Community improvements made in Westham to tackle anti-social behaviour and fly tipping

Housing Association Aster Group has made over £100k of improvements to a street in Westham to make the area safer for their customers and the wider community.

With the backing of local policing teams and Westham Community Group, Aster spent over £100k making changes to Hereford Road to tackle fly tipping and criminal activity.

The housing association carried out the work after a spate of drug and crime related activity was reported in Hereford Road, Westham. Large bushes, some over six foot, allowed criminal activity to be concealed, creating safety concerns and making the area look untidy.

The hedges have now been removed and replaced with new walls and railings to the front gardens.

Aster worked with residents, local councillors and the safer neighbourhoods policing team to improve the area for our customers and the wider community.

Darren Brazil, regional director for Aster said: “This has been a genuinely community focussed project to improve the area and provide our customers with much needed safer and more manageable open spaces in a community they are proud of.”

One customer who lives in the area said: “I feel far more secure, there’s more of a community feel and it looks very smart. I can walk along the pavement with no hazards and feel safer.”

Dorset Council Councillor for Westham Ward, Ryan Hope said: “I'd like to congratulate Aster on this project it has completely changed the appearance on the entry to the estate.

“I think Aster has done a brilliant job of designing out the anti-social behaviour and criminal activity that we were experiencing in the area. As well as vastly improving the public realm I believe that this design could be used elsewhere in the estate and wider Weymouth.”