APPENDIX 14
Memorandum from Living Streets
Living Streets is a national charity which campaigns
for better streets and public spaces for people on foot. We want
streets that are safe, clean and accessible for all, not just
for journeys but for leisure and community life: "Revitalising
neighbourhoods, reconnecting people" our logo says.
1. Living Streets has a particular contribution
to make on the Sub-committee's fifth question which is "What
alternatives exist for dealing with these types of crimes outside
the criminal justice system?"
2. We believe a different kind of behaviour
can be encouraged, very often by taking small steps which don't
cost much or cost nothing. Imagine, for a moment, streets which
are respected as community space rather than being spoiled with
litter and graffiti.
3. Respected streets are clean and peaceful.
Neighbours meet on the pavement, young people chat on the street
corner, pensioners sit on benches and play cards. Residents and
local business people sweep the pavement outside their properties
and put out window boxes and hanging flower baskets. There are
places to cycle and skateboard, to picnic and play football. Proper
facilities like waste-paper bins and clean toilets make street
life possible. Cafes and community meeting places add to the sense
of ownership. Traffic is tamed and drivers negotiate space with
people on foot. The community comes together on public holidays
to hold fetes and concerts in the summer, and carol singing and
festive markets at Christmas.
4. Respect for the streets and the community
that uses them can be encouraged in the following ways:
(i) If litter, graffiti, abandoned cars etc
are tackled early on, the downward spiral of spoiled streets and
crime is stopped. [6]Removing
the examples of bad behaviour discourages further bad behaviour.
(ii) Make the walking environment attractive
and accessible so that people want to walk. That includes ensuring
that pavements are smooth and wide enough with dropped kerbs;
that there are good crossing places, clear signage and bright
lighting at night. Pedestrians act as a deterrent to criminals.
(iii) Add trees and flowers, [7]art,
benches and cafes, places to play, public toilets and waste bins.
(iv) Remove railings wherever possible, as they
provide an extra wall to leave rubbish against as well as encouraging
drivers to speed and discouraging people from walking.
(v) Make it easy to call the Council to collect
larger pieces of rubbish.
(vi) Create other opportunities to advertise
community and local events in order to deter fly-posting, like
community notice boards and e-poster sites. Councils should check
their own departments are not fly-posting.
(vii) Encourage community involvement in policing,
in street maintenance, in "greening" the streets and
organising cultural and recreational events in public spaces.
(viii) Slow down the traffic. Fast traffic cuts
people off from each other and deters all the community activity
which embodies respected streets. House burglars are less likely
to burgle in streets with traffic calming.[8]
(ix) Tackle the larger issues of designing out
crime. Use planning legislation and procedures for giving permission
to developers, planners, architects and traffic engineers to introduce
mixed use developments which ensure people are around day and
night; to ensure essential services are within walking distance;
to avoid buildings with "dead frontages", inset doorways
and other features that facilitate crime and deter people from
going past them, etc.
(x) Note that if streets and public spaces
are used by all segments of the community, young and old, black
and white, male and female, this creates social capital or social
bonds which reduce the likelihood of crime. The steps recommended
above will encourage use by all groups.
5. There are many examples to show that
when communities and government agencies work together to build
their communities and deter crime they can be extremely effective.
Setting a positive example and offering streets that are community
"living rooms" will reduce the incidents of fly-tipping,
fly-posting, litter, graffiti, noise and abandoned cars. Which
raises the thought: would we do these things in our own living
room?
6. An advertising campaign including a TV
advert showing a family watching TV and having fast-food litter
dropped on them, posters being pasted on their furniture, bags
of rubbish thrown through the window, graffiti sprayed on the
TV and perhaps, finally, an old car driven onto the carpet and
left there, might "bring home" the message that the
streets are our own collective living room, and that we should
treat others the way we would like them to treat us.
March 2004
6 George Kelling and James Q Wilson wrote "Broken
Windows" which explains their theory that one broken window
leads to many more. Back
7
A generation ago, researcher James Wise showed that the beauty
of an area could provide a "gentle deterrent" to vandalism.
In 2001 the University of Illinois found the greener a building's
surroundings, the fewer property and violent crimes committed. Back
8
This research was carried out by Building Research Establishment,
1993. Back
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