Reports have shown that a large number of the 4,000 new homes that are being built close to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus have been signed off as incorporating a range of proven crime prevention techniques. These systems and techniques have been set by Secured by Design, or SBD, which is a national Police Crime Prevention Initiative.
The Cambridge Biomedical Campus centres on Addenbrooke’s Hospital and is being developed in order to become an International Centre for Clinical Care, Teaching and Research. The Hospital and the development are located only two miles south of Cambridge City Centre.
The homes being constructed near to this new campus are being built by Countryside PLC, the UK builder and urban regeneration company as well as partnered development companies such as Crest. Bovis Homes, CALA Homes and Hill. Some of the private properties that are under construction as a part of this development are being purchased by the families of the academic, teaching, health and scientific staff working at the campus. However, the development also includes a mix of other property types such as social housing and accommodation that will be available to rent when completed through housing associations.
As a part of the SBD initiative, specially trained officers, known as the Designing out Crime Officers, based at the Cambridgeshire Constabulary HQ at Huntington, have been working with developers, architects and local authority planners in order to help to design out crime at the planning stages of development. This includes incorporating a range of crime prevention techniques when designing the layout and landscaping of the development. These different techniques include improving natural surveillance in order to make sure that living spaces look out onto roads and pathways in order to act as a deterrent for criminal activity, limiting excessive movement and reducing the number of alleyways and hiding places. It is great that the police are working with developers to create new safer homes and communities.
