Safer NeighbourhoodsSafe and secure places are essential for sustainable communities. More than any other factor people believe that low levels of crime make somewhere a good place to live.Public spaces should be presented in a way that encourages people to use them for appropriate purposes, and to discourage criminal or anti-social behaviour. Good urban design can create places which are well-used by people and can increase natural surveillance. Pedestrians deter crime by their very presence: they act as guardians for vulnerable people by helping them to feel safer, and they act as witnesses if crime happens. Residents can protect their own environment and take responsibility for reporting incidents. Street watcher schemes can be an effective way of supplementing the work of local authorities and of involving the community in looking after their environment. Some Neighbourhood Watch groups have set up youth groups and other activities for youngsters as a way of providing activities and preventing them from offending. Providing activities for teenagers is the biggest priority for improvement locally. Design-out crimeThe design, layout, facilities and general environment of neighbourhoods all have an effect on the way people use them. When they are well-designed and managed, they can encourage people to use them appropriately and play a part in maintaining them. However, individuals’ behaviour can adversely affect the quality of residential areas and should not be tolerated. Respectful behaviour can help to encourage more residents to use their streets, which in turn can help to discourage anti-social behaviour and crime. ReassurancePeople want a reassuring presence on the street and in their local neighbourhood. The government is committed to having a neighbourhood policing team in every community by 2008. The National Neighbourhood Policing Programme Team is now working in all police forces in England and Wales to develop strategies which enable the police to work more closely with their partners and the community. Nuisance neighbours and anti-social behaviour have a big impact on the community around them. One or two families can destroy the quality of life in whole streets and neighbourhoods by:
A range of measures are available to tackle nuisance neighbours and other anti-social behaviour problems in residential areas. These include Anti Social Behaviour Orders, Dispersal Orders and Parenting Contract. (Full range of measures in full document). Tools for Delivery and SuccessNeighbourhood Watch is a partnership involving the community, police, community safety departments within local authorities and other partners to make neighbourhoods safer, better places to live. For more information go to www.neighbourhoodwatch.uk.com
For information on the report and supplementary documents, go to www.audit-commission.gov.uk Design-out crimeThe Housing Market Renewal (HMR) Pathfinders also includes a Respect Protocol with a useful summary of action to successfully implement well-designed, high quality, safe neighbourhoods that support public life and community interaction. It can be downloaded from www.communities.gov.uk Nuisance neighbours230: Anti-social Behaviour Intensive Family Support Projects: An Evaluation of Six Pioneering Projects is a summary document for housing, homelessness and social care practitioners, examining the cost, benefits, effectiveness and lessons learnt from such projects. This document can be found at www.communities.gov.uk The Noise Concern website is run as a partnership between ENCAMS, Defra, Mediation UK, The Noise Abatement Society and National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection. Content includes information about speaking to noisy neighbours for the first time, mediation services and also contacting the local authority and taking legal action. The website can be found at www.noiseconcern.org Other useful websites on the neighbour noise issue include:
Crime and anti-social behaviourThe Respect programme is a cross government and wide ranging response to anti-social behaviour and its causes. The broad approach is about making services better at managing behaviour ¬tackling bad and promoting good. It is also about improving the response to issues that matter most to the public. Most areas are good places to live and work but evidence shows that anti-social behaviour - like vandalism, intimidating groups hanging around and rowdy behaviour are the number one concern for communities. Vandalism and criminal damageThe Crime Reduction website is a resource where practitioners can find practical advice, access research into vandalism and criminal damage, exchange ideas on initiatives and identify local solutions. The Criminal Damage mini-site, accessed at the same address, contains facts and figures about criminal damage with emphasis on the financial and emotional cost and explains what the Home Office is doing to combat the problem. It also hosts regular online sessions for practitioners with experts in criminal damage. . See www.crimereduction.gov.uk The Home Office has published a series of short, practical guides on vandalism and criminal damage, which investigate the issues and describe the tools and powers that can be used to tackle them.
Each of the guides can be downloaded from www.crimereduction.gov.uk |
