Harrow Council’s cleaning team has had to move roughly ten tonnes of fly tipping and rubbish ‘by hand’ after it was left at the former Harrow Civic Centre site.
It took just one day to accumulate the waste before a group of travellers were forced to move on.
On Monday evening (September 11), approximately six or seven vehicles containing members of the travelling community moved into the site of Harrow Council’s former Civic Centre and Citizens Advice Bureau on Milton Road.
After confirmation from the police, the council served the group with an eviction notice on Tuesday. The notice was abided by as the community left the site on the same day, but not before leaving an almighty mess for the council to deal with.
Council leader, Cllr Paul Osborn, dedicated time at the start of a recent Cabinet meeting (September 14) to thank the cleaning teams that were tasked with the job. He said: “There was a massive amount of fly-tipping that followed a traveller excursion […]. The team really went over and above the call of duty cleaning ten tonnes of waste in one day. All by hand.”
He added: “I want to thank them and put on record the dedication that they did. It’s really important and a great bit of work.”
The Milton Road location was the council’s home for the past 50 years but it was announced earlier this year that it will be demolished and turned into flats. The secured site is already empty after the council moved into smaller, cheaper-to-run offices due to the immense pressure on its finances.
The council’s portfolio holder for highways, infrastructure and community safety, Cllr Anjana Patel, said: “I would like to extend my thanks to each and everyone who worked hard, including the police as well, to serve the legal notice. This is what we can do if we are a team and if we all work together we can do it.”
