Footpaths, foliage and fouling: Your top 10 council complaints
WHAT’S the most annoying thing in your local neighbourhood? Is it the potholes? Dog mess or litter? Or a noisy neighbour from hell?
People often stress out about complaining about local services. A surprisingly large number of people don’t want to be seen as ‘serial complainers’ – whereas disputes with neighbours can result in fears over safety and security.
I’d encourage you to speak to your council if there’s something in your local area that’s bothering you repeatedly. You don’t have to call it a complaint if you don’t want to. Just passing on feedback can help nudge a council to make changes if enough people do it.
I’m going to cover the ‘big three’ council complaints – parking tickets, council tax and landlord/neighbour disputes – in a separate article.
Here are the top 10 most complained about council services in the UK from Resolver’s users: 1. The bins not being emptied; 2. Tree surgery (trees not trimmed or trees being over-trimmed); 3. Messy/untidy neighbours; 4. Footpaths/roads poorly maintained; 5. Litter; 6. Fly tipping; 7. Footpaths that are unsafe; 8. Dangerous tree, park, playground, etc.; 9. Complaints about council workers;
10. Street cleaning.
Every council in the UK has its own approach to handling complaints, from centralised customer relations teams to ‘by the department’ processes.
You can get around this by using Resolver (we filter your complaint to the right people) but you can also get a feel for who’s best to speak to by doing a search online. Your council will have a list of local services on its website. If you want to pass on a comment, then get in touch through the department.
Trading Standards officers are based at your local council. So if you’ve got a problem with a business – no matter where it’s based – you can speak to your local Trading Standards officer about it. If you’ve got a problem with an unhygienic restaurant or food vendor, this also goes through the local food safety team at the council. The Food Standards Agency has a new website to help you report this kind of problem.
From fly-tipping and dog fouling to potholes and parking tickets, gather a bit of evidence. It helps to get the neighbours on board too – the more complaints, the more likely change will happen.
Turn detective and photograph things such as the results of fly-tipping – note the date and time and keep a log of any persistent problems you encounter. But please be careful. Don’t take any risks.
With noise problems, your council can advise you on how they will monitor the situation so speak to them about your options.
Potholes cost local councils a fortune so if you spot them, photo them and report them. Ever wonder why potholes have a line sprayed around them?
Well, the council have to make a ‘reasonable’ effort to sort out the problem. This means that under section 58 of the Highways Act they try to get out of paying compensation by doing this. If the pothole is marked like this but no repairs happen, report it!
Community campaigning is the way to go for key issues such as bin collections (the government is reversing monthly only collections for example after huge pressure).
If you’re losing your local library, the park is poorly lit or dangerous or the paths and trees aren’t being looked after, make a complaint – every single one counts. But work together with your neighbours to make a bigger, quicker impact. There’s nothing like a community acting in harmony to force change for the better.
■ RESOLVER can help you sort out complaints about anything. Check out resolver.co.uk and share your experiences at yourstories@resolvergroup.com