can i appeal council tax - living in horrendous conditions?

verve

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to know whether anyone can help me with appealing council tax payment. Myself and about 10 other residents have had to endure horrendous conditions in the alleyway that leads to our front doors for the past 4 years.

The alleyway contains all the main bins from shops/restaurants on the main roads beside it. Far too often the bins are overflowing and rubbish ends up on the floor. Bin bags are ripped open by rats and foxes very often. Our sewege drainage have been blocked for at least 4 years and so if it rains for over 1 hour on any given day, the alleyway floods to the point of it being inaccessible. The only way to get into our homes at that point is to submerge our feet in overflowing sewege water.

I'm pretty sure there are people in 3rd world countries with better living conditions. This is a major health and safety risk to me and the rest of the residents.

I have contacted the council (barnet) very frequently over the last 4 years but with no avail. They keep claiming the alley is a private property and so they cannot do anythign to help.


MY QUESTION IS WHY ARE WE PAYING COUNCIL TAX WHEN WE ARE MADE TO LIVE LIKE DOGS ON THE STREET? IS THERE A WAY MYSELF AND THE OTHER 10 RESIDENTS CAN GET TOGETHER AND APPEAL THE PAYMENT OF COUNCIL TAX?


-we have this website where we have been collecting images of the conditions we've been put under over the last 4 years.

http:// barnetcouncilrubbish . wordpress . com

00ec25

you have no grounds for refusing or witholding the payment of a TAX, do that and you will a) make no difference to the bin situation and b) get taken to court and end up costing yourself a lot of extra money

instead:

1. have you actually spoken to your councillor rather than the "council"? this is a matter for political pressure not money, what reaction has your website garnered?

2, what has the Environmental Health Dept said? You pictures certainly show its unsightly, but not that different to any set of bins outside such premises and where its inevitable that fly tipping will occur. If the flooding is so bad why haven't you kept back some of the wood that's been tipped and used it to make duckboards? A cardboard "bridge" is a bit naff!

verve

these pictures are outdated. I still have to post new pictures. We have used wood to get across the alleyway but this is removed by binment once a week. No person living in the UK should have to scavange for wood inorder to get into his flat without submerging his feet in sewege.

I'm not sure what a councillor is...? I can assure you that the photos alone are not enough for someone to really grasp the extent of the filth in this road. There must be laws against having such large amounts of bins across from someone's front door?

jennifernil

I looked at your photos.....that is absolutely disgusting!

I presume you have spoken to your local councillor?

If the Close is a private road then there must be a record somewhere of who owns it. Are the houses owned by the same person?

Are Environmental Health not interested?

RobertoMoir

That is appalling. But its a seperate issue from your council tax, I'm afraid.

Your councillor is the person you elected in local elections to be your representative on the council. This is why you need to find out who that is and get them interested - they are your opportunity to take your complaints to the highest level within your local council authority and can often achieve results.

I notice on your blog that you mention that the alley is privately owned and no-one seems to know who the owner is. I suspect that will complicate things somewhat.

verve

we've tried to figure out who owns this place for 4 years!!!!! council doesnt help, the owner of my flat has no clue, and niether do the owners of all the other flats...

The councillor is a good idea I'll get on that rigth away. I never informed the environmental department. I did contact someone from barnet council's enviro deptmnt and THE MOST that's been done in the last 4 years is that some rep shows up every couple of months, has a look at the alleyway and then fines any offlicense or shop that dumps stuff outside the bins. that's not good enough, as he can easily show up on a good day after the alley has been cleaned out.

I STILL CANT COMPREHEND THAT I LIVE IN ONE OF THE LEADING COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD AND THE LEADING CITY IN THE WORLD BUT COULD PROBABLY LIVE BETTER AND MORE HEALTHY IN AFRICA. ITS INSANE. I COME FROM THE MIDDLE EAST AND EVEN THERE NOBODY WOULD STAND FOR THIS. NOBODY WOULD PAY 1200 QUID OF TAX TO LIVE IN SEWEGE!!!

anniecave

Is it actually sewerage overspill? Have you contacted the water company responsible for sewerage regarding this problem? I believe there has been changes to legislation and responsibility for pipes, and this may work in your favour now.

