Here’s the latest news and progress from the campaign. More updates, events and activities are coming soon – watch this space for dates and registration details. In the meantime, find out how you can get involved and sign up to join the community for updates straight to your inbox.
It’s been a busy year so far for ACTION on ASB! with some positive developments and signs that things are moving in the right direction. But we’re still a long way from where we need to be.
When we started the campaign, we heard “What do you expect? It’s just Brixton” far too often, from those whose job it was to do something about it. Thankfully, we hear that far less now, but too much of what’s happening has become accepted as normal. It isn’t.
Crack being openly dealt and used on our streets, persistent shoplifting and attacks on shopworkers, aggressive begging, harassment and intimidation are still not being treated with the urgency they deserve and should never be accepted as simply part of life in Brixton. This is not the Brixton we know and love.
For people living with this every day, the consequences are very real. People are being intimidated by street drug dealers and users, with some families even threatened for speaking out. No one should feel unsafe walking down their own street or come home to find people taking crack on their doorstep or in their stairwell. We all want the same basic things…to feel safe in our homes, on our streets and in our community.
We also want to feel proud of where we live. The state of our streets matters. When they’re covered in litter and fly-tipping, or vandalism isn’t dealt with, it gives the impression that nobody cares. We want Lambeth and its street-cleaning contractor Serco to take the same pride in Brixton as the people who live and work here do.
There are signs of progress, but much of what has happened is still around the edges of a much bigger problem. We need a properly funded, Brixton-specific plan that brings together the police, council, public health, mental health and addiction services, homelessness services, transport agencies, and others. Most importantly, we need clear leadership, accountability and decisive action from those with the power to make a difference. Not just words.
Brixton deserves the same standards as every other community. If we can get this right here, it could provide a way forward for other town centres facing similar challenges.
A highlight has been supporting the Brixton Community Clean-up, a youth-led initiative bringing together young people, residents, businesses and community organisations to improve our local environment.
Led by young people from the Young People’s Movement and RAE Academy, the initiative is supported by the Marcus Lipton Centre, Brixton BID, Loughborough Junction Action Group, ACTION on ASB!, and other community organisations. It’s about more than picking up litter. It’s young people setting the standard for the kind of Brixton they want to live in and encouraging everyone, whether that’s residents, businesses and public agencies, to play their part in making that happen.
The next community clean-up is on Saturday 12 September from 12.30pm-2.00pm. We’d love to see you there.
Find out more information and how to sign up here
Ahead of the local elections, we asked candidates across Brixton to make tackling ASB and cleaning up Brixton’s environment a priority. Following the local elections, we’ve been building relationships with Lambeth’s new political leadership.
We recently met with the new Cabinet Member for Community Safety, Cllr Jonathan Bartley. It was a constructive first meeting where he recognised the need to address many of the issues we’ve been raising, including the need for a joined-up response. We now want to work with him and see this translated into action.
We’re arranging meetings with newly elected councillors across Brixton to build support for a Brixton-specific joint plan and encourage them to champion it within the council.
Increased police and community safety activity
We meet regularly with the police to discuss what’s happening and are kept informed about operations. Recent activity has included:
We’ve also started to see the removal of Brixton’s old, broken phone boxes, which have long been a magnet for drug taking, fly-tipping and urination. Brixton BID, the police and Lambeth councillors have been actively working to get these removed, with ACTION on ASB! supporting the effort since March 2024. The pair outside Brixton Station have now gone, with a public defibrillator installed in their place. Some others across the area have planning permission to be removed and replaced with digital screens.
We’re continuing to call on our local MPs to lead the multi-agency group they brought together in February. This included the police, Lambeth Council, British Transport Police, NHS mental health and addiction services, rough sleeping services, the Safer Business Network, Brixton BID and ACTION on ASB!.
We’re calling on our MPs to keep leading this work, bring partners back together, hold agencies to account and make sure the actions agreed are delivered.
We’ve seen progress, but open crack dealing and use remain widespread and continue to drive many of the crime and ASB problems in the Town Centre and surrounding areas. Many of those caught up in this are themselves vulnerable and need the right support. At the same time, everyone who lives, works in or visits Brixton needs to feel safe.
What needs to happen:
Thank you to everyone who continues to support Brixton’s ACTION on ASB! campaign.
We’ve made progress, but there’s much more to do. We’ll keep pushing for the leadership, action and investment Brixton deserves and keep working to make change happen. We’ve come a long way, but we’ll never accept that these problems are simply “just Brixton”.
For more ways on how you can help – check out the Get Involved page on this website
We had a very productive community meeting at Pop Brixton, filled with energy, stories, and a shared determination to drive change. From our youngest speaker – just 8 years old – to our esteemed community elders, every voice left an impact, resonating throughout the room. View the the meeting minutes.
Since our first public meeting in September 2023, we’ve had recognition from the police and council that ASB levels in Brixton are unacceptable and require a joint-agency, place-based approach if any sustainable progress is going to be made.
This led to the agreement by Lambeth Council and the police, at an ACTION on ASB! public meeting in November 2023, to develop an anti-social behaviour reduction plan for Brixton. A third public meeting took place in March 2024 where a first draft of the plan was presented.