On Wednesday 30 April, Harrow Council held a “Day of Action” in Rayners Lane as part of its ongoing efforts to clean up the borough and tackle issues such as littering, fly-tipping, overflowing bins and anti-social behaviour.
The event saw representatives from Transport for London (TfL) Enforcement, the London Fire Brigade (LFB), council enforcement officers, Harrow’s Clean Team, Conversation Café, environmental health officers and Harrow Litter Pickers working together on the ground. Spot checks were carried out on businesses, including inspections of trade waste agreements and enforcement of Section 47 notices, aimed at cracking down on those not meeting legal waste disposal requirements. The council reported that around 90% of businesses were found to be compliant.
Also in attendance were Councillor Pritesh Patel, Portfolio Holder for Cleaner Streets & Public Safety, and the Leader of Harrow Council, Councillor Paul Osborn.
Simon Horn, Borough Commander for the London Fire Brigade in Harrow, said, “It’s a pleasure to come to this joint event with the local council and other partners. The fire brigade are here giving fire safety advice to local residents and businesses, and also reminding of the dangers of lithium batteries, e-bikes and chargers. There’s been a number of fires, so we are reminding residents to purchase from reputable sellers, don’t tamper with them and also looking at home fire safety visits, looking at our online portal and to see if they are eligible for a free home fire safety check.” Residents can find out more through the London Fire Brigade website.
Cllr Osborn said, “We’ve done days of action all over the borough. I get quite a lot of complaints, including a lot of issues in Rayners Lane – including on Harrow Online – where people post about the bins overflowing. We are looking at putting in bigger bins that actually compact more and also let us know when they’re full so they can be emptied.
“We will put an extra shift in for street cleaning in all of our district centres meaning you get more coverage throughout the day. We’re also cracking down with people spitting, fly-tipping and those kind of things to make a big difference. Already I’ve seen from the last time I was here – it’s made a big difference in the last six months. But it’s still not where it needs to be. We still need to do more.”
When asked what more could be done, he added, “I think some of it is structural. We need to provide a space for the mopeds to go that’s not taking bays, because that is a constant complaint – that people can’t park here – which is part of the reason you get double parking on Rayners Lane because you can’t get a space. But equally, the world we live in now, people are using Uber Eats, Deliveroo – all of those companies – and restaurants rely on that trade as well. So it’s just thinking sensibly about, if we’ve got these big footpaths, can we use them more sensibly to create spaces? It’s also looking at what we can do to enforce better on Rayners Lane.
“Today we’re giving out warnings to the moped riders that they’re not just allowed to park there all day – they have to be using them to drop off or pick up a collection. There will be a few weeks of warning people and then we will start issuing fines.”
Cllr Patel commented on the turnout, saying, “This is one of the most popular days of action we’ve had. Ever since we introduced it last year, we’ve been receiving a lot of feedback from residents to say it’s very good to see. All the agency partners that we liaise with are here.
“We’ve got TfL because a lot of the fly-tipping gathers around their land, putting the emphasis on them to do something about it as well. We’ve got people from our enforcement teams looking at everything from fly-tipping to businesses – and health and safety issues. So a whole plethora of things that are anti-social behaviour.”
On the issue of paan spitting in the area, he said, “It’s quite a big problem in this area. That is a filthy habit, it’s unhygienic, the council spends a lot of money trying to clear up because all of the bins have to be cleared, and out of the 22 wards, Rayners Lane gets a lot of attention – I need to make sure that the whole of Harrow gets the attention. We are trying to curtail that kind of behaviour.”
The Conversation Café team were also in attendance, a welcoming community initiative offering face-to-face support, advice, and social connection for residents. They have the following upcoming sessions –
- St Peter’s Church, West Harrow – Tuesdays from 10am to 2pm
- North Harrow Community Library – Wednesdays from 2pm to 5pm
- Wealdstone Library – Wednesdays from 10:30am to 1pm
Harrow Council confirmed that similar Days of Action will be rolled out across other parts of the borough in the coming months.
Carly is a creative writer with a wide range of interests and a genuine curiosity about people and their experiences. She’s community-focused and enjoys telling real, relatable stories. When she’s not writing, she’s usually exploring something new or working on one of her many projects.
