neighboursyou, your neighbours and community

USEFUL CONTACT NUMBERS & WEBSITES

“Anti-social Behaviour is against the law”Fact: ASB is not always a criminal act. Criminal activity is controlled by law and is dealt with by the police, but it can sometimes be seen as ASB.

“ Anything that irritates me is ASB”Fiction: Behaviour which causes a nuisance or irritates one person may not be an issue to someone else. For example, sometimes household noise can be heard from a nearby property, perhaps the sound of children playing or a baby crying. This is usual on a family estate and would not be considered anti social behaviour. However, very loud music being played late at night would be considered unreasonable and anti social. Remember that a good neighbour should be reasonably tolerant and understanding of the differences in lifestyle and cultures of others.

FACT OR FICTION...DEALING WITH ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

Nuisance or anti-social behaviour can take many forms. Your neighbour might not be aware that what they are doing is causing a nuisance to you. Here are some ways in which you can deal with the situation.

DEALING WITH HARASSMENT

If you suffer from other people’s actions because of your colour, race, nationality, or ethic origin this racial harassment.

If you suffer because of your sex, sexuality, disability, mental health problem, religious belief then this is also harassment.

DEALING WITH ABUSE

Abuse will often show itself in signs of anger towards you or a family member. The person abusing you may feel indifferent towards your feelings of hurt or pain. It can happen in your home or in a public place. Here is a list of the different types!physical, psychological, financial, sexual and neglect.

• You should feel safe in your own home• You should not be handled roughly• You should not put up with being threatened or feeling

punished• You should not have to suffer unwanted forms of sexual

attention or harassment.

WHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP

We want to support you. If you suspect a case of harassment, we will: • Agree the next steps with you• Repair any damage to your home• Remove any offensive graffiti as soon as possible• Arrange extra security if this will help.• Put you in touch with specialist agencies if required• You also have rights under the Protection from

Harassment Act 1997.

If you are suffering from harassment of any kind you can contact us in confidence. If your life is threatened, a crime is in progress or people are injured you should dial 999.

Domestic Abuse visit domesticabuseservices.org.uk

If you want to report a minor crime, you should go to your nearest police station to report it, or call your local police by dialling 101.

Victim Support call 08 08 16 89 111

If you do not want to go direct to the police, you can also report the crime online at report-it.org.uk

Verbal abuse or insults

Anything you think is racial

harassment

Threatening or abusive behaviour, letters, phone calls or messages

Violent or physical attack

Damage to property

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Try to approach them and explain how their actions or behaviours are making you feel. You can use words like “when you do ........, it makes me feel .......” this way they know what impact it is having on you and it may help them to see it from your point of view.

If you are unable to speak to them or you have been unable to communicate your feelings, you can contact us or your Housing Manager for support.

Keep a record of any incidents that occur. This will help us to see what the problems are and may be useful as evidence, should we need to take further action.

We may ask you and your neighbour to consider mediation. This is using an independent person to work with you both to find a solution.

If it continues, we will talk you through the next stage as there are a number of options available to us.

Legal actions will only be taken where incidents are severe (not usually from vacuuming, washing machine, children playing, etc.)

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I should consider...

noiselevels

Anti-social behaviour is taken very seriously and we have a wide range of information available on

our website www.tchg.org.uk

If you experience anti-social behaviour and need support in dealing with this, contact

01892 501480info@tchg.org.uk

WHAT MAKES A GOOD NEIGHBOUR

Loud music and TV - check with your neighbour if they can hear it.

ARE YOU A GOOD NEIGHBOUR?

Please consider becoming a community neighbour, the more there are the better your neighbourhood will be.

Community Neighbours will:• Have great ideas about how to improve their

neighbourhood.• Look to encourage and improve positive social

behaviour• Be aware of the range of local services• Be aware of vulnerable people and act to ensure they

are supported.• Community Neighbours will be assisted by Town &

Country Foundation and Housing Management Teams.

Every year we get hundreds of calls about neighbours causing annoyance or distress to others.

Below are the actions that we get the most calls about. Make sure you consider these as part of your daily life and see if there are any areas you can improve on.

Vacuuming late at night or early in the morning

Using the washing

machine late at night or

early in the morning

Children playing in non designated playing areas

Making strong cooking odours

Rowdy, loutish and drunken behaviour

Pet nuisance - noise and fouling gardens and communal areas

smoking and drinking in communal places

Taking and dealing drugs

ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOURS

Graffiti and damaging property

Over filling bins and dumping

rubbish

If you suspect someone is fly tipping illegally, contact your local council.

ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOURS

If you suspect someone is causing criminal damage, call 101

my behaviour

my neighbour

asking for help

Shouting and arguingMake sure that your actions do not cause annoyance or distress to another person. People can have different levels of tolerance based on their own

individual circumstances. Your actions may cause distress without you even being aware.

Please get in touch if you would like to find out more about becoming a community neighbour.

Call 01892 501630 or email info@tchg.org.uk