A housing association has declared war on noise, swearing and drinking in the street to bring peace and quiet to a rural housing estate.
For the first time social landlord Cartrefi Conwy has joined forces with housing charity Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd and North Wales Police to crack down on anti-social behaviour on the Hendy Estate at Tal-y-Bont in the Conwy Valley.
Five residents taken to county court have signed undertakings not to cause anti-social behaviour – and face prison if they break their word.
Cartrefi Conwy is responsible for nearly 4,000 homes that used to be owned by Conwy County Borough Council.
They say they will not tolerate the inconsiderate few who are making the lives of the majority of tenants a misery.
Instead of applying for Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, Cartrefi Conwy are applying for County Court injunctions which are quicker and more effective.
The Association’s anti social behaviour officer Jan Jones explained that police, Cartrefi Conwy and Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd were each receiving complaints about problems on Hendy Estate, which were proving so bad some parents refused to let their little children go to the estate’s play area because of rowdy behavior.
Jan said: “It was quite a big problem for a small rural area. It had obviously been going on for some time before anyone complained. Cymdeithas Tai Clwyd have some tenants on the estate and they were receiving similar complaints, as were the police.
“Police were notifying us about the complaints and the issues were being raised at the social landlord forums which we have every three months. We have a very good, close working relationship with the police.
“After we received the odd complaint we decided we would go door to door and do a survey, something we have started to do in other areas. After that we had multi-agency meetings and sent out letters and asked people to make statements.”
Armed with some statements and plenty of anecdotal evidence, Cartrefi Conwy decided it had enough to go to county court to seek an injunction.
“Five individuals came to light as the perpetrators of noise nuisance which included shouting and abusive language and drinking alcohol in the street along with late night parties at several addresses,” said Jan.
Despite two initially contesting the allegations, in the end all five agreed before a county court judge to give a signed undertaking not to cause noise, unlawful activity, shout and swear or drink alcohol in the street.
Breaking the undertaking could land them in jail with sentences of up to two years available to the court. A tenant from Llanrwst and one from Old Colwyn have already been jailed for breaching their undertakings.
“We have not had any subsequent reports of any anti-social behaviour and the community council and the tenants are happy,” she said.
Cartrefi Conwy currently have 15 injunctions ‘live’ dealing with serious cases of noise, nuisance and even criminal behaviour and they are the first social landlord in North Wales to be signed up as Working Towards the Welsh Assembly Government’s Standard for Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour.
The Association is spending £30 million on renovating its properties internally and over £3 million on external improvements and want to ensure tenants can enjoy their homes free from nuisance.
