Environment

Problem: There are some town and village centres which are poorly developed or declining, have unrepaired damage, graffiti, vandalised areas, shabby surroundings, rubbish over the streets and are poorly lit in certain areas. This can lead to a perception that no-one cares for an area, which in turn can heighten the fear of crime and sustain crime, and also indicate that the authorities are losing their grip on society, including the criminal element.

Suggested interventions:

Improving the physical environment can have a big impact on crime and fear of crime. Open visible spaces, designing out crime, improving lighting, natural surveillance, the physical appearance of an area and the creation of defensible space can all help to reduce people’s feelings of insecurity within certain areas. 
 

• Talk to the community and find out what the problems are and the solutions and areas which need to be made a priority for work.
• Get people thinking about what they can do to improve the area, such as not throwing litter on the ground, clearing up after their dog, and make sure the local ASB hotline is advertised to each resident. You should also make clear what is classed as anti-social behaviour.
• Use the information provided by local audits to identify priorities.
• The website for the Department for Communities and Local Government contains a lot of information about environmental regeneration, neighbourhood renewal and creating cleaner, safer streets and public places.
• Visit http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/flytipping-strategy/index.htm to find out more about DEFRAs fly-tipping strategy. They have consulted with key service providers and built on measures contained within the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003. The proposals will provide local authorities, the Environment Agency and others with a comprehensive set of tools to effectively manage their local environment in line with the public’s expectations.
• Ensure improvements to the physical environment include good street lighting and well maintained roads and pavements that are essential for people to walk on. Where subways exist they should be made safer with monitoring devices such as close circuit television (CCTV) cameras.
• Abandoned vehicles in dangerous positions or locations and graffiti can usually be removed within 24 hours by councils and CDRPs have a duty to work together to make sure this is actually happening. Make clear to residents which agency deals with which incidents.
• Restorative Justice can also have a part to play in improving the local environment and tackling the fear of crime, particularly if participants are visibly providing a measure of redress to the community, such as a graffiti artist who has to paint the wall they graffitied. Look at http://www.restorativejustice.org.uk/ for more information about the restorative justice process.
• The application of higher than average environmental maintenance standards in high crime areas could help to maintain better appearances whilst communities struggle to regain their lost confidence in looking after their neighbourhoods themselves.
• Local by-laws insisting upon discarded property and appliances being disposed of promptly could be introduced as a low cost collection service.

Case Studies