Measures to clean up local communities and tackle anti-social behaviour are proposed by Government in its Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Bill.
At the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Secretary of State Margaret Beckett describes the Bill as wide-ranging and an important part of Government’s overall plan to create cleaner, safer and greener communities.
Low-level offending, such as the daubing of graffiti, creates neighbourhoods which become run down and decayed and often escalates into more serious crime, according to Defra. Proposed are powers to remove abandoned cars from the streets immediately before they can become eyesores which attract criminal behaviour; new powers to gate nuisance alleyways that attract anti-social behaviour; new powers to deal with fly-tipping, fly-posting and litter; new measures to help local authorities deal with noise from burglar alarms and pubs; more use of fixed penalty fines, which for the first time will be made available to parish councils; and amending the Crime and Disorder Act to make clear that Crime and Disorder Partnerships should consider the state of the local environment when carrying out audits and developing strategies.
What they say
Margaret Beckett said: "Environmental damage such as graffiti, fly-posting and general littering is a menace that is becoming all too prevalent, not just in inner cities but in many communities – urban and rural. It creates or adds to a community’s sense of neglect and makes people fear that no-one cares for their neighbourhood. This is a practical Bill which we have brought forward following requests from local authorities, and will go a long way to help them and other agencies tackle the problem."
