Local Government Ombudsman report - advice needed!

[adridude]

so that means I could be in alot of trouble for filming down a street as there are 1000 doors in the camera view hah

 

a good way to resolve this is to call the police out every time the music or noise happens. get a reference number from them.

 

I think when police come out for the 2nd or third time, they can confiscate the gear (happened to me in Holland, dunno bout here)

[Rich44]

The police wont respond they dont have the powers and noise pollution is not inside their remit anymore, apparently they must be too busy hiding behind trees with laser guns making money for the force in question

[adridude]

try knocking ont heir door and ask them. Hopefully they will come across as threatening, hopefully they wont do anything.

 

If they are threatening, tell the cops that you've just been threatened. Thats taken seriously, also I'm pretty sure that there is something under health and safety coz of your newborn gem.

[Rich44]

Im not allowed to speak to one of the residents because of ongoing asb investigations and the others are never sober so whats the point in asking them anything, when the E Health guy told them to behave they told him to F off and called him a C so reckon I would get the same.

 

I spoke to a woman this morning who couldnt get in (security entry system) at about 11am and she rang everyones buzzers and I said DONT ring our number again to be let in please we have a newborn baby and she was very apologetic but obviously very drunk (or drugged up) and probs wont remember it when she comes down

[blacksheep1979]

 

I think when police come out for the 2nd or third time, they can confiscate the gear (happened to me in Holland, dunno bout here)

 

nah it takes much more than that - friends had a misserable old guy living 3 doors down that used to complain about the noise when they had a party (they were students), nobody else minded - even their neighbours. This went on for two years (he filmed them as well and everyone else going into/out of the parties) with frequent parties and the occasional environmentla health guy appearing but it took 2 years before they said - 'right next time I take all your hifi kit'

[Rich44]

they can act quicker than that if they witness it but finding someone who actually cares is another matter

[Rich44]

anyone else have an opinion where I stand legally on this?

[JonCris]

As I can't see the footage it's impossible to say but what I can tell you is DO NOT go to the police station & if they should visit you DO NOT let them in (no matter how pushy) & say nothing whatsoever other trhan your name address & date of birth.

 

Sorry but I know many people of good character who thinking they are giving their side of the story & the police will be sympathetic have ended being prosecuted because of something they have said. Happens all the time

[Rich44]

Well all the footage contains is mostly our living room to show noise levels and some of her front door showing the door number, I was thinking that I would argue that I was pushed into it by the ASB team only having ONE set of recording apparatus and had she not been breaking her tenancy agreement it would not have happened at all.

 

You cannot see into her flat from the footage nor can you indentify the flat (theres no address etc on it) its just purely of her front door to prove that was where the noise is coming from and the footage has only been made available to the ASB team at the council

[Rich44]

The council are currently being investigated by the LGO for several things:

 

Not following up on reports of ASB

Not maintaining our flat and making repairs in a timely fashion

Failing to communicate (ie never return calls)

 

There are several other things so dont want to rock the apple cart too much with court etc just yet but im hoping that with the letter from Environmental Health I sent to the LGO the other day that they will simply order the council to move us if they find in our favour thus cutting all this crap out straight away, they can also order compensation be paid too.

 

I also alledged that the council moved new tenants in that they knew would cause problems because of my LGO complaint to upset us, will be interesting to see if that sticks.

 

I also plan on making a DPA SAR once the dust is settled too to see what they have said on their records about us and if theres anything derogatory on there then POW!! lol

[Rich44]

Things just get better and better. NCC have admitted that we reported the leak in May they also say they carded the tenant in question and they failed to respond. NCC then failed to implement any kind of escalation procedure. I then called last month saying it was dripping again (and they told me the above) they sent someone out last Friday who carded the tenant AGAIN!!

 

ABATE team told me they could arrange a break in to fix the fault within 48 hours of being carded if there was no contact and....

 

IT'S STILL DRIPPING!!!

 

Now there are signs of water ingress on the communal area ceiling, the white ceiling is yellow, obviously damp and there is now water dripping down from both corners of the stariwell outside our door and the neighbour opposite.

 

I'm refusing to call NCC again as I have done so at least 6 times now and its not even a fault in our flat ffs so i'm sick of being responsible for muppets.

 

Also i'm leaving it as the LGO are currently investigating NCC and i'm leaving them enough rope to hang themselves with. We're also concerned the effect that hot water will have dripping onto the balcony over all these months and with winter coming up if its still like it and freezes I imagine it could well bring the balcony down!!!

[JonCris]

Rich you must seek a magistrates "Statutory Nuisance" order.

 

Place the council/landlords on 21 days notice (as you have to) then apply to the local court & ask the magistrates to make a work order in which your landlords will be required to complete the work within a specified time. Failure to comply with such an order is a criminal offence & they are rightly terrified of them.

 

Just placing them on 21 days notice might be enough to get them moving

[Rich44]

Is there any specific form or whatever I need to ask the court for?

[Rich44]

Well on it rumbles last week had NCCs troubleshooter out and he said our flat is NOT in a state of disrepair it just needs some repairs.

