On 7 August 2013 we contacted the Environmental Health & Consumer Protection department at county hall in response to residents concerns about a number of environmental issues in Blackhall. This relates to the patch of unused land in Middle Street immediately adjacent to the library.
EHCP replied to our query today and we have reproduced their response below:
We
took at look at all the issues you raised back in August - here are our
findings.
Garage: We did not think it looked dangerous although we took the view that the open door allowed unauthorised access. The owner was asked to secure the door and shortly after our visit the door was secured. There were waste materials stored / dumped in the garage. We asked for them to be removed at the same time as the door was made secure.
Fence: Although not an EHCP issue the fence was found to be leaning back into the
garden and therefore unlikely to be a danger to passers-by.
Overgrown
garden: The overgrown garden is not in itself a public health issue - therefore
we were looking only for any public health / rodent infestation issues. The
officer gained access to the garden area and could see no evidence of an infestation
of rodents.
If
the leaning fence still causes concern to passers-by then you may wish to
consider contacting Building Control (dangerous structures) or Highways (via
Highways Action Line) as the fence is immediately adjacent to the public
footpath. They may also wish to consider whether the commercial wheelie bins
cause an obstruction to footpath users by being left on the pavement by whoever
hires them from DCC.
Clearly not all of our concerns have been fully addressed so we have contacted the Building Control section and the Highways Action Line as advised. We will update on progress in due course.
