Agenda item

To receive members’ questions under procedure rule no.11.  The procedure rule provides that any member may ask the chairman of a board or group any question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the District, provided that three clear days’ notice in writing has been given to the Head of Legal and Support Services.

Councillor J Legrys put the following question to Councillor R Blunt:

“How many negative comments, formal complaints, threats of litigation and/or actual litigation have tenants made against this Council and/or its Contractors regarding housing since the commencement of the Decent Homes Contract?”

As the question related to the Housing portfolio, Councillor R Blunt invited Councillor R D Bayliss to respond on his behalf.  Councillor R D Bayliss gave the following response:

“As at 31 January 2015 we had completed decent homes improvement works to 3,468 properties through our partnership with Kier and Lovell. The vast majority of this work has been both complex and disruptive and has been undertaken around tenants and their families within their homes. The programme has included replacing:

·     kitchens to 2,011 homes;

·     bathrooms to 1,520 homes;

·     new heating systems to 988 homes;

·     full electrical rewiring to 536 homes; 

·     new doors or windows to 3,117 homes;

·     new roof to 415 homes.

Since September 2012 when the contracts commenced, 1,065 tenants have returned questionnaires upon the completion of work, with 97% indicating that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the service. Only 29 tenants indicated some form of dissatisfaction.  During this period there have been 85 complaints, one housing ombudsman enquiry (for which a decision is still pending). To date £27m has been invested in improving the Council’s stock and recompense of £2,156 has been paid to tenants for issues relating to the service”.

As a supplementary question, Councillor J Legrys stated that he was aware of at least two people in his ward who he had been told were taking litigation against the Council and its contractor due to their dissatisfaction with the Decent Homes Improvement Programme.  He thanked officers for providing these statistics, however he stated that he had not been given an answer and asked again how many people were taking litigation against the Council or its contractors.

Councillor R D Bayliss responded that he was unable to expand upon the answer which had already been given.  He added that if Councillor J Legrys was convinced that there were two people who were taking litigation against the Council, he would make it his business to find out who they were and what the likely outcome was.  He reiterated that as far as he was concerned, no one was taking litigation against the Council or its contractors.

Councillor J Geary put the following question to Councillor A V Smith:

“Three anaerobic material lagoons have been constructed on land belonging to Hall Farm at Piper Lane Ravenstone. These lagoons take waste from anaerobic treatment plants and other liquid organic waste which is then stored in the open lagoons until required for agricultural use. The County Council, as the Waste Disposal Authority have deemed that the lagoons are Agricultural Permitted Development and do not require Planning Permission. The Environment Agency has granted temporary waste storage licences for the site.

The lagoons now radiate strong smells and odours resulting in many complaints from residents in the current Snibston, Hugglescote, Ravenstone/Packington and Valley Wards.

As an affected resident, I ask what is this Council doing to insist that the owner of these lagoons takes steps to mitigate and eradicate the smell under its Environmental Health Controls”.

Councillor A V Smith gave the following response:

“The Council is aware of the construction of the Ravenstone lagoons and following complaints of odour nuisance has been in regular liaison with the Environment Agency (EA).

The EA have agreed a permit for the land spreading of specified waste for agricultural benefit for specific fields in the local area. The permit allows for the import of specified waste and temporary storage of this waste in the lagoons prior to spreading at the appropriate times. This permit lasts for a year and expires on 10 September 2015.

The permit holder who undertakes the spreading of the waste has a generic odour management plan which mainly relates to minimising odours produced at the time of spreading.

However, as the storage of waste in the lagoons has started to prompt reports of odours in the local area, they have been asked by the EA to produce a site specific odour management plan.

The EA are the primary Authority for the site and as such all complaints are being reported to or re-directed by NWLDC to the EA and there is an incident hotline number for such complaints which is 0800 807060.

The District Council however does have powers under statutory nuisance and is currently logging all complaints received, compiling evidential reports and liaising with complainants to assess the extent of the problems. The District Council cannot exercise its power in relation to statutory nuisance without the approval of the Secretary of State and has previously requested a joint meeting with Leicestershire County Council and the Environment Agency to ensure a considered and joined up approach to any proposed action on this matter.  Once that meeting has taken place I would be happy to update Councillor Geary”.

Councillor J Geary thanked Councillor A V Smith for a full and comprehensive answer.  He stated that those who live in the country expected to put up with country smells, especially where livestock was concerned.  However he stated that effluent was being stored and transferred to the lagoons in Ravenstone and this was now an industrial scheme.  He added that those who lived downwind had concerns as it was impossible to work outside for any length of time. He stated that he was pleased to see the contact number in the response and that a meeting was planned.  As a supplementary question, he requested a designated officer contact for dealing with the logging of complaints.

Councillor A V Smith responded that as a resident of Ravenstone herself, she was aware of this issue.  She agreed to provide the contact details of the officer.  She commented that lagoons were becoming a problem in North West Leicestershire and the Council would continue to work with the Environment Agency to resolve this.