The Conservative administrations in Harrow have a somewhat troublesome history about the waste collection, seemingly because of its councillors responsible for this area of the council work.
The wheelie bins in Harrow were introduced by the marginal Conservative administration in 1989 on a trial basis with an assurance that these would not become permanent automatically. But then they did, causing serious backlash, as the sophisticated Harrow residents did not want the ‘bulking and ugly looking’ bin sitting in their front yard.
The Conservative administration in 2006 inherited the collection of the household waste using the Brown and Waste Bins system. But soon they decided to change in the frequency of collection of the Brown and Waste Bins. Not only this, but the then quick attention-seeking environmental portfolio holder recklessly moved the timetable for change from September 2006 to July 2006 to ‘further increase the council’s recycling performance’.
This waste bin collection arrangements became so unpopular that a Conservative seat in the Harrow Weald ward was badly lost in the August 2006 by-election that was held due to the death of the Tory councillor.
Later during their term of administration, Conservatives argued that they had been forced to introduce its three-bin system to improve the recycling rates needed to counter the rise of landfill taxes imposed by the Government.
Their claim that recycling rates in Harrow were 4 per cent before the council brought in wheelie bins, and are now 38 per cent, was misleading as they failed to point out  the ‘before’ figures were 20 years old –  Harrow introduced the bins in 1989.
In June 2009 the MailOnline also reported that Town hall chiefs were accused of pedalling ‘spurious propaganda’ after claiming that wheelie bins boosted recycling rates.
Eventually and because of the accumulated backlash of the waste collection arrangements and heavy-handed implementation of the CPZ (controlled parking zone) under the same Conservative portfolio holder for the environment, Tories lost the council in 2010.
In 2015, the council chose to roll out the Straight’s 7 litre kitchen caddy and kerbside caddy (food waste bin) to Harrow properties, apparently to improve the recycling rates.
The collection of the food waste bins looked steady but is now less satisfactory under the new council administration (Tory), like as indicated by the resident comments on the Harrow council Facebook page that reported ‘since launching food waste recycling in flats last summer, we have now delivered kitchen caddies to 4,000 flats in Harrow’!
“Shame they don’t get collected from houses, mine is missed more often than not!! Fed up with reporting it and still not being collected!!” a comment.
“What has happened to the food waste collections? Until four weeks ago, our bin was missed once since it started. A fortnight ago and yesterday our road was missed? Yet each time it is marked as completed on the website. It means the website is pointless as someone just pretend the bins have been collected” another comment.
Like before, the quality of the environmental services is the most worrying under the present (Con) portfolio-holder as well.

“I can’t believe Harrow Council are signing off £400,000 on lawyers. £400,000 could deliver a library for Harrow’s children, or they could even offer people payments towards scrapping polluting vehicles. Instead, they’re spending the money on trying to keep the air we breathe toxic” says Krupesh Hirani, the London assembly member for Brent and Harrow. (image from his tweet).

The Harrow council claims to be a council that puts residents first, and a borough that is clean and safe.
Harrow alongside with few other Tory London boroughs issued a “pre action” warning letter to Transport for London last month, threatening legal action if Sadiq Khan’s decision to expand the ultra-low emission zone, that includes Harrow, on August 29 is implemented.
Harrow council’s leaders are set to issue High Court proceedings by February 24 against London mayor Sadiq Khan.
They are prepared to spend up to £400,000 fighting the expansion of the Ulez at the time of the tight council budget, proposing an increase to council tax by 4.99% again.
A controversial member of the Tory group on the Harrow council, Councillor Hall, sits at the London assembly and misses no opportunity to attack Sadiq Khan!!

The Harrow council claims to be a council that puts residents first, and a borough that is clean and safe, through a proposed increase to council tax by 4.99% again.
In reality, it appears that this council statement is not owned by all council members with a responsibility, resulting in less than acceptable quality of the council services in some cases.
For example, residents still struggle for prompt and satisfactory response to their queries and complaints. The council letters where received miss the contact information such as an email address or a telephone number, making officer-resident interaction almost impossible!
The quality of the environmental services is particularly worrying:
Autumn leaf collection management, especially in many Labour held wards, is bad. In some cases, the footpath became quite slippery when the leaves got wet/ sticky after the rain, risking residents safety.

Litter picking service in the parks and side streets has deteriorated to a point where even some politicians join the residents voluntary litter picking sessions!
We have seen evidence of the food bins (black cady) often being missed (these are usually collected in the dark hours of the morning).
When the missing out is reported, the automated ‘donotreply’ email informs that ‘our crews will collect your bin within 3 working days’ but they are not collected, though they are at the edge of the property, not overflowing and don’t contain anything that shouldn’t be in that bin.
The street cleansing/ repairing programme, regularly carried out previously, has declined.
Although Covid is not a key factor now, the council has seemingly failed to fully recover or is using it as an excuse not to recover from the decline in the quality of its work in many cases.

