A POLICE officer who helps design new housing developments to reduce crime has received national recognition for his work in Newtown.

PC Rob Chapman, who is the ‘Designing Out Crime’ Officer for Carmarthenshire and Powys, was recognised with the Small Development Award at the Secured By Design Atlas Awards for his work at the design and planning stages for the development at Glan y Dwr in Newtown, the former Police and court buildings near the Steam Mill nightclub.

His advice surrounding the design of the new homes at the former TA building was deemed to be an enormous success, with no crime being reported from that location in 2018.

PC Chapman said: “I was delighted to accept the award on behalf of the force. We worked closely with the developers at Glan y Dwr to ensure it met Secured by Design standards, and we are very pleased that the advice and guidance given was taken on board and is keeping residents safe.

“The role of a designing out crime officer cannot be under estimated and is to provide specialist advice and guidance around development works at every stage to minimise crime, disorder and antisocial behaviour, thereby in the long term reducing the demand for service on the force.”

A spokesperson for design charity the Design Council said design has an important role to play in preventing crime and reducing criminal activity.

“If designers consider the ways in which the object, systems or environments they are designing might be susceptible to crime early in the design process, they can prevent crime from occurring, or at least reduce the opportunities for offender behaviour,” said a spokesperson.