Guidance
Note 13
Designing Out Crime |
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INTRODUCTION
The
planning system has an important role to play in helping to produce attractive,
well managed environments which help to discourage antisocial and criminal
behaviour, while ensuring that new developments are located and designed in a
way that deters criminals, or at least makes it harder to commit an offence.
Good planning and design cannot alone create an environment where individuals
and communities feel safe and secure, but they can, when combined with other
measures, make a significant contribution to reducing the incidence of crime
and help to reduce the fear of crime, particularly among vulnerable groups such
as women and elderly people.
Current
planning policies outlined in this plan already have an indirect role in
helping reduce crime by:-
Encouraging the reuse of
brownfield land rather than
Promoting the vitality and
viability of town centres which encourages community use the centre,
particularly in the evening, creating vibrant town centres and deterring
antisocial behaviour.
Encouraging high density
development which helps lower the risk of crime as it can help reduce the
number of unused areas for hiding places and increases informal surveillance.
Investing in sport, leisure and
recreation can remove the sense of boredom and alienation particularly for
younger members of the community whose energies otherwise may be diverted to
vandalism, graffiti and other forms of criminal behaviour.
In
most cases taking account of crime prevention in the planning process does not
require particularly sophisticated or obtrusive measures but a number of
general principles, set out below, can be applied in considering the location,
layout and design of new development which can prove effective in reducing
crime and enhancing personal and community safety.
Developers
should also take account of PAN 46, Planning for Crime Prevention, in all
applications.
GUIDANCE FOR
HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS
1) General Principles
By encouraging a mixture of
housing types and sizes e.g. bungalows, detached and semi detached properties,
full benefit is gained by natural surveillance as there is more likelihood of
occupation at differing times of the day.
The principles of natural
surveillance and defensible space should be taken into account in every
development.
Accesses into buildings should be
minimised in order to reduce the opportunities for intruders to enter
unobserved.
Flat roofed extensions which may
allow access to upper windows should be avoided- single storey extensions and
garages should have a pitched roof. The position of ancillary buildings and
balconies should also be carefully considered.
A dwelling plot and its boundaries
should form a secure private area, between the building line and side and rear
boundaries, which is difficult to penetrate unobserved.
2) Defensible Space
A
well planned housing estate should be designed to create distinct
neighbourhoods within larger developments creating an impression that an area
is a private territory to a small community. This will not only instil a sense of
ownership and pride in the upkeep, appearance and security of an area for
residents, but at the same time imply psychological barriers beyond which
intruders are reluctant to step. This can be achieved by:
Siting dwellings in small clusters
creating areas that people recognise as being collectively their own;
Defining the external boundaries
of the development by suitable walls, fencing or landscaping;
Changing the texture and colour of
street surfaces;
Introducing clear traffic
management measures;
Encouraging narrowed road
entrances into distinct neighbourhoods.
3) Natural Surveillance
Although
it is important that residential areas are designed to provide privacy within
the curtilage of dwellings, good design should also create opportunities for an
appropriate level of observation from adjacent buildings, roads, footpaths and
points of entry, making it easy to observe any potential criminal activity. The
following principles should be taken into account with regards to natural
surveillance:
Houses should be back to back with
gardens sharing a common fence;
On main access roads into estates,
houses should be sited so they face each other;
Frontages should be kept in open
view with walls and landscaping kept to waist height to avoid obscuring front
entrances, doors and windows;
Open space, play areas and other
public areas should be readily visible from nearby buildings and from well used
paths. Housing should face these areas.
4) Paths
Paths
are essential means of access. However poorly designed and underused footpaths
can be perceived as threatening and dangerous especially during the night. This
can be avoided by following simple design principles. In particular:
Footpaths and cycleways should be
provided in areas where they are likely to be well used.
Access for the public should be
clearly defined with recognised points of entry - unnecessary paths which may
allow unobserved access and escape should be avoided.
Public footpaths should not
generally be provided at the rear of properties. Where this is unavoidable a
substantial buffer zone should be planted between a secure boundary fence and
the footpath to discourage intruders.
Paths should be short, direct and
well lit during the evenings and wide enough so as not to be too confined and
intimidating. Where at all possible, pedestrians should be able to view the
whole path on entry rather than negotiate blind corners or recesses.
