Following complaints from residents about infestations of vermin in Blackhall Colliery, Hesleden and some other locations in our area, and the painfully slow response from the authorities and private sector landlords and property owners Stacey and I wrote last week to the responsible Director at Durham County Council setting out our concerns.
In the letter, published in full below, we’ve expressed on behalf of residents our concerns about how the reports we submitted last month were initially dealt with. In particular we’ve outlined the authority’s failure to coordinate a response that could have allayed residents’ fears of a spread of the infestation to other
We’ve also asked for clarification about claims by the Tory-led Coalition in control of the county council that pest control services have been adequately funded. We’ve also questioned the validity of adverts published by the Coalition claiming that the council now offered a free pest control service - claims since proved to be false.
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Dear ****
Re: Durham County Council’s response to vermin infestations:
I write to you on behalf of both county councillors for the Blackhalls Division seeking your assistance in addressing a series of vermin infestations recently in a number of locations within our ward. In particular we have concerns about how separate sections of the county council have responded to this issue and how it has potentially allowed an isolated incident to spread further beyond its original source.
I first reported a rat infestation at ** Fourth Street in Blackhall Colliery to the council on 6 May 2022, with a request that the relevant sections at the council (including the neighbourhood wardens and the empty homes office) coordinate a response to my concerns. This initial report followed complaints made by several residents in and around the affected area who told me they had previously reported infestations to the council without there being any effective response.
Almost three weeks later, after requesting an update on progress, I received a response from the empty homes team and a day later I was contacted by the pest control team confirming that they hadn’t been made aware of the issue until the previous day. It was also confirmed in correspondence from the pest control team that staffing issues and a backlog of similar complaints from across the county meant there would be a delay of ‘several weeks’ in responding formally to this particular problem in Blackhall Colliery.
However, following my request for an immediate response, an operative was sent out to the site of the infestation to carry out an investigation to determine whether there had been an external source for the infestation. That initial inspection confirmed the source of the problem was in the property at ** Fourth Street, with a potential additional source in the yards of two private properties in the same street. I was advised at this point that the landlord/owner of the privately-owned and rented property at the site of the infestation had been contacted, and that the landlords/owners of the two other properties would be similarly contacted.
Since then there’s been precious little evidence of a coordinated response to this problem, to the point where residents in parts of Blackhall Colliery are driven almost to distraction by the continuing fear of a spread of infestation into their homes. However, this letter isn’t intended as a criticism of the pest control team who have been helpful when requested and who have assured me they’re working at full capacity. Rather it’s an expression of concern that there’s a capacity issue in the first place, and that the separate departments responsible are failing to work together towards a common resolution. As a result, despite confirmation from the council that other private sector landlords in the street were aware of the problem, were sympathetic to the plight of residents nearby and were seeking ways to address the problem at their properties it seems that we as a community are no further forward.
My purpose in writing to you is to first ask for an investigation to be carried out into what went wrong at the outset of this specific issue when I asked for a collective, coordinated approach to residents’ concerns. In addition I would be grateful if you could let me know which measures will be put in place to address this particular incident and also infestations reported in other affected communities across the county.
Finally, residents have told me they’ve seen reports on social media platforms that last year the Coalition administration at DCC had invested heavily in the council’s pest control service with the intention of addressing this problem. One year on from this promise residents are asking me how the service has changed and when an improvement in the service will actually be seen on our streets. In addition several residents have also reported seeing graphics and comments from a number of Coalition members advising that the council was now providing a free pest control service. Understandably residents across our towns and villages felt quite angry and somewhat short-changed when they called the number given only to find out that this pledge wasn’t only misleading - it was false. There is no free pest control service at DCC. To make matters worse, residents have now been told there’s a delay of ‘several weeks’ in the council’s response time to vermin infestations.
It’s accepted that rats are essentially a part of day-to-day life, and that infestation will occur from time to time in specific locations. However, residents in the villages of the Blackhalls Division and beyond are reporting infestations on a scale never before seen in their communities, and they want an assurance from the authority that everything possible is being done to tackle infestations in good time, and certainly before they spread even further into our communities.
Regards,
Rob.
Cllr Rob Crute (Blackhall Division)
Deputy Leader of the Labour Group
Durham County Council