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The fifth Marmot Principle is about the importance of creating and developing healthy and sustainable places and communities. This includes creating neighbourhoods that promote physical activity, have safe streets and green spaces.
As part of our ongoing place-based engagement across Kent, EK360 spoke to 40 Gravesham residents in August. The most frequently mentioned topic, with 1 in 2 people telling us was concerns over crime and public safety. Residents mentioned how their perception of risk to safety has led to them not leaving their homes in the evening.
“I find it too difficult to go out because I do not feel safe enough. I do not go out after 5pm because I do not feel safe, and that is anywhere – it does not matter where I would like to go. I feel scared even thinking about wanting to go out, especially as a woman.
"Because I do not feel safe, I am less likely to leave the house in the evenings or spend time in the town. It affects my confidence and stops me from doing things I would otherwise enjoy.”
“It is knife crime, naughty children/youths and the antisocial behaviour that is a worry. When we go out during the day we decide whether to drive or take the bus, but in the evening we would always take the car because we feel safer. I would not go out on my own or even with my female friends from about the afternoon onwards as I would not feel safe.”
Gravesham Borough’s Community Safety Partnership Strategy for 2024-28 placed reducing anti-social behaviour as its first priority. The Strategy recognises that “detrimental effects of Anti-Social Behaviour concentrated in Gravesend Town centre spread beyond…those living immediately in the area…It discourages other residents and visitors from outside Gravesend Town Centre from accessing what the town centre has to offer”.
As part of this the Community Safety Partnership has created a multi-agency delivery group that is addressing hotspots of Anti-Social Behaviour in Gravesham, as well as proactive operations in areas that are seeing an increase in Anti-Social Behaviour.
Since the development of the strategy in 2023 the public order crime risk rating has fallen by 17%, including a drop of 5% in the last year.
70% of Gravesham residents that mentioned crime and safety having an impact on their lives were male. Similar pieces of engagement completed by EK360 in Rochester and Swale found that crime and safety were also top issues for residents. Of the three, Gravesham was the only area where it was a majority of men, at 70% overall, that mentioned the impact of public safety. Men were also more likely to comment that they felt intimidated specifically by youth anti-social behaviour.
“There are high crime rates in this area. Young people on the streets are especially a bit challenging. I am dyslexic, and I always struggle with people, and I feel unsafe around them.”
“I believe the town is now in trouble. Teenagers make this place a bit more troubled. There is a lot more shoplifting and fighting among them and a lot of anti-social behaviours”
The second most frequently mentioned topic for Gravesham residents was the quality and state of the local environment. 2 in 3 residents felt that the local area was dirty and required greater upkeep, as well as citing issues of bin collections and overgrown hedges.
“The area is not as clean as it should be and needs a deep tidy-up. Even the bin collection here is poor. They charge for bins and don’t collect them on time, which is frustrating and annoying.”
“There is loads of mess in town, the grass used to be cut often but now it seems like once a year, and hedges grow onto the footpaths which makes it difficult to walk somewhere without having to stop and let someone past.”
Issues with the visual environment in the local area can also contribute to crime rate issues. According to the Broken Window Theory, visible signs of crime, such as graffiti and littering, can foster an environment which encourages further anti-social behaviour and crime.
We also heard issues raised by residents over the age of 75 that pavements in the area have become a trip or slip risk.
“The new pavements are a bit slippery, and that needs to be sorted.”
“The pavements aren't great either, my friend broke their arm and has had several falls because the pavements are uneven and in a poor state of repair so it's easy to trip over.”
Both of these topics are contained within the 5th Marmot principle. A combined approach of creating streets that people find safer, together with green and clean spaces could improve people's physical and social activity rates, in line with the Marmot approach to reducing health inequalities.
Bias and Limitations
Residents we spoke to were those who were available and willing to speak to us at the time and location of each engagement event. Therefore, the sample is not representative of the Gravesham population. These findings should be interpreted as indicative trends rather than conclusive evidence.