The Kodak Works, a photographic manufacturing plant and research and development centre, was built in what was then farmland in the hamlet of Wealdstone, Harrow.
Kodak purchased 7 acres of land and the plant opened in 1891, Kodak’s first manufacturing facility outside the United States.
Initially, the factory developed and printed photographs for clients. In the next 20 years, the factory expanded. Eventually, film rolls and photographic paper were also being produced at the plant.
At its peak during the 1950s, about 6,000 workers were employed at the site. By then, the facility covered an area of 55 acres.
The commercial feasibility of the Harrow site declined and was being wound down in the 2000s. Some parts of the site were demolished, others were sold or leased.
In 2005, film production ended at all Kodak plants in the UK, and in Harrow 600 jobs were lost. Nevertheless, 1,400 employees continued to work at Harrow.
Following Kodak’s bankruptcy in the U.S. in 2012, the future of the site was unclear. The British spin-off Kodak Alaris took control of the site in 2013 and its association with the original American Kodak ended.
Eventually, the site was purchased by developers who planned to build 2,000 new homes along with new facilities. The development is called Eastman Village, paying homage to the founder of Kodak, George Eastman.
The 213 feet (65 m) tall chimney of the factory, which has been a local landmark, is being retained.
Below is a section of the new development:

Katie, Harrow Town Centre icon, could do with restoration.
The landmark bronze sculpture called Skipping Katie is modelled on and named after the daughter of creator James Butler, 80, who won a public art commission held to mark the opening of newly-pedestrianised St Ann’s Road.
The statue was ceremonially unveiled in May 1987 by the then-Mayor of Harrow, Councillor Christine Bednell, who remained a Conservative ward councillor for Stanmore Park till 2018, and Jacques Vernier, the visiting mayor of Harrow ‘s twin town of Douai in France.
While the skipping Katie was removed for several months some years back when Station Road was improved by Harrow Council, a good restoration opportunity was missed.
Harrow prides itself in its environmental heritage, but in some cases seems to neglect maintenance.

Harrow council needs to redress staffing imbalances, as the council’s recent Annual Workforce Equality Report identified over and under-representation at several levels.
The majority of the workforce is aged between 35-64 (76%), under-representation of 16-24 year olds (1.6%).
The workforce has more female (60%) than men (39%) but women in senior pay bands remains low, with men making up 64% of those within pay band 6.
An under-representation of Black, Asian and Multi-ethnic staff across the council (46%), though higher than other London boroughs.
Over 55% of the male workforce is white while 50% of the female workforce are from Black, Asian and Multi-ethnic communities, mostly in the lower pay bands, with the largest proportion coming from an Asian background (35%), compared to 42% of the female workforce that is white.
Declared disability status remains low (4.3%). The majority of staff declaring a disability are women (66%) compared to men.
There are also imbalances at the recruitment stages: more 25-36 year olds applied (25%) and were successful in 2020-21 (26%), compared with 45-54 year olds who had a higher success rate from application (14%) to appointment (24%), and 12% of applicants were aged 16-24 (12%) with a success rate of just 6%.
There was a higher rate of applicants from women (60%) compared to men (40%), with more female candidates being shortlisted for roles (60%) and 39% of male candidates. 65% of female candidates were successfully appointed to roles, compared to 35% of male candidates.
Around 69% of applicants were from a BAME background, compared to 28% who were white, however the success rate for BAME applicants is lower than whites, with 22% of BAME candidates being shortlisted for roles, compared to 25% of white candidates. Of this, 28% of successful appointments were from a BAME background, compared to 40% of white candidates.
The reported workforce is made up of 2,071 full time and part-time staff, excluding school staff.

