Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk out crime. Specialist Designing Out Crime Officers (DOCOs) from Devon & Cornwall Police have recommended products that meet SBD’s Police Preferred Specification, such as external doors and accessible windows that are sufficiently robust to resist attack from opportunist burglars. Front doors have quadruple locking systems, door chains and spy holes as well as letter plates with internal protective cowls to prevent thieves using rods to ‘fish’ for keys left within reach. Properties have been fitted with an external light and rear garden gates have two bolts and a separate key-lock. In addition, SBD’s advice embraced the layout and landscaping, such as measures to increase natural surveillance and create defensible space. Front garden hedges have been replaced by railings whilst high fences protect rear gardens. Properties have living rooms that overlook vehicles parked either in the street or within the curtilage of the building. Pete Callaghan, North Prospect Neighbourhood Beat Manager, Devon & Cornwall Police, used to be a patrol officer on North Prospect just before the start of the regeneration programme when demand on police was substantial with daily neighbourhood disputes, criminal damage and assaults. A burnt-out car or an abandoned mattress in the road weren’t unusual. PC Callaghan said the regeneration has led to a more diverse community and a narrowing of the cultural divide. He reports: “There has been a dramatic reduction in crime and anti-social behaviour. For example, the park within the development, which had been a gathering point for youths and anti-social behaviour, is now a place for children and families.” Neighbourhood issues remain, but they are no different to those in most other inner-city areas and they don’t impact the wider community. He went on to describe North Prospect as undoubtedly a success’. He concluded: “It is a welcoming, clean, and thriving neighbourhood. Residents now have an expectation of what is acceptable and what is not. They will not tolerate criminality or anti-social behaviour and we are soon made aware of incidents.” www.securedbydesign.com THE door industry journal spring 2022 Secured by Design The story of North Prospect (see feature left) is Secured by Design’s (SBD) largest and longestrunning single development in the UK since we started work more than 30 years ago to improve building security by setting standards for doors, windows and many other products, and introducing proven crime prevention measures into the layout and landscaping of new developments. Plymouth Community Homes (PCH), the driving force behind North Prospect, tell us that local crime and antisocial behaviour has fallen significantly since the project started – thanks in part to SBD. Each of the first three completed phases has received our SBD Gold Award – our highest award recognising that all the measures and techniques that we recommend have been incorporated. The last two phases are also on course for SBD Gold. In the same way that we act as a catalyst for crime prevention bringing together key partners like the Police Service, developers and product manufacturers for the common good, PCH has been working in partnership with Plymouth City Council, supported by grant funding from Homes England, and in developing the site to meet all the security requirements with successive lead contractors – Barratt SW, Kier Living and Vistry Partnerships – with the latter building the final phase. As well as reductions in crime, PCH report that because they have provided better housing in a safer environment, residents are enjoying better physical and mental health outcomes and a boost to employment prospects. Resident surveys on affordable homes carried out 12 months after completion show that 93% ‘feel safe’ in their new homes. Andrew Lawrie, Head of Development at PCH, can be rightly proud to have led a team over the last ten years that have made North Prospect a reality. He told us: “My hope is that the changes to the physical environment lead to long-term improvements in residents’ happiness, health and life chances.” North Prospect’s Neighbourhood Beat Manager, PC Pete Callaghan, predicts that on completion “the past will disappear into the shadows and a new generation will create a place where people choose to live and enjoy”. Undoubtedly, a showcase of partnership working. Jon Cole, Chief Operating Officer Secured by Design A regular column by Jon Cole, Chief Operating Officer, Secured by Design, the official police security initiative, which has been delivering a wide range of crime prevention activities across the UK for over 30 years and operates a product-based police accreditation scheme for security-rated products. Jon Cole
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