If you have no idea who your councillor is, try your local council's website for a starter.

RobertoMoir

verve wrote: »

we've tried to figure out who owns this place for 4 years!!!!! council doesnt help, the owner of my flat has no clue, and niether do the owners of all the other flats...

The councillor is a good idea I'll get on that rigth away. I never informed the environmental department. I did contact someone from barnet council's enviro deptmnt and THE MOST that's been done in the last 4 years is that some rep shows up every couple of months, has a look at the alleyway and then fines any offlicense or shop that dumps stuff outside the bins. that's not good enough, as he can easily show up on a good day after the alley has been cleaned out.

Agreed. It's an appalling state of affairs... The owner of the flat, as you mention them, should have some clues to finding out who owns the alleyway, as it may be in their title deeds, they must presumably be granted access via the private alley as a Right Of Way and/or information in the Land Registry, for example.

I STILL CANT COMPREHEND THAT I LIVE IN ONE OF THE LEADING COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD AND THE LEADING CITY IN THE WORLD BUT COULD PROBABLY LIVE BETTER AND MORE HEALTHY IN AFRICA. ITS INSANE. I COME FROM THE MIDDLE EAST AND EVEN THERE NOBODY WOULD STAND FOR THIS. NOBODY WOULD PAY 1200 QUID OF TAX TO LIVE IN SEWEGE!!!

... which rather begs the question: why not move?
Of course you shouldn't have to, of course the problem should be fixed, but lets be pragmatic about this - if you really don't want to live in a place that can only be accessed through a dank horrible alley then the simplest and quickest solution is always going to be to move, I'm afraid.

If the councillor can't get things sorted out then moving is probably your best option.

verve

anniecave wrote: »

Is it actually sewerage overspill? Have you contacted the water company responsible for sewerage regarding this problem? I believe there has been changes to legislation and responsibility for pipes, and this may work in your favour now.

If you have no idea who your councillor is, try your local council's website for a starter.

if it rains for over an hour the water floods the alleyway. anything over that starts bringing in filthy smelling sewege bits fromt he drainage. so yes its sewege mixed with offlicense rotten fruit and veg, mixed with kfc leftovers...

i have also contacted the water company. thames water dismissed it. they came to see the drainage and then said ITS NOT OUR RESPONSIBILITY!!! Funny enough, Barnet council said the same thing. hahaha

verve

RobertoMoir wrote: »

Agreed. It's an appalling state of affairs... The owner of the flat, as you mention them, should have some clues to finding out who owns the alleyway, as it may be in their title deeds, they must presumably be granted access via the private alley as a Right Of Way and/or information in the

... which rather begs the question: why not move?
Of course you shouldn't have to, of course the problem should be fixed, but lets be pragmatic about this - if you really don't want to live in a place that can only be accessed through a dank horrible alley then the simplest and quickest solution is always going to be to move, I'm afraid.

If the councillor can't get things sorted out then moving is probably your best option.

the owner of my flat is useless. i've asked many times and his reply is simply NO. I DONT KNOW...


why not move? because I love my flat, I pay very low rent compared to others, and I dont believe that in the 21st century, living in one of the leading economic countries in the world, a man should have to run away because the way the system is run in his country is so appalling that even a 3rd world country can laugh at it! you're asking a question that goes a lot deeper than this discussion and is simply another example of broken england and the mess in which this country is run. The reasons why this country is messed up on so many fronts is because people just 'get up and leave' every time something goes wrong rather than stay there and soldier through and try to change the system to make it better for everyone.

IM SIMPLY NOT LETTING GO ON THIS ONE. NOT WHEN I WASTED SO MUCH MONEY IN COUNCIL TAX FOR NOTHING...

verve

By the way, someone mentioned the environmental health department, but google just comes up with things like the food standards agency. is this the same thing?...

sorry for being so lost and confused but im not english and have never had to delve into all these departments and council issues... its all new to me.