I have met with various members of staff in respect of your e-mails and would report as follows:
When your first e-mail arrived on Monday, discussions with NPS took place to confirm the exact contract obligations for the demolition process. There was considerable discussion around the securing of empty properties, and how these can remain secure under current conditions. It is necessary for the demolition contractor to enter properties to undertake final checks prior to demolition beginning. I agree that these properties require re-securing unless demolition is going to take place immediately. There was contact with the contractor in respect of the concerns raised, and the required standards of operation were reinforced.
Upon receipt of your second e-mail, Housing Officers and NPS visited the Estate and as a result the contract conditions were again reinforced in person. The following action points were agreed with the contractor:
- the contractor is not now to have any fires on site
- all properties that have steel sheeting removed for inspections are re-secured before the contractor leaves site for the day.
- NPS and Housing Officers are undertaking spot checks to ensure that this is occuring.
The contractor has confirmed that this latest round of demolition will complete at approximately the end of January 09
I would state that no securing system is designed to stand up to the continual abuse that the screens have received, and ultimately if individuals are determined to get in there is little that can prevent it. We have found evidence of individuals breaking through block work to access properties. I would add that there has been much speculation that fires assist the demolition programme, and that there has been a strategy of leaving properties open to support this. I would state definitively that this is false, and fire damaged properties are more difficult and costly to remove, as they have to be treated as contaminated waste. It is simply not in the Council's interest to encourage the properties being burnt out, and ensuring residents' safety is a priority. Please bear in mind that residents felt that the demolition of empty properties was the best course of action, as leaving empty properties and the associated problems these bring is not an option. The Council has done everything possible to remove empty properties speedily to try and minimise the difficulties.
With respect to the condition of the road, Housing and NPS officers were on site yesterday to ensure that the promised road sweeper attended and cleaned the road. They also observed that the operatives were hand sweeping. Regular road sweeping has been pre-booked at regular intervals for during the demolition work, but this will be monitored in case additional cleans are required during the winter weather. The HGV blocking the pavement is a necessity as they remove the rubble and waste from site, but such occurences are as short lived as is possible, and there are no other alternatives if the waste is to be removed.
With respect to the disruption in water supply, the contractor works closely with service providers to ensure that these are removed and shut off prior to demolition. However, when the Estate was built in the 1950s no drawings were kept and the exact location of some services is not fully known, which can cause difficulties. We were not aware that the water service had been cut - however in such circumstances, the contractor takes immediate steps to ensure that any disruption is as short lived as possible, and that the integrity of the supply is restored without longer term problems. Working with the service providers is a key aspect of this.
Re the arson attacks, you make reference to knowing who it is. I must stress that arson is a criminal activity and as such must be reported to the Police in order that they can investigate and take appropriate action. I appreciate anxieties at the number of fires being set but there is also a local responsibility for residents to assist the Police in dealing with criminal activity, as the Council cannot deal with this alone. We have no information in respect of the suspected identity of the individual(s) concerned and any other information provided by residents has been passed through to the Police. Information can also be passed by e-mail to
antisocialbehaviour@wakefield.gov.uk The securing work through Housing has been allocated to a local company to ensure that securing work can be done as quickly as possible. However, this company does not operate a 24 hour call out system, and they attend as quickly as they are able. Residents have been provided with the Council's One-Call number several times so that they can report any open properties that they have concerns about, out of hours. The contact number for one call is 0845 8 506 506. The WMDC operatives that attended on the 16th December would have been from our One-Call service - however they only deal with out of hours emergency work. I have not been advised as to what the cost of this yet. The order for our screening company to attend the open properties you had reported was placed on the afternoon of the 15th December, and the company attended as quickly as they were able.
The Council is paying for nightly patrols (5 per night) 7 days per week. However these patrollers have no powers to arrest, and when they come across anti social behaviour, they report it immediately to the Police. They cannot perform any other function than to be an additional eyes and ears on the Estate at night. The Police expressed concerns when discussions around security presence took place. Their view was that as these individuals have no legal powers, that they could be at risk, which would ultimately mean that the Police merely have additional persons to protect. Their role is merely to act as an early warning to get the Police if required. The Council continues to discuss the ongoing situation with the Fire Service and any suggestions made by them are implemented. Again I would stress that what is occuring is criminal activity, and action is taken when information provided allows.
With respect to your comment around the estate needing 24 hour policing, the Police do not have the resources to provide this service, and have stated that they are doing everything in their power to tackle the anti social behaviour; however this is very difficult especially as local information is limited.
I believe that the Council is doing everything in its power to maintain residents' health and safety in what are extremely difficult conditions. If residents have any additional suggestions of other measures that would assist, please let us know and we will do our best to implement them. We appreciate that residents are the best people to report on local incidents and if there are any views as to handle matters better, we will be happy to look at any suggestions made.
With reference to your comments around street lighting and highways, I responded in full in my previous e-mail, but would confirm that the situation continues to be monitored.
Janet Howley
Regeneration Manager
Development and Strategic Housing
Room D34
Newton Bar
Leeds Road
Wakefield WF1 2TX
01924 305917
e-mail
jhowley@wakefield.gov.uk