The pressure on housing stock meant that the councils did not have the opportunity to allocate housing for specific purposes. The council could only struggle to provide homes. That is the real cause of many of the problems that ordinary, decent people on housing estates are forced to endure. Perhaps the most important element in creating safer communities is the involvement of the community itself. One of the reasons why Dyfed Powys has been so successful in combating crime is that we in west Wales have a good sense of community.
People care about others who live in their village, street or neighbourhood.
By tapping into that good citizenship, communities can prevent and combat crime. That can be done either though neighbourhood watch schemes or the projects now being funded by the Welsh Assembly on council estates. Those projects give tenants and residents a real say in how their estates should be managed. Further co-ordination is needed between the community planning aspects of crime reduction, which are the responsibility of local government and therefore of the Assembly, and the Home Office crime and disorder strategies. I am delighted to say that Milford Haven has recently been successful in gaining funding from the National Assembly to establish a project to help residents on The Mount estate.