Paths should be overlooked by
housing without obvious hiding places
5) Landscaping, walls and fences
Landscaping
is very important to creating friendly and pleasant environments, protecting
the amenity of an area, and with fencing and walls can provide effective
barriers to intruders. However, poor planting of trees and shrubbery may
inadvertently create an opportunity for hiding places for antisocial behaviour
as well as climbing frames into houses. Thus any landscaping, fencing and wall
proposals must be well designed and should:
discourage climbing. Thus
vertically boarded fencing with sufficient gaps to allow intruders to be
observed will be preferred to horizontally boarded fencing. Shaky fencing with
a trellis fixed to the top may also be suitable. Spiked fencing will generally
not be appropriate in a residential environment. Sloping stones on walls will
be preferable to the flat variety and be less than 1 metre in height along
footpaths to allow natural surveillance and prevent hiding places.
be kept away from windows and
entrances, as they may provide hiding places or enable access to upper floors.
However in the case of flats suitable planting may be used to provide an
important buffer between ground floor windows and communal open space.
be encouraged between public and private
space to ensure there is a clear barrier for potential intruders
the following plant species are
suggested as suitable for defensible planting:
Holly (Ilex
Aquifolium) Hawthorn
(Crataegus spp)
Barberry (Barberis
Julanae) Firethorn
(Pyracantha spp)
Blackthorn (Prunus
Spinosa) Rose
(Rosa Rugosa) (Rosa Canina)
6) Lighting
The
benefits of defensible space and landscaping should not be lost after dark and
adequate levels of lighting should be maintained especially along public
footpaths and secluded roadways. Well designed lighting can incorporate the
principles of crime prevention and safety while reducing the levels of light
pollution. However it is important that lighting should:
not be unnecessarily obtrusive and
glaring
not create pockets of darkness
be evenly distributed over an area
not be encouraged where a route
passes through woodland or ecologically sensitive areas. In this case an
alternative route should be made available
Consideration could also be given
to movement activated lighting on less well used routes in order to reduce
energy consumption and reduce light pollution.
7) Parking
Car
theft and damage are common occurrences in many housing estates. However well
designed layouts can encourage better protection and should take account of the
following:
Houses should be allocated
individual parking spaces preferably within the curtilage of the dwelling.
Garages should be located towards
the front of dwellings.
Where there are communal car
parking spaces, for example in flats, they should be capable of natural
surveillance, in well lit areas and in small groups so that occupiers can
become familiar with the cars and their owners.
GUIDANCE FOR
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
Although
many of the principles outlined above relating to housing developments will
have similar bearing with regards to commercial, industry and other
developments it is important to raise the following points:
a) General Design
Buildings should be orientated so
that the main activity i.e. the retail frontage or office frontage faces onto
the main access route where the public enter the site, enabling surveillance
for everyone entering and exiting the site.
Buildings should be designed
without deep recesses which might enable an intruder to work unseen. Careful
consideration should be given to the position of doors and windows.
Accesses into buildings should be
kept to a minimum to reduce the opportunities for intruders to enter
unobserved.
b) Parking
& Landscaping
Public car parking areas should be
visible from main roads and adjacent buildings.
Planting should be low level
within the car parking area so that surveillance is not hindered. However
higher walls may be appropriate around the boundary to reduce the number of
exits for both vehicles and pedestrians. Using prickly shrubs and thorn hedges
can also act as an effective deterrent.
c) Service Bays
Individual units should have their
own loading areas which will increase the likelihood of unusual vehicles being
noticed by the occupants of adjoining properties.
Delivery areas which are normally
positioned to the back should be gated or provide some security measures to
ensure that accesses cannot be gained by unauthorised persons.
Service bays should be overlooked
from buildings. Back to back service yards can be a good way of ensuring mutual
overlooking and deterring intruders.
Vehicle parking should be subject
to good natural surveillance and illuminated during the hours of darkness,
although secure garaging can provide an acceptable alternative
d) CCTV
CCTV should be considered for
large developments, although it must not infringe on the privacy of adjacent
properties. The effectiveness of CCTV however is heavily dependent upon the
management and supervision of the system and as such liaison with the Crime
Prevention Officer is encouraged before implementing such a scheme.
ARCHITECTURAL
LIAISON OFFICER
The
early involvement of the police in development projects and proposals is
important so that crime prevention can be taken into account at an early stage
in the design process. East Dunbartonshire Council now has the services of a
Police Architectural Liaison Officer, who has had specialist training in
designing out crime in developments. The Council will consult the Police
Architectural Liaison Officer for any application in an area where crime is
known to be high and for applications which may generate crime or may be of
interest to criminals. The Council encourages developers of large applications
to consult the Police Architectural Liaison Officer for advice:
Police Architectural Liaison Officer
Sergeant John Cameron
CD Sub Division
Kirkintilloch G66 1XJ
A
Designing Out Crime leaflet which provides information on the services the
Architectural Liaison Office provides is available from the Council or your
nearest police station.
Should
you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact :
The
Planning Office, Development Quality Section,
The
Triangle,
Bishopbriggs
G64 2TR
Tel:
0141 578 8000