Harrow (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Harrow Council is set to spend a staggering £350,000 to clear a massive ‘industrial-scale waste’ site, for development, amid a fly-tipping crisis in the area.
The leadership asserts that there is a limit to what the council can do, despite the opposition party’s accusations that it has failed to secure the property for the last 18 months.
Plans to construct 149 new houses on the site of the former driving school in Wealdstone South, known as Byron Quarter, which was used to park special needs minibuses until 2023, were accepted by the council’s Planning Committee earlier this month on February 6, 2025.
The local leisure center is next to the council-owned property, which is currently tarmacked and has seen constant fly-tipping in recent years.
Opposition council members claim that because the current administration is “neglecting the site,” Harrow taxpayers will be responsible for the £348,000 cost of clearing all the waste before the development starts. This information was disclosed at a recent council meeting on February 27, 2025.
Addressing the leadership at the meeting, Leader of the Harrow Labour Group, Cllr David Perry, said:
“You are about to increase council tax by 4.99 per cent. Of that increase, the first £348,000 raised will, in the coming weeks, go towards clearing an absolute dump of a site at the old driving school where tonnes and tonnes and tonnes of waste has been fly-tipped, dumped and left to rot for months on end.”
He added:
“Furthermore, the pond on that site is now likely contaminated and, given the sheer volume of waste, there is likely to be potentially dangerous and hazardous building and construction material on that site.”
Harrow Council’s Conservative Leader, Cllr Paul Osborn, accused his opposition counterpart of ‘bare-faced cheek’ as this administration has brought forward a plan to make better use of the site.Cllr Osborn said that there has been a criminal fly-tip on that site. To be clear, the people doing the fly-tipping were industrial in the scale that they did it, they forced entry onto the site and disposed of the [waste].
There is a limit to what the council is able to do when it comes to securing these things.
He added:
“The best way of securing these things and the best way of preventing it is to actually develop family homes and a nice development on that site.”
The fleet of vehicles, which are now housed at the main depot, was stored there when the administration took possession.
When the land became unoccupied, Cllr. Graham Henson, the former leader of the Labour Group, informed the administration that it was their duty to maintain it.
Addressing Cllr Osborn, he added:
“It is his fault that he is arranging to pay all this money because he did not secure the site.”
Cllr Osborn said:
“What we have done is actually come forward with a good use for this site. I don’t believe using it to park special needs transport vehicles is a good use of [it].
I believe providing family homes that back onto the park, that enhance the Belmont Trail, and enhance the area is what we need to do.”
Of the 149 residences at Byron Quarter, 78 will be part of a six-story apartment complex, while the remaining 71 will consist of rows of terraced houses with two or three bedrooms. Just 27% of all new homes will be affordable, which is far less than the council’s own goal of 40%.
According to Harrow Council officers, this is because, for a program of this size, the profit is “lower than anticipated.”
What measures will Harrow council take to prevent future dumping of waste?
By offering proof for prosecution in the event of an occurrence, CCTV camera installation in high-risk areas might discourage illegal dumping.
Campaigns for awareness and ongoing education to educate locals on the value of appropriate garbage disposal and the repercussions of fly-tipping. Promoting the usage of approved garbage collection services and facilities is part of this.
Collaborating with nearby companies to make sure they follow appropriate waste management procedures.
Highlighting the “waste duty of care” to all businesses and residents to make sure they are aware of their legal obligations with relation to disposing of trash.
Preserving easily accessible and effective waste collection services, including those for large waste, in order to lessen the motivation for unlawful disposal.
Securing funds and support for waste management projects by working with groups such as the West London Waste Authority, which will improve the council’s capacity to address trash-related challenges.