Councillors to probe rat issues
Liberal Democrat councillors on Welwyn Hatfield Borough warmly welcome the agreement of the other parties to a Scrutiny being held into the numerous problems with rats across the Borough. The request for the scrutiny was tabled by the Liberal Democrats.
LibDem Cllr Helen Quenet who will sit on the scrutiny group said ‘ I tabled a Freedom of Information request recently, which showed that 443 council-subsidised rodent treatments
had been carried out across the Borough during the year from Sept 2016, however this figure underestimates the size of the problem, as many people will have rodent infestations treated privately . It is clearly a major problem.
‘A second FOI request I tabled has shown there are areas around the Borough that have much more rat activity than others and we are hopeful that the proposed scrutiny will be able to help identify if the problem areas might be better managed. Prevention is at least important as cure.
‘During my time as a Councillor I have become very aware both of specific areas which seem to have disproportionate rat activity and individual cases where the presence of rats has caused great distress to residents. A scrutiny like this, gives all the parties a chance to examine an issue in depth and to research successful initiatives carried out in other areas of the country and indeed world. Such cross party working to my mind is the most constructive way forward in many areas of the Borough’s work.”