuse, in my
opinion.
I wonder if you could explain this attitude of the Councillors and still help in preventing this
sort of thing occurring again?

Best regards,
Owen Ward

Litter 19/7/2019 - https://photos.app.goo.gl/3q4zCQZ62k5eCA248

WC1H 9DP

From: Owen Ward
Sent: 18 July 2019 11:35
To: Harrison, Adam (Councillor)
Cc: Simpson, Jonathan (Councillor); georgie.robertson@camden.gov.uk;
georgia.gould@camden.gov.uk; abdul.hai@camden.gov.uk; Hutton-Parr, Jahnelle; Habte, Liya
Subject: Re: Bloomsbury Litter

Dear Adam,

I have been reading the code of practice again. It seems that any area within 200m of a
major tourist attraction or car park should be designated as a high intensity area - so that
response times are half a day at most. Can you confirm if this is the case for our area, which
is within 200m of many tourist destinations and car parks? Indeed, it is itself a major tourist
attraction.

Still, only the area around QAM is clean - but even that has not been cleaned to a grade A
standard - I would reckon it at a C as there are still accumulations in certain areas (including
around and 'in' the council house), and plenty of detritus which has been ignored, along
with a dumped wheelie bin. I looked at the Bidborough Street bin - it is a different bin, and
is just about full of litter now.
I have seen street cleaners this morning, but only on the main roads.
I have been continuing my photo diary and will continue to do so at least until I apply for a
summons on Monday - that is, if the streets are not totally restored to total cleanliness
(Grade A) by that time. I have changed the time of my documentation to the morning so it
cannot be argued that I am waiting for litter to build up before taking photos. Under the
code, most if not all of these areas should be restored to grade A by 08:00 each morning.

I will reiterate for the last time that my complaint is not just about the area around my
building, but the whole of Bloomsbury the historical area (not the ward), and that on
Monday I will be able to apply to the Magistrates' Court for a summons to consider a litter
abatement order against the Council. (Environmental Protection Act 1990 Section 91) I will
not contact the Council again about this particular matter, as I have already gone far further
than I really needed to. I could have issued a notice to complain on 10/7/2019, kept totally
quiet, and applied for a summons on 16/7/2019.

I hope that you can appreciate that I am trying to work with the Council as far as I
reasonably can rather than against it. I have even included a map to show within blue 'The
Historical Area of Bloomsbury' and in orange the areas that I have personally been
monitoring with a photo diary, so far. Not all the areas in orange are in a state of filth - the
more commercial roads are closer to an acceptable standard. The more residential roads
are in a disgraceful state. Hopefully there will be no further confusion about the matter.

Over the next few days, I will document further the areas not highlighted in orange.

Best regards,
Owen Ward

P.S.
The spirit of the code of practice is prevention and prioritisation rather than response. If
after my first complaint, something had been done immediately, I would never have had to
have persisted in sending emails and doing research. Each day nothing has happened, or
little has happened, I have done more and more research, building up a stronger case
against the Council, and finding more examples and clauses and Acts that I can use against
the Council to force it to keep the area clean.
In a way, it is almost like my actions mirror that of a litter problem. If things had been
'nipped in the bud', things would never have come so far. With the litter problem in
Bloomsbury, the reason why it has become so bad is that the first bits of litter were never
cleaned up. Litter breeds litter. I tried to be reasonable and notify councillors and notify the
environmental services about the growing problem. I was essentially ignored, or fobbed off.
So I have had to find ways to pressure and force the council into doing what it should have
done before I even requested it.
A cleaner could have been sent out on the day that I notified the council - and I would have
been appeased. Instead, it seems likely that now the Council will end up in the Magistrates'
Court. I appreciate things are always stretched and the Council has lots to deal with - but
the lack of prioritisation and the lack of concern shown towards a resident that is genuinely
trying to do something good for the community has no excuse. Now I will be a permanent
'problem resident', because I know the law, and so I will always be threatening court action
whenever the streets aren't clean. Before this, I lived just accepting that the streets are
typically quite dirty, as we live in Central London, and the Council cleaned them
occasionally, and I was grateful for that. Now I know that under the Code the streets should
be spotless almost all the time, and I will always be threatening court action when that is
not the case. The failure to uphold a reasonable standard has backfired and means that now
an even higher standard will have to be maintained.

From: Harrison, Adam (Councillor) <Adam.Harrison@camden.gov.uk>
Sent: 17 July 2019 14:10
To: Owen Ward
Subject: Re: Bloomsbury Litter

No problem, we will look into the Bidborough St bin too. I would only say that we only have
one officer covering this area, both King’s Cross ward and a large part of Bloomsbury ward
too. He is actively working on a number of cases that I have requested, as well as requests
he’ll have got from residents and businesses. It is not necessarily that hard to investigate
the ownership of a bin as you say but sometimes he will have other things on the books
(indeed, him arranging the clearup this morning probably took precedence over other
matters as this one was urgent).

Adam

Adam Harrison
Cabinet member for a sustainable Camden
Bloomsbury ward
T: 07584 407 456

From: Owen Ward
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2019 1:45:25 PM
To: Harrison, Adam (Councillor)
Subject: Re: Bloomsbury Litter

Dear Adam,

Yes I did think it odd that previously I had seen somebody sweeping up pretty much every
day. And then as if in response to my emails about cleanliness he stopped coming! The
streets around my building are indeed now almost spotless - but the streets not
immediately around my building are still pretty filthy.
The wheelie bin has finally been taken away. Coinciding with my email about the need for
more bins, that wheelie bin appeared with a hole cut into the top, and the lid secured. We
don't have any wheelie bins around here at all, so I was understandably perplexed as to
where it came from. People were using it as a bin, and it began to overflow as it was not
emptied. I enquired as to whether it was a 'temporary measure' put in place after my email.
But I still do not know whether it was a temporary measure, or fly tipping, or anything. I was
particularly annoyed that Cllr. Jonathan Simpson told me he was looking into it even after a
week of no response - it surely can't take long to work out whether it is affiliated to the
council or not. It is insulting to try and sell that idea to somebody.
Now another wheelie bin has appeared on Bidborough Street instead. It may be the same
one but I haven't looked properly yet.
I would still appreciate it if somebody could work that out for me. It may have been a
resident of my building who put it there themselves - who knows.
Thank you anyway for at least having the streets around QAM cleaned - I hope the rest will
follow immediately.

