Norwich council flats to get new doors to tackle anti-social behaviour
It comes after years of reports of anti-social behaviour in communal areas of council blocks
Hundreds of new doors will be installed in council housing blocks in Norwich, in a bid to help tackle anti-social behaviour.
Norwich City Council will spend £3.15 million putting in place new door entry systems at around 207 sites across the city.
It comes after years of reports of anti-social behaviour in communal areas of council blocks.
For example, residents in Ebenezer Place, in north Norwich, endured a daily torment of drug dealing, human waste in stairwells, and people having sex outside their flats.
In June 2021, the council installed a coded key lock on the communal doors to crack down on the issue.
The latest cash is part of a six-year programme to tackle similar issues in other properties.
The authority has not said which homes will see the upgrades.
At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, City Hall’s cabinet agreed to proceed with the work, which will start in April.
Negative attention
Officials warned it could bring negative press attention if they did not proceed with the work.
Gail Harris, member for social housing, told her colleagues: “We know how important this is to many of our residents so I’m looking forward to the start of this important contract.”
Brian Burton, interim lead on asset management and compliance at the council, said individual solutions were needed for each site, while a larger exercise was also required to ensure antisocial behaviour is not simply driven elsewhere.
A report to the cabinet ahead of the meeting said: “If the work is not carried out, anti-social behaviour will continue on its current trend and residents will feel unsafe in their own environment which goes against the council’s policies.
“It would also have a detrimental effect on the reputation of the council as it would result in more press attention following recent reports of the anti-social behaviour problems in the local newspaper at one of the schemes.”