Michael Lockwood, 63, director general of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), has stepped down with immediate effect.
In a statement posted on the IOPC website on Friday night, Mr Lockwood said: ‘It is with great sadness that I have decided to resign as director general of the IOPC for personal and domestic reasons, and this will be effective from today.’
But the Mail online reported on 3rd December that Michael Lockwood quits amid ‘criminal investigation’ into an allegation some 40 years ago.
The IOPC was set up in January 2018 following the closure of its scandal-hit predecessor, the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Since he became the IOPC first director general, Mr Lockwood has presided over high-profile police conduct investigations, including ‘systemic racism’ within police forces, the 17 officers who handled the investigation into murders of four young men by Stephen Port, and Boris Johnson’s relationship with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri while he was mayor of London.
After Ms Everard’s murder last year, he said officers who fell below expected standards of behaviour were not ‘one-off events’ and couldn’t be dismissed as a ‘bad apple’, adding: ‘There must be self-awareness of the problem and firm action to tackle it by leaders.’
Mr Lockwood was the Harrow council chief executive for about 12 years till 2018 with a short break in between.
In 2014, the Labour administration decided to restore the role of chief executive and reappointed the popular council chief executive Michael Lockwood, who was forced out by the Cllr Hall (Tory) short-lived administration as they vindictively abolished the chief executive post.
Such was the nature of personalisation at the Harrow council that the members of the Tory group did not attend Mr Lockwood’s farewell event in number to demonstrate that the leaving chief executive is not popular and would not be missed.
Interestingly, Cllr Hall now chairs the London assembly’s Police and Crime Committee that examines the work of the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC), overseeing the Metropolitan Police work.

Local councillors and residents have strongly objected to the planning application for the installation of a 5G mast in proximity of residents, an old people’s home and a primary school at the junction of Wynchgate &  Wilsmere Drive, Harrow Weald.
The installation of the Street Pole will also need ancillary works, including the equipment cabinet, bowler cabinet and a transmission cabinet fitted.
Dozens of local residents are worried that this development would have a much greater impact on the wellbeing and health of the residents, the aesthetics of the area as well as the value of their properties. Objections have been raised individually and collectively.
“I personally have lived at my property for over 40 years and have never before been so frightened of anything so troubling happening in my road and which will have an adverse effect on me!!” said a distressed resident.
In their collective letter of objection, local councillors have said: “the siting and appearance of this proposed mast is inappropriate for this area, and would have a detrimental impact on local character and amenity.
“At 18m high, the height of a six-storey building, the proposed mast would tower above this local residential suburban area and be an eyesore.”
Following the residents’ alert that the International Commission (ICNIRP) guidelines are due to be revised and replaced this year, the councillors urge that “the ICNIRP exposure guidelines are rigorously adhered to in the assessment of this proposal, as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework, to ensure that local residents are fully protected and are not exposed to any harmful impacts”.
Harrow council needs to be mindful of the residents’ rights of legal proceedings. For example, costs of £13k were recently awarded against Brighton and Hove City council when they failed to address the health impacts of a proposed mast.

After the announcement of Prince Harry’s memoir SPARE, likely out on 10th January next year, London Assembly member Susan Hall, also a toxic Harrow councillor, attacked Prince Harry.
The Express reports that Hall said the Duke of Sussex could damage his own family – his wife, Meghan Markle, and children – with the book, and wished he “finally grew up and realised we must not bite the hand that fed us”.
SPARE appears to be a reference to the phrase ‘heir and a spare’ – suggesting his attitude to his place in the Royal Family.
Conservative Cllr Hall, a backbencher in the ruling group on the council, is known to have a needle for someone from time to time, for example she seems to be keen for someone to challenge the leader of the Conservative group and the Harrow council Cllr Paul Osborne, a gentleman who had contested her before.
Prince Harry is hoping to support charities, including Sentebale and WellChild, with proceeds from his sales of his book sales.
The Duke of Sussex has previously said: “I’m writing this not as the prince I was born, but as the man I have become.
“I’ve worn many hats over the years, both literally and figuratively, and my hope is that in telling my story – the highs and lows, the mistakes, the lessons learned – I can help show that no matter where we come from, we have more in common than we think.
“I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to share what I’ve learned over the course of my life so far, and excited for people to read a first-hand account of my life that’s accurate and wholly truthful.”

The council in its meeting last month conferred the title of Honorary Alderman of the London Borough of Harrow Council upon Camilla Bath in recognition of the eminent and distinguished service she has rendered to the London Borough of Harrow over a continuous period of thirty-two years as a Harrow councillor.
Being Honorary Alderman brings several privileges, including: to attend as a spectator at meetings of the council and to have a seat reserved for this purpose, and to receive invitations to all civic and social events to which Members of the council are invited. The honour is held for the life of the recipient
The council has previously conferred the title of Honorary Aldermen in July 1986, on former Conservative councillors Frank Rees and Nan Rees. Both served the council for a long time and have since died.
In May 2006 the council conferred the title of Honorary Alderman on former Labour councillor Keith Toms in recognition of eminent and distinguished services rendered to the borough over a continuous period of 32 years as a councillor. Alderman Toms who also served as Deputy Mayor and Mayor of the Borough has recently died.
In June 2014 the Council conferred the title of Honorary Alderman on former Conservative councillor Richard Romain in recognition of the eminent and distinguished services rendered to the Borough over a continuous period of 32 years as a Councillor.