Forum Topic

Noise and Environmental Health in Ealing

Hi all,Has anyone had dealings with the Environmental Health department in Ealing Council? We are currently experiencing very inappropriate noise ingress in our flat from next door, which the others in the block are also affected by, and I wondered how helpful others have found the system in place, or if we are rather more on our own that I'd have hoped.Many thanks.

Mark Green ● 5602d11 Comments

Marcus, an Enviromental Health Officer, rang me back this morning regarding an issue that I flagged up with Customer Services yesterday.  It potentially is going to lead to a Fixed Penalty Notice (£80 fine) for the trouble maker. I found Marcus to be very helful and efficient, but due to redundancies each EHO now has a bigger workload. EHO's manage a ward so Marcus might not be the right person. The first thing you will need to do is to report it through the normal channels, i.e Customer Service, so that the complaint can be logged and given a reference number.  From there it is forwarded to the EHO team to deal with.I hope this is helpful.

Ben Owen ● 5602d

Ealing's EH department has relied on short-term contract and agency stafffor as long as I can remember. I used to have a good working relationship with an EHO covering my 'patch' for years. When he left, it was difficult to keep track of the constantlt changing replacements.

Nigel Brooks ● 5602d

Depending on what the problem is, you may be able to take action under the enivironmental protection act 1990.  AFAIK, takes about 3 weeks and costs £200.  First of all though, you will need to speak with the neighbour, then put it in writing and then threaten to take action, wait 3 days and make a complaint to the courts.

G Lord ● 5602d

Delighted to hear that each Environmental Health Officer (EHO) has a higher workload now. Nice to hear that some of the "half-speed" workers in Ealing Council are finally having to work!

Marc Races ● 5601d

Marc, if you've experienced "half-speed" from Ealing's Environmental Health service in the past, it's probably not because they haven't been working. More that they've been so poorly funded and managed that each EHO has had a workload that should reasonably be put on three people, rather than one.

M. Duley ● 5601d

I would agree that the whole environment area of Ealing council is poorly managed. The staff that there are further down the structure are often grinding away at their superiors' personal grudges in a futile and very crusty political mess within Ealing Council itself. The presence of a huge pile of rotting diseased wood chips just inside the Ranalagh Rd. entrance to the allotments giving off mould spores and aspergillis spores that affect passers by with allergies in spite of many complaints is an example of the type of politics played out in Ealing Council. It is odd that the Executive Director of the Environment Group of Ealing Council has presided over this heap of rubbish for the past ten years along with the death of the fish in Walpole Park last year is still employed by Ealing Council. It is no surprise that Ealing Council runs "half speed", who would want to work there when the senior executives take so little responsibility for what happens in Ealing Council itself?

Marc Races ● 5601d

Actually, my "half-speed" comment was concerned with Ealing Council as a whole, and the top-paid people in particular. The Environmental Health people have tended to be effective and are an important part of keeping Ealing safe. Unfortunately they do tend to be partisan and the Ascott Allotments are an excellent example of this as has been pointed out. One councillor does have a plot there, however, the emphasis as  result of this has been for the Director of the Environment to turn a blind eye to the infractions going on there (the dump of organic rubbish near the Ranalagh Road entrance being a good example) with problems such as rat infestations and a network or dangerous and slippery mud paths that would leave any privately-owned facility closed down immediately, Then there is the multitude of illegal water taps that lack safety valves (double check vaves) to prevent the back-siphonage of water from hoses and buckets into our drinking water.Then there is the highly-used walkway,Baillies Walk running along the north side of the allotments (much used by mums and toddlers going to Grange School) where pricky hawthorn branches and brambles pose a real threat to eyesight as they are growing through the allotment fence and could easily poke someone's eye out- why this mess of hawhtorn and bambles is allowed to grow there immediately behind the fence is a mystery and should have been cut down years ago.In short, the EHO seems to be omitting some key haards in Ealing in a very political way.

Marc Races ● 5596d

You need to realise that the 'EHO' is not just one person but many. An EHO may be required to inspection food business for hygiene standards, or visit a warehouse for health and safety compliance. Another EHO may respond to complaints regarding unsafe houses, another may respond to car alarms, or bars and clubs amking excessive noise, or another may deal with odour from a commercial premises, the list goes on. One person, one 'EHO' cannot respond to all enquiries and complaints, on top of meeting their statutory requirements. I belive EHO's do a good job with the limited resources given, maybe Councillors should provide additional resources to pay for additional staff, which in turn would improve staff moral and ultimatly less staff turnover which in turn will provide a better service.

Rachel W ● 5595d

If Ealing Council's Environmental Health Team it is a group of people then one could expect some kind of collective memory that would over the course of ten years actually do something about the unhygienic mess of rotting minced organic matter inside the gates of the Ascott Allotments comprising a mixture of diseased wood chip and perennial weeds deposited on an area of hard-standing built to allow emergency vehicles such as ambulances to have easier access to the site and also for Ealing Environmental Health to do somethng about all this. What is more Conservatve Councillor Nigel Sumner walks past this heap of rat-infested rotted garbage frequently as his allotment plot is close by, so one can wonder what his priorities are.

Marc Races ● 5593d

Bah, I called them weeks ago and they returned my call on Friday.

Kimberley Sklinar ● 5591d

From my past and  experience with EH - To be fair they are generally helpful and willing, but as with many officers, they have heavy workload and limited resources.

Jim Wong ● 5587d