Neighbourhood Management

Estate Matters

We take pride in maintaining the appearance of our estates. However, we need your help to let us know when problems exist. Given below are details of the service you can expect from us and who to contact to report a problem. As a Council tenant you and members of your household, are responsible for using and keeping communal areas in a reasonable manner.

Anti-Social Behaviour/Neighbour Nuisance

We take seriously all reports of anti-social behaviour received from our tenants. Neighbour nuisance or anti-social behaviour is anything that interferes with the peaceful enjoyment of the home and surrounding area. Examples of anti-social behaviour include:

• Noise nuisance (e.g. loud parties/music, shouting, noise from televisions)
• Violence against people and property
• Verbal abuse, for example making racist remarks towards another person
• Harassment of another person/s - this may involve threatening behaviour
• Causing damage to any Council property or the property or possessions of another person
• The storing and dealing of drugs from a Council dwelling
• Any nuisance caused by pets
• Parking of vehicles on unauthorised grounds

We provide support and assistance to tenants who are victims of a crime such as homophobic crime, racist crime, or general crime committed in their home or whilst in the vicinity of their home. If we are unable to resolve the problem we may offer the tenant the chance of being rehoused in a different area.

For more information, including what to do if you are having problems with a neighbour and how we tackle anti-social behaviour, please read our Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour leaflet .

Make an Online Complaint about Anti-Social Behaviour/crime (including racist incident)

Ball Games

Every summer, and particularly during the school holidays, we see a rise in complaints about children/young people playing ball games in public places.

Normally, football and other ball games are not classed as anti-social behaviour. However, we do recognise that although they are fun for the people playing them, they can be a disturbance for others. For more information on this and tips for both those playing ball games and those residents who are being disturbed, please read Football and Ball Games Complaints.

 

Community Trigger

The Community Trigger is a process you can use to ask agencies to review their response to anti-social behaviour or hate incidents you have reported. If you have reported Anti-Social Behaviour but no action has been taken, you will be able to tell us about it under the Community Trigger.

https://www.barrowbc.gov.uk/residents/public-protection-services/environmental-protection/community-trigger/

Garden Maintenance

You are responsible for keeping your garden in a clean and tidy condition. However, a free grass cutting and hedge/tree trimming service is available to tenants who meet certain criteria, or are registered disabled and unable to carry out this work themselves and have no-one else to help them. Grass is cut once a month during April to September (grass trimmings are not picked up) - and doesn't include weeding. Contractors use a garden blower to blow cuttings away from paths. Hedges and trees are trimmed once each year in October. By ‘hedges’ we mean hedges along the boundary of your property, not rose bushes in your garden.

If you want to apply for assistance with grass cutting and/or hedge trimming, please print off and complete an Application for Assistance with Garden Maintenance form and return it to the Housing Department. Alternatively, call into the Housing Office for a form or ring us on (01229) 876578.

When you apply you will need provide proof that you receive a Higher Rate Disability Living Allowance.

Get your bulky garden waste removed FREE OF CHARGE

The Council operates a Bulky Garden Waste collection service. This service is FREE if the items take less than 20 minutes to load but there will be a small charge for larger collections. Request a Bulky Garden Waste Collection or ring the Cleansing Department on 876543.

Garden Tools Free Loan Service

This initiative works in conjunction with tenants and residents associations. The scheme allows tools to be borrowed and are available for all tenants. The scheme operates between March and October. To make enquiries about the service please contact our Mobile Caretaking Unit Supervisor on (01229) 876578.

Communal areas

Communal areas on estates are provided for the benefit of everyone. Please take care of them and report any damage to us on (01229) 876578. The following maintenance of communal areas is carried out:

• Grass Cutting once from 1st March to 31st October (weather permitting)
• Shrub bed maintenance 10 times a year
• Hedges once a year

Please contact the Parks Department on (01229) 876330 should you need to make a complaint. You can also help by:

• Removing litter from areas near your home.
• Not allowing your pet to foul the areas.
• Not allowing your children to play on areas where they may cause damage or nuisance to other tenants.

