COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

MOTION NO. 6

MOTION: Councillor G. O'Connell

Cathaoirleach's Business

That the Manager brings forward a report on anti-social hot spots that have been identified within this Area Committee and that a discussion takes place on the issues associated, on efforts to date to address them and on possible additional solutions.

REPORT:

Areas with the greatest number of complaints in relation to Anti Social Behaviour generally coincide with the number of dwellings in an estate rather than particularly high levels of anti social behaviour.  

To date in the Lucan Electoral area, a total of 70 incidents of anti social behaviour have been reported to the Council in response to which 799 actions have been taken.  There is perhaps anecdotal evidence that some complaints are not made to the Council about anti social behaviour because of fears of retaliation against the complainants but members of the public should be encouraged to avail of the confidential service which the Council provides.

Tackling anti social, and promoting pro-social, behaviour is at the core of this Council's housing management policy. Detailed below are the various projects that are currently being implemented in this regard.

Anti Social Policy

 All complaints are dealt with in confidence. The Estate Management Team will investigate every complaint and where appropriate will conduct interviews, issue verbal and written warnings, refer to other agencies, issue Eviction Notice (eviction of whole household).

Tenants involved in persistent anti-social behaviour will be evicted from Local Authority housing. Tenants evicted for anti-social behaviour cannot apply for Local Authority housing for 2 years and may not qualify for rent subsidy.

 Vetting/Validation of Housing applicants

In the interest of achieving good estate management, and in accordance with the provisions of the Housing Miscellaneous Provisions Act l997, applications under Section l4 and l5 of the Act are made to the Gardai in respect of each housing applicant so as to ensure the applicant is not currently known to the Gardai, and is not likely to engage in anti social activity to the detriment of existing and emerging communities.

 Pre-Tenancy Training

The format/content of pre-tenancy training which is mandatory for all new tenants has also been revised as part of the overall review of the Estate Management function. The Council recognizes new challenges that have emerged in recent years due in part to the numbers of new Irish who are being housed and the language and communication difficulties which have to be addressed so as to ensure the integration of these families into their community from the outset.

While the pre-tenancy training will be fully utilized to convey relevant information to our new tenants in relation to the charter of tenant’s rights and responsibilities, the focus will be on fostering and nurturing community spirit amongst the occupants of new developments with a view to creating ownership from the outset and staving off future incidents of anti social behaviour. Pre-tenancy training is supported at cross-departmental level within the Council with individual stakeholders such as Health Services Executive (local Public Health Nurse),

Department of Education (School Liaison Officer) and the local Community Gardaí also represented. To supplement pre-tenancy training, follow up visits to new tenants have been undertaken to ensure that they are integrating successfully into their new environment – where special interventions are identified,e.g. support services such as social workers, welfare officers, tenancy support officers or Family Functional Therapy, these will be put in place.

 Family Support System

This service is targeted at families who are at risk of losing their tenancies because of anti-social behaviour. The Council's Welfare Team develops a preventative plan to create conditions for the sustainment of the tenancy and to protect the community in which the tenant lives from anti social behaviour. This plan is developed in consultation with the family support agencies, to ensure support services are bound together in a complimentary and integrated way. Families participating in this welfare plan are required to sign a Behavioural Contract Agreement requiring them to adhere to the terms and conditions of the plan. Breach of the Behavioural Contract can result in loss of their tenancy.

Weekly Housing Clinics 

Weekly Housing Clinics are hosted by the Council's Housing Estate Management Team throughout the county at the following locations:

Clinic Name	Address of Clinic	Days Held	Time of Clinic
Clondalkin	Civic Offices, Clondalkin	Every Thurs	10 am – 11am
Ronanstown	Ronanstown CYC	Every Tues	11.30am – 1pm
Killinarden	Killinarden Community Centre	Every Friday	11am – 12noon
Glenshane/ Rossfield	12 Brookfield Court	Every Friday	11am – 12 noon
Mary Mercer		Every Thursday	11am – 12noon
Fettercairn	Fettercairn Community Centre	Every Wednesday	11am – 12noon
Macuilliam	Macuilliam Housing Development Office	Every 2nd Thursday 2.30pm – 4.00pm	2.30pm to 4.00pm
Rathfarnaham	Whitechurch Community Centre	First Thursday of the month	11am – 12noon

Members of the public are actively encouraged to attend these clinics for purpose of discussing housing related business including incidents of anti social behaviour. Where such incidents are reported they are treated with utmost confidentiality. The Clinics are attended by the local Community Garda.

CCTV

As a result of major anti-social activity and illegal dumping at a number of estates throughout the County it was considered necessary to install security cameras as a means of monitoring and identifying the persons involved in any further illegal activity. These cameras are sometimes monitored 24 hours per day during periods of increased anti social behaviour.

Inter-Agency Meetings

The Allocation Support Unit continues to work closely with other local agencies/groups in an integrated manner to improve service provision to the Council’s tenants. ASU consults with the Gardai, Probation Services, the HSE, Dublin Bus, Social Welfare, etc.

Mediation Bureau

The Mediation Bureau is a community mediation service for people in conflict. It is an impartial, independent and confidential way of preventing conflict getting worse and restoring good relations. In this regard the work of the Bureau is particularly relevant in the context of tenants’ relationships in Council estates where harassment, threat, intimidation, allegation, noise disturbance, and other anti-social behaviour exists. A number of families have retained their tenancy through this process over the years.

County wide focus

The improvement of the Estate Management service will continue with the development of further county wide strategies / programmes that will ensure consistency of service, improve the coherence of the service and further enhance understanding of what the service is intended to achieve and what residents can expect. These strategies will include an Environmental strategy, Sports Strategy, Arts/Cultural strategy, Residents Training Strategy, Community Development Programmes etc.