Offenders clean up and pay back
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
09/09/2008
Offenders have been lending a helping hand to tidy up the borough.
Plants and trees from gardens backing onto Goaters Alley, which connects Dawes Road and Bishops Road in Fulham, were becoming overgrown and needed cutting back.
So the council’s street scene enforcement team joined forces with London Probation and the local police safer neighbourhood team on Wednesday, August 27, when three offenders got to work pruning and clearing the area as part of the community payback scheme.
Two full truck-loads of branches, cuttings, brambles and leaves were taken away and the alley was swept and tidied up. It is hoped that residents will now be able to use the alleyway more regularly.
As part of a weekly scheme, more offenders returned to Goaters Alley on Wednesday, September 3, to paint over graffiti on the gates of houses that back onto the walkway, as well as removing other graffiti along the river path near Sainsbury’s in Fulham. They have also been busy litter-picking on Townmead Road and near the Sulivan Enterprise Centre in Fulham.
Councillor Greg Smith, cabinet member for crime and anti-social behaviour said: “Community payback is no substitute to a proper punishment, but is a welcome post-prison initiative to make the criminals put something back into the community they stole from or vandalised. This is an excellent way of showing how offenders can compensate for the crimes they have committed and repay their debt to society.
“The area is now clear and tidy and this is just one of many schemes where we work closely with the probation service to benefit the borough.”
Offenders being supervised by London Probation are carrying out unpaid work orders, the number of hours they have to do ranging from anything from 40 to 300.
Chris Powell, payback manager for the probation service, said: "The council are very supportive of the work we do and our guys work really hard doing jobs like tidying up eyesores, cutting back overgrown areas and clearing places that residents think attract crime or are unsafe. The guys are happy to put the time in, especially when they see that all their effort has made a difference.”
“Working with the council and the police means that this scheme goes full circle with all partners getting involved, from start to finish.
The day was a great success and there are plans to work together with London Probation in the future, with more projects in the pipeline.
We are always on the look-out for ideas for projects that would benefit the local environment. Please contact Stef Spode, envirocrime project coordinator on 020 8753 3916 or your local police Safer Neighbourhoods Team, if you have any suggestions.
