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Ealing Council has made more than 650 homes safer by installing alley gates over the last year. The Council's £130,000 investment in the alley-gating scheme has secured hundreds of homes against the risk of burglary, flytipping and anti-social behaviour. The Council pays around £200 for each home secured by installing alley gates, which can massively reduce the risk of burglars breaking into homes unseen. This year nearly 800 more homes will benefit from the initiative through the Council's £200,000 investment. Residents in Whitton Avenue West, Greenford, saw the benefits of alley gates when they applied for one of the Council's biggest gating projects in October 2007. The gates helped secure 144 homes and put a stop to the alleys being used to dump rubbish, which was making life a misery for residents. They also prevented burglars from breaking in at the back of homes, which local people were worried about. People living in Court Way, Acton, contacted the Council through their residents association with concerns about flytipping, burglary and cars being dumped in their alleyways. The alley gating scheme helped secure their alleyways with four sets of double gates making 24 homes safer.
Councillor Vlod Barchuk, Cabinet Member for Safer Communities, said: "Alley gates are a sensible approach to preventing crime and have been a great tool in our drive to make Ealing's streets safer. The gates help to secure vulnerable alleyways and can also act as a deterrent to anyone trying to use the alley for anything criminal. Everyone should be able to feel safe in their home and we will continue to work with residents across the borough to make this happen. "This scheme has been very popular over the past year and we want to encourage more residents to consider an alley gate to help make their community safer. This is just one of the initiatives we are working on to reduce the number of burglaries and tackle anti-social behaviour across Ealing." Ealing Council's Community Safety Team has a dedicated alley-gating officer who can be contacted on 020 8825 7757 or log on to http://www.ealing.gov.uk/ealing3/opencms/services/community/policing_and_public_safety/crime_and_law_enforcement/alley_gating/ for more information. www.ealing.gov.uk |
