AUSTRALIAN FIRST IN COMMUNITY SAFETY
As part of a ‘Designing Out Crime’ initiative and Council Policy, the City has been referring major development plans and planning applications to the police for assessment and comment.
Mandurah Mayor Paddi Creevey and Inspector Greg Dalwood from Peel Police District announced the success of the trial at the Mandurah Sustainable Home in Meadow Springs on February 5.
“This is a practical example of the City partnering with local agencies to enhance community safety,” Mayor Creevey.
“The City of Mandurah wants all of its residents live in a safe, secure and pleasant environment and therefore has adopted this initiative as Council policy because we want to protect our people, infrastructure and resources to the highest of community standards.”
Inspector Dalwood said the trial was part of multiple strategies within the WA Police Service to help reduce crime in local communities.
“We approached the Council with this proposal - it just made sense to work with the Council, which is why we took on the task of producing security specifications for builders and developers,” he said.
“The City will be incorporating the security specifications into its planning and building processes and encouraging developers and builders to use these specifications in efforts to reduce the instance of crime and damage to property. This assists the Police Service because it helps prevent crime and reduces our case load.”
The trial has demonstrated the need for basic levels of security in all new buildings, such as locks or security screens, landscaping and fencing, smoke detectors, and structural design.
To guide further work with other stakeholders, a booklet, ‘Security Specification for Builders and Developers’, has been produced that documents the minimum mandatory standards that builders and developers are expected to meet or exceed.
Mayor Creevey said the trial has been so successful that other local governments in WA were interested in following suit.
RELEASE ENDS
5 February 2008