Anti-Social Behaviour

Our Community Safety team works with local people, communities and organisations to:

• respond to issues of anti-social behavior

• support victims

• take positive action against offenders.

What is anti-social behaviour?

Anti-social behaviour is behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, alarm, harassment and distress. It can cover a broad range of offences and behaviours such as:

• harassment/intimidation

• nuisance behaviour

• rowdy or drunken behaviour

• vandalism/criminal damage

• noise nuisance

• animal related problems

• littering/fly posting

• vehicle related nuisance

• inappropriate sexual behaviour

• drug and substance misuse

• aggressive begging.

Anti-social behaviour is not:

• being unable to park outside your own home

• children playing in the street or communal areas

• civil disputes between neighbours, for example disagreements over shared driveways

• lifestyle differences

• respectful playing of ball games

• young people gathering socially - unless they are intimidating other members of the community.

Public Space Protection Order - St Ives

Public Space Protection Order [PDF, 0.6MB] under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 covering The Quay to the Bus Station and Warner’s Park, St Ives

Following numerous complaints of alcohol-related anti-social behaviour and inconsiderate vehicle use in and around the town of St Ives; Huntingdonshire District Council Licensing and Protection Committee has approved a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) to cover identified areas of St Ives. The Order commences on 18 February 2020 for a period of 3 years and the following prohibitions will apply:

Anti-Social Behaviour

1. At all times, persons will not act in a manner that is causing or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress in the designated area.

Alcohol-related

2. Persons must immediately leave the designated area marked in red for a period of 24 hrs if ordered to do so by a designated officer. Should the individual live or work within the designated area their right to access these will not be affected

3. Alcohol must be disposed of or surrendered if requested by a designated officer;

Vehicle-related nuisance

4. Persons not to use a vehicle in a manner likely to cause alarm, harassment or distress;

5. Persons not to gather in their vehicles or park their vehicles in groups of two or more for the purposes of congregating and may result in causing alarms, harassment or distress;

6. No person shall use their vehicle to cause unreasonable levels of noise including the noise from engines and exhausts and the playing of music from car stereos; and

7. Persons not to drive their vehicles in an anti-social manner.

Public Space Protection Orders - St Neots

Two Public Space Protection Orders for the following areas in St Neots commenced on 29 May 2017:

• Little End and Howard Road Industrial Estates and Colmworth Business Park [PDF, size unavailable]
• Riverside Car Park, the Market Square and adjacent areas [PDF, size unavailable]

The Orders were introduced in response to a number of incidents that were reported to both Huntingdonshire District Council and Cambridgeshire Constabulary about the anti-social use of vehicles in and around the St Neots area. The Orders will remain in place for a period of three years.

How do I report anti-social behaviour?

Alternatively, you can call us on 01480 388388 or email asbcomplaints@huntingdonshire.gov.uk.

How do we deal with anti-social behaviour?

The Community Safety team responds to complaints of:

• anti-social behaviour that takes place on council-owned land and

• anti-social behaviour by people living in privately owned or privately rented housing.

Acceptable behaviour contracts

An acceptable behaviour contract (ABC) is a written, voluntary agreement between a person acting in an anti-social way and the lead authority - this may be the district council, police, housing association and/or the Youth Offending Service.

The person signing the ABC agrees to stop the anti-social behaviour and follow any other requirements of the contract, such as regularly attending school/college or counselling sessions.

As ABCs are voluntary there is no need to apply to the courts and they will not be recorded on a criminal record.

ABCs can last for varying lengths of time, depending on the issues that the contract is trying to address. During this time the person will be monitored to make sure the agreement is not broken. If someone does break their agreement, the relevant organisation will decide what action to take next. This could be using available legislation, which may significantly affect future life choices for the individual.

Community trigger

The community trigger gives victims of anti-social behaviour the right to request a review of their case, where they believe the complaint has not been properly dealt with.

A complainant, or someone acting on their behalf, can use the community trigger if:

• they have reported anti-social behaviour to an agency such as the council, police, housing association etc three or more times in the last six months and

• the investigation into the anti-social behaviour has been completed.

To apply, complete the application form below and email it to communitytrigger@huntingdonshire.gov.uk.

If your application is accepted, an independent panel will review it to see if all reasonable and appropriate actions were taken. We will keep you up to date at all stages of the review.

If your application is not accepted, we will let you know why. We will still provide you with advice, based on your circumstances.

Community trigger data

The table below shows the number of Community Trigger applications the Huntingdonshire Community Safety Partnership (HCSP) has received and the resulting actions, for the period 20 October 2015 to 20 October 2016: