Chadwell revealed as Redbridge anti-social behaviour hotspot

Lizzie Dearden, Reporter Wednesday, July 25, 2012
9:00 AM

Chadwell is a hotspot for anti-social behaviour in Redbridge, according to a council report.

The Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Team was called 295 times to the ward between April 2011 and March 2012.

Most complaints were over loud music from homes. Noisy neighbours and DIY were also common problems.

The team uses five DAT machines to measure noise levels but cannot take action against a suspected offender unless they record or hear the disturbance themselves.

A member of the public at the last night’s Area 5 Committee meeting said more needed to be done to tackle nuisance neighbours.

She added: “As one of the people suffering with noise above me I can say how hard it is.

“When we have to say something it creates hostility and they just turn it up more.

“It goes on from the early evening sometimes all night and it hasn’t just started recently.”

Cllr Wes Streeting asked if the team had adequate resources to deal with all cases properly.

Community safety manager Alan Drake said the amount of private rented housing makes it harder for the council to enforce regulations.

He added: “We do quite well with the resources we have and the services we offer at 4am is way beyond other boroughs.

“I think it’s unlikely that our budget will get any larger but we can try to help the community help themselves.”

Goodmayes and Seven Kings also had high numbers of complaints.

The 266 calls from Goodmayes also related mostly to noisy neighbours and music, but barking dogs were also a frequent problem.

In Seven Kings, the 219 calls reported similar complaints.

The ASB team is run by Redbridge council to tackle nuisance behaviour.

It was use legal notices and court orders to ban certain behaviour and work with the police to enforce acceptable behaviour contracts.

Surgeries are also held to discuss problems with residents and the team works in partnership with the council and other agencies to improve the environment and prevent street and underage drinking.

Visit www.redbridge.gov.uk for information.