 

They have sent Citycare out today to basically bodge it all up upstairs as they cant get in to repair the other tenants water tank they have fitted some copper piping to her overflow pipe so it discharges into the gutter instead of onto the balcony (why they couldnt have done this 3 months ago I dont know!)

 

Our windows - we have 3 large sash windows, 2 in the living room 1 in the bedroom they all rattle when the wind blows. One in the living room is so warped you can see the distortion in the wood it bows like an arc of a rainbow lol, the other one in the living room wont open when it rains as none of them have any paint left on them (last painted over 4 years ago) so potentially if there was a fire we would be unable to escape.

 

The bedroom windows squeals like some poor animal being tortured when you open or close it (very loud)

 

Apparently none of these things will be sorted until 2010 as (get this) we live in a "conservation area" which means everytime the council wants to do something it has to be cleared first so they dont bother which is also why this area is at the bottom of the list for the decent homes program (2010) so he said dont hold your breath as to replace like for like is too expensive and we wont upgrade them either.

 

Bathroom should now be drying out and we eventually found out that there is no asbestos (luckily for the council or it would have been court immediately)

 

Living room cupboard again basically TOUGH!

 

Perimeter walls which are all dangerous (built in 1927) and crumbling the topper on the pillar outside has nothing holding it on and the whole wall is leaning - They want to replace all the walls but its too expensive (£100,000) so they want to replace them with picket fences - picket fences what a load of crap they'll last 5 minutes before people kick them in ffs, oh and guess what conservation won't allow it as its not inkeeping with the look of the area so theyre just refusing to do anything.

 

Broken up footpaths - told tied in with same money for the walls - excuse me hello footpath maintenence its nearly impossible to push the pushchair over the footpath there without twanging the baby out its that bad.

 

To cap it all off today we received a letter which at first glance was about a complaint against us for making noise but (it gets better) I called the residents services team and asked what the hell was going on and......

 

Yes you guessed it that letter was supposed to be addressed to the other tenant and was instead sent to us, soooo would it not be unreasonable to assume they have sent our letter with our name and address and our log sheets to the problem tenant? This leaves us in a potentially VERY dangerous position anyone else agree with that??

 

We are now awaiting the LGO investigator to return from holiday on 13th September as by then NCC will have had well in excess of their 28 days to reply and she should be in a position to start kicking some backside over it.

 

I cannot see how anyone looking at the evidence can suggest that NCC are anything other than total incompetent morons. I have told the LGO that the resolution we want is to be allocated enough points to be moved to a housing association house (dont care what area as long as its on public transport routes) as we want nothing to do with NCC ever again, I also want moving costs as compensation for the time, aggravation and money spent on phone calls and stress which again I think is totally fair.

 

Opinions anyone?

[trundlecat]

Beg's the question: what are they doing with the rent money if they can't afford these repairs? They have no initial investment to repay so what the heck are they spending it on?

 

As for the letter mix up, I'm speachless (& that doesn't happen very often).

 

You really have got your work cut out with that shower Rich, sorry I can't offer any constructive help but I hope someone can & I hope you fleece them!

[Rich44]

Its class isnt it if it wasnt so serious it would be funny lol.

 

Emailed it to our case worker at our MP and her quote is

 

I am very angry that this is still continuing, despite the best efforts of you, our office and the lady at the Housing Directors Office.

 

I have specifically asked that you case be monitored because of the apparent lack of care already given, and yet they make errors such as this, would could result in potentially difficult situations for you as tenants.

 

PS how did your court date go?

[trundlecat]

Would these "potentially difficult situations" give you enough clout to get moved pronto? And would not the potential embarassment of the blinder of an error give you the persuasion power to get a 3 bed, recently modernised gaff?? If all else fails try blackmail.

[Rich44]

I would like to think they would it's all gone off to the investigator at the LGO now so we shall wait and see what she has to say on the matter, at least we have written proof now of NCCs incompetence

[Rich44]

Had a letter from the LGO stating in receipt of my latest letter along with copies of all NCC correspondance, investigator is back at work Weds next week so counting the days now.

 

Oh and because of all the water damage the rear door no longer opens (warped), partner called NCC and they said 5 days she said so what happens if theres a fire at the front of the building we wont be able to get out they claim will be done today but there aint much of today left now. If its not done today im gonna call the emergency number tomorrow and make someones day, anyone else feel that only have one exit from the building is really dangerous?

[Rich44]

Well I got a PCN in May for parking in a residents car park (I am a resident) as car was registered in Aunts name for insurance reasons they wouldnt at the time give us a permit so visitors permit was used, all fine for about a year then got this PCN because the permit had fallen off the windscreen because of the heat but was still clearly visible on the passenger seat.

 

No probs i'll write in they'll cancel the ticket its an honest mistake - No chance

 

They rejected my immediate letter without even reading it properly, they then after another month sent an NtO and I filled that in and sent it off with copies of the Barnet case which had just finished at the time and the NPAS circular etc and the date I did all this the EDP (local rag) broke the story Neild Herron was quoted making some FOI requests and NCC said they had changed their tickets although they believed it was just a technicality (yeah thats what Barnet thought too idiots!)

