What is Anti-Social behaviour (ASB)?

Anti-social Behaviour is defined as: ‘Conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person’.

ASB can cause fear and anxiety, and degrade the quality of life for individuals, neighbourhoods, or even whole communities. Anti-social behaviour can erode people’s sense of attachment to where they live, encouraging conditions where crime becomes easier to commit. Low-level bad behaviour is linked to crime – low-level problems can get worse if not dealt with.

What is and what isn’t anti-social behaviour is not always easy to pinpoint. People’s judgments differs about what is acceptable, and a person causing offence may not be aware of it. We generally advise people experiencing low-level problems to first try to talk about the problem with the person causing offence. The City Council’s Safer Communities section offers a neighbourhood resolution option – see below.

 

Tackling ASB in CB1

The approach to tackling ASB in CB1 is to work in partnership with the CB1 stakeholders. Each partner has a responsibility of tackling ASB within their management services.

 

Who are the CB1 stakeholders?

• The CB1 Community (residents, businesses and retailers, commuters)
• Cambridge City Council; Safer Communities Section
• BPHA (Huxley House, Gilbert House)
• Aldwyck Housing Association
• Host (Crick House, Aston House, Bragg House)
• Railyard (Stephenson House, Telford House, Brunel)
• Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)
• Hyline Security (carry out patrols on the estate)
• Bidwells Facilities Team
• Encore Estates
• Cambridgeshire Police Constabulary
• British Transport Police
• CamBAC

 

How to report ASB

Private and housing association tenants or leaseholders: 

To report problems with neighbours or problems in the neighbourhood, please report to your landlord or housing provider. Please refer to the interactive map to find the management company for your block/building. Each management company has a dedicated phone number and email address. Alternatively, you can use the CB1 Structure Chart to find information.

Other residents and visitors:

To report problems involving neighbours or problems in the neighbourhood, please report to the Safer Communities team via phone on 01223 457950 or email asbsection@cambridge.gov.uk

 

If you would like to report what you believe to be student noise, please scroll down to the “Report Noise Nuisance” heading on the “Specific Issues and Organisations” section for information on reporting this to student accommodation organisations.

 

Specific Issues & Organisations

Report Racial Harassment

Racial harassment is abuse suffered by individuals, families or groups of people because of their colour, race, nationality, or ethnic or national origin.

The abuse can exist in many forms and might:

• Consist of one incident or a series
• Include attacks on property as well as on the person
• Be written, physical or verbal
• Involve criminal acts.

If you or members of your family have been subject to racial harassment, have witnessed a racial incident, or have concerns about racial harassment in anyway, please call our Racial Harassment Service on 01223 457967 or 07973 883 261 or email safer.communities@cambridge.gov.uk

 

Report Noise Nuisance

Everyone’s perception of noise, or unwanted sound, is different. It’s not just a question of sound levels in decibels, but of what is acceptable to the average person – and what one person considers unacceptable may not seem unreasonable to somebody else.

 

In reporting a noise issue:

• If the issue is occurring during business hours, call the Environmental Services on 01223 457900
• If issue is occurring outside of our business hours, call the Out of Hours Noise Service on 0300 303 8389.  This service operates between 7pm and 7am every day, and between 9am and 5pm at weekends.

In most instances the service will start by sending letters to advise of the complaint, and if the problem continues it may be necessary to assess the noise from your property to determine if further action is required.

For train and railway noise, contact Network Rail on 0845 711414.

 

In reporting what you believe to be student noise:

This needs to be reported to the student accommodation organisations (Downing and Host). To help with the reporting, here is a template email for you to use when sending the report. Please fill in the gaps and send it as soon as possible after the noise disturbance (the day after if possible).

 

Report Criminal Behaviour

Criminal behaviour such as hate crime, assault, threats or intimidation, theft or damage to property, should always be reported to the Cambridgeshire Police.

If what you are reporting is:

• An emergency, phone 999 
• NOT an emergency, call 101 or report on the Cambridgeshire Constabulary website

 

British Transport Police (BTP) is the national police force for Britain’s railways, providing safety and security for rail operators, staff and passengers. Based in Station Road, Cambridge, British Transport Police has a police station nearby:

British Transport Police
Station Road
Cambridge
CB1 2JW

Telephone: 0800 405040

 

Businesses in CB1

Cambridge Business against Crime (CamBAC) is an independent, non-profit making organisation of nearly 200 businesses spread across the day and night time economies. Find out more.

 

The local police have produced a guide for businesses on ASB:

ASB Police Business Guide v2

 

Report Environmental Issues

The Streets and Open Spaces operation team consists of five smaller teams with specific roles. They work closely with residents, community and campaign groups to keep Cambridge clean, green and safe.

Contact the Streets and Open Spaces Operations team on 01223 458282 or sos.operations@cambridge.gov.uk

 

Neighbourhood resolution panel scheme

The neighbourhood resolution panel scheme aims to help anyone affected by low level crime, anti-social behaviour and neighbour disputes by encouraging all those involved to work together to find a meaningful resolution. The scheme is a type of ‘restorative justice’ initiative. Read more about the scheme here. You can volunteer to be a facilitator on the scheme. Contact the Safer Communities team on 01223 457836 or neighbourhoodresolution@cambridge.gov.uk

 

CB1 Estate

The CB1 estate is managed by a dedicated Estate Management Team. For any other issue not covered by the above, please note the following contact numbers:

Estate Warden: 07930 734836

Hyline Security: 01223 833993

Bidwells: 01223 841841