Removal of large household items

The Council's Cleansing Department can arrange Bulky Household Waste Collections of large household items. The service costs £10, which covers any number of items as long as the whole collection takes no longer than 10 minutes to load. Time in excess of this will be charged for separately. Items that can be collected include furniture, fridges, carpets, sofas. They will not remove rubble (including bricks and soil).

• To request a bulky waste collection
• To request a new black bin
• Find out your waste collection day
• Report a missed bin collection

Refuse Collection Requests

Removal of dumped rubbish (fly-tipping)/bonfire waste

The Council's Cleansing Department can organise rubbish which has been fly-tipped or removal of bonfire waste. Any person found dumping rubbish may face legal prosecution. Please note - bonfires are not allowed on Council land without prior consent from the Council.

If you see waste that has been fly-tipped please report it by ringing 01229 876543, visiting the customer services desk in Barrow Town Hall or Report fly tipping now on-line.

Equipped play areas

Play areas for children are provided on several estates. These areas are inspected on a weekly basis to ensure they conform to safety standards.

The following play areas can be found on our estates:

Playground Location	Estate
Vulcan Road	Vulcan
Roosegate Community Centre	Roosegate
Abbotsvale	Abbotsvale
Lodge Green	Ormsgill
Ormsgill Community Centre	Ormsgill
Buttermere Drive	Dalton
Ruskin Avenue	Dalton
Saves Lane	Askam
Storey Square	Dalton

Unauthorised parking of vehicles

Abandoned vehicles

If a vehicle has clearly been abandoned, please report this to the Town Hall on (01229) 876543.
Vehicles causing an obstruction

If a vehicle is causing an obstruction on a public road, you should contact the police on 101.

If a vehicle is causing an obstruction on communal Housing land and has clearly not been abandoned, please contact the Housing Department on (01229) 876578.

Please give consideration for your neighbours, their safety, and the appearance of the estate as a whole when parking your vehicle. You must only park in the places authorised and not on grass verges and greens.

Dog Fouling

Dog fouling in public places has always been socially unacceptable and is now a fineable offence. For further information or if you want to report dog fouling or to request 'No dog fouling signs' link to Dog Fouling.

Vandalism

Please report any instances of vandalism or graffiti to Council property to the Housing Department on (01229) 876578 or email housing@barrowbc.gov.uk or the Police if out of office hours.

Environment Enhancement Budget - tenant-led budget

This is a tenant-led budget, giving the tenants choice on how to improve the appearance of their estate/area. This may include security initiatives, i.e. fencing, extra lighting. The money is separate from the normal repairs budget and can be used to carry out 'one-off' type initiatives that have the support of the Tenants' Forum.

The budget is split between Housing areas - based on the number of properties in the area.

Proposed schemes will generally only be approved by the Tenants' Forum where they will be of benefit to a community as a whole rather than for the benefit of an individual tenant.

To work through the process a resident on the estate should approach the tenancy services officer who deals with their area. They, in turn, liaise with the property surveyor and the Community Involvement Manager. A request form is then completed giving full details of the proposed scheme. This is then costed by the relevant contractors.

If a tenancy services officer identifies an area of particular need they, of course, can bring this to the Forum. (Some of our housing management areas have no constituted group).

When the scheme is clearly defined and costed, a consultation of nearby residents is carried out. The consultation can be done by the tenancy services officer and the residents' group. When the views of the people directly affected have been documented showing that they are clearly in favour, the initiative is then taken formally to the Tenants' Forum. The Tenants' Forum allows two members from each constituted residents' and tenants' group to vote on whether to approve the scheme or not. If the scheme is approved by the Tenants' Forum the works will be ordered.

Mobile Caretaker Unit

The main duties of the Mobile Caretaker Unit (MCU) are the clearance of properties when a tenant vacates, assisting in the general upkeep and safety of our estates, the removal of graffiti, hypodermic needles or any other item which would place residents in danger, and assisting in managing the Garden Tool Loan Service.