 

Anyway today I have received the following:

 

Thank you for your recent correspondence regarding the above PCN.

 

Your representations have been carefully considered in the light of the circumstances at the time and in accordance with the RTA 1991. Gorunds for cancellation of the charge have not been established and this letter is the formal Notice of Rejection of Representations.

 

The reason for rejection is: The PCN was correctly issued. Your vehicle was parked in an area clearly shown to be restricted to "Authorised permit holders only" and indicating that this area of the car park was not available to non-permit holders at that time. As previously stated as a resident (She is not a resident she lives in Cambridge, I live in Norwich!) you are not permitted to use a visitors permit on your vehicle. I note the points that you have raised regarding the validity of the PCN design. The council will review the situation once the full High Court judgment has been received. In the meantime enforcement action will continue as normal. Your reasons are therefore not accepted as grounds for cancellation of the PCN.

 

You now have 28 days (from when?) to pay the charge of £60 or appeal agains the decision to the independant parking adjudicator. Full details of the appeals procedue are enclosed. The decision of the adjudicator is binding on both you and the Council.

 

Failure to pay , or to lodge an appeal, will result in a Charge Certificate being issued which will increase to the original charge by 50% to £90. If the increased Penalty charge is not paid within a further 14 days an application will be made to the county court to recover the money.

 

Yours (up?)

 

Norwich City Council

 

So the 28 days start when exactly?

 

The person in question can't be a resident because the address they are using to send to the RK is in Cambridge so if they are not disputing the visitors permit being on display then how can it be invalid if the RK is NOT a resident??

 

 

They really are a 1st class bunch of monkey spankers. The council will review the situation once the High Court judgment is received - How can that be right theyre saying our tickets might be illegal but you have to pay up now anyway because we're waiting for the judgment and once that comes out they will say well you paid up and admitted your guilt grrrrrrrrr.

 

Going for it with NPAS and as theyre being so damn unreasonable will look into seeing about expenses to boot.

 

I hate NCC (see landlord thread) theyre a bunch of total jumped up little hitlers with no grasp on the real world and I am seriously thinking about doing a number on them as nearly every road marking I have looked at lately is illegal

[dw190]

You now have 28 days (from when?) to pay the charge of £60 or appeal agains the decision to the independant parking adjudicator.

 

If you read the case of Lukha v Aylesbury Vale you will find that the Notice of Rejection you have received does not conform to the Mandatory Requirements of the RTA 1999 and as such is not a notice at all.

 

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=1034

[Boff]

having similar issues with a friend and her security camers she has installed in her flat (police saying she had to move them as they were showing neighbours properties) however further investigation by myself of the Human Rights Act 1998 article 8 seems to suggest that they only have a case if you have recorded anything of a confidential nature.

 

so in theory unless they can prove that what you have recorded is confidential then they shouldnt be able to do anything about it. but dont just take my word for it i might be wrong.

[SHERLOCK]

hi all,

 

Guys I have taken lots of covert footage, some produced in court, some for private use......no jokes please.

 

You are well within your rights to record, detail or document anything that is in view or can be heard by the general public.

 

Do not encroach on her property or take any footage of the inside of the dwelling but you ARE legally entitled to record goings on and noise levels from outside the property.

 

The council have immense powers to evict nowadays, but they need the evidence. Only their 'neighbourhood nuisance' team turn up, park outside the property in full view of the neighbour and lo and behold the noise has gone, for a couple of hours anyway.

 

Their are private companies, who can record the ongoing noise for court purposes, but it can get expensive!!!!!

 

My advice and the cheapest, is to record, document everything and go hell for leather with the council department, be unrelenting.

 

I wish you luck,

 

SHERLOCK

[Surfer01]

Now apparently she has been told of the content of the video footage I made up and has been to the police and they have told her that she has a strong case to have me prosecuted i'm presuming under invasion of privacy?

 

It woud be quite interesting to find out who told her about the video footage. Any ideas because if it was the council they could be in serious trouble.

[SHERLOCK]

Invasion of privacy my backside, I would say that playing or saying something that can be heard, or is clearly meant to be heard by others, is hardly private.

 

Clearly, the person/s involved in making the noise are causing immense nuisance towards your family, also are their any others complaining?

 

You can get mediators involved but if the person you are dealing with is just total pigheaded then they will not listen, just use evasive tactics, like reporting you.

 

If you feel uncomfortable using the Camcorder, use a handheld recorder (preferably not digital, as these can be enhanced) to record the noise, with a detailed log, a notebook that cannot have the pages removed without detection (e.g. not ringbound) and detail all noise nuisance and sign every page after the last entered word so NO additions can be entered.

 

These cases will end in court, whether by you or the council and the evidence should be foolproof and would be worth the effort to get the end result.

 

Do try to get another witness/complainant onboard to use for the courts and/or evidence of council failure.

 

SHERLOCK