Best regards,
Owen

From: Harrison, Adam (Councillor) <Adam.Harrison@camden.gov.uk>
Sent: 17 July 2019 10:30
To: Owen Ward
Subject: Re: Bloomsbury Litter

Dear Mr Ward

Thank you for your email. The monitoring officer Matthew Lane will be in touch with you
shortly - there was indeed an issue with the regular sweeper having been away. He will be
abl to tell you more in more detail than I; but he is also arranging a thorough sweep of the
area for today.

On your zones question, I will have to take that away and come back to you separately on it.

Could you remind me of the wheelie bin issue? I don't know when Jonathan got back to you
but sometimes with proposed removal of bins etc it can take some time to sort out.

Adam
Adam Harrison
Councillor, Bloomsbury ward
Cabinet member for a sustainable Camden
Labour group, London Borough of Camden
A: Town Hall, Judd Street, London, WC1H 9JE
E: adam.harrison@camden.gov.uk
M: 07584 407 456
T: @AdamDKHarrison
Surgeries: 1st Friday of the month: Fitzrovia Community Centre, 2 Foley Street, W1D 6DL
2nd and 4th Fridays of the month: Marchmont Community Centre, 62 Marchmont Street, WC1N 1AB
3rd Friday of the month is a roving surgery: get in touch to find out more.
Surgeries run 6-7pm. There are no surgeries in August or on Good Friday.

From: Owen Ward
Sent: 17 July 2019 09:23
To: Harrison, Adam (Councillor)
Subject: Re: Bloomsbury Litter

Dear Cllr Harrison,

Thank you very much for your response. I am sure that you are acquainted with the
Government's Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_
data/file/221087/pb11577b-cop-litter.pdf

I have made a FOI request already, but would you be able to tell me Camden's classification
of the streets of Bloomsbury/Kings Cross in terms of 'zones'?

If it is as I suspect, then surely the streets should have been restored to a Grade A by 6pm
the next day after my complaint about littering - that deadline would have been 18:00 on
11/07/2019 - this deadline has been well missed. Why is this? I looked out my window this
morning and still nothing has been done. As such I emailed Councillor Gould with a five day
notice last night to complain to City of London Magistrates' Court for a litter abatement
notice. But really none of this should have happened - it makes me wonder if Camden are
really sticking to or even know the Code here - when I called up Veolia, they certainly
weren't aware of it.

As I reiterated to Cllr. Gould, I hate to be a nuisance and would much rather

work with councillors rather than against them, but my priority is always to do the right
thing for the area and community - so I have been forced down this avenue.

Would you be able to explain to me exactly why this has happened, and if there is any way
that we can work together to make sure this never happens again? Even regarding the
wheelie bin - still nobody has explained its presence or removed it after a week of
notification. Cllr. Simpson said he was still 'looking into it' - it is an insult to try and make me
believe that it takes more than a week to work out whether it is the council's or not. It
should have been removed as fly tipping, but it has not.

Please treat this seriously and get someone to explain all this and resolve it before it ends
up in the Magistrates' Court. Please also look at the wider issues in the area of Kings Cross
and Bloomsbury - I hope you have taken the time to at least scroll through the photos I have
sent. The whole area is in a disgusting state - in fact Tonbridge / Hastings / Bidborough
Streets are some of the cleanest! Other areas in Camden (e.g. Hampstead Town) are very
well kept. Why is our area not kept in the same way?

Again, please get someone to look at my concerns properly. So far, my emails have been
ignored, or only partially replied to. I am extremely disappointed by this.

Best regards,
Owen Ward

From: Harrison, Adam (Councillor) <Adam.Harrison@camden.gov.uk>
Sent: 16 July 2019 21:27
To: Owen Ward
Subject: Re: Bloomsbury Litter

Dear Mr Ward

Many thanks for your emails on this and apologies for the delay in getting back to you. I’ve
asked our street monitoring team to check the streets tomorrow and arrange any clear ups
that may be needed.

I’ll also ask the same team to investigate whether we can introduce more litterbins on
Hastings and Tonbridge Streets as you suggested — we may be able to install some here
and I will raise this with the street monitoring team as well.

Adam

Adam Harrison
Cabinet member for a sustainable Camden
Bloomsbury ward
T: 07584 407 456

From: Owen Ward
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2019 8:49:36 PM
To: Simpson, Jonathan (Councillor); Robertson, Georgie (Councillor); Hai, Abdul (Councillor);
Harrison, Adam (Councillor)
Subject: Bloomsbury Litter

Dear All,

I just went on my evening walk - I have attached the photos. Still, the litter is not cleared.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QbotCTLnqcA2acYTA
 Litter 15/7/2019
45 new photos added to shared album
photos.app.goo.gl

I wonder if you are aware about the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_
data/file/221087/pb11577b-cop-litter.pdf

It states that after littering is reported in an area such as this, the litter should be cleared
within a day. However it has not been cleared. I have been extremely persistent about this,
but nothing has happened. The advice is to seek a litter abatement notice from the
Magistrates Court.

Please get someone to clean up these streets now.

Best regards,
Owen Ward
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