Last updated:
2nd October 2023
Meet Gina
Reducing anti-social behaviour in the borough
My name is Gina Frost and I am an Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Service Manager.
I have worked within the local authority for 18 years in various departments but my passion is dealing with anti-social behaviour and environmental enforcement.
What the ASB team does
Our new ASB team was formed in April 2022 as a result of increased complaints from residents who wanted someone to listen to them, offer advice, support and to take action against perpetrators.
My Team investigates complaints from residents and helps them resolve the issues they may have.
Sometimes we’re able to resolve by liaising with all parties and reaching an agreement but unfortunately this isn’t always the case and further enforcement action needs to be taken, including issuing fines where appropriate.
The council wants to stamp out ASB across the borough which is behaviour by a person which causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to persons not of the same household as the person.
This could be personal ASB where a person targets a specific individual or group or nuisance ASB where a person causes trouble, annoyance or suffering to a community.
We also help when a person's actions affect the wider environment, such as public spaces or buildings which is referred to as environmental ASB.
About my role
I begin my day checking emails and responding to urgent enquiries. We have a Teams team which we all say good morning and ask if everyone is ok. We will discuss any “hot spots” which can include fly-tipping and areas of concern.
If there is an event on, my team will arrive and set up a table with lots of informative leaflets and then spend the morning or afternoon talking to our residents.
Sometimes there is not a specific problem but a person just wants to vent or have a kind ear to listen to them. We will also join in with joint operations with Thames Valley Police where we will check vehicles for waste and if they are not registered to do so we will issue fixed penalties.
This has proved to be very successful and the message is out there that if you carry waste then you need to be registered to do so.
No two days are ever the same as we cover such a wide scope of issues including domestic noise nuisance, such as loud music, noise including cockerel`s crowing, dogs barking and dust from construction sites, including large scale DIY projects, burning rubbish, littering and fly-tipping.
Recent successes
A recent business was given an abatement order as the blowers used to dry the cars sounded like a jet engine taking off which was very unpleasant for the local residents, needless to say the blower was fixed and calm restored.
We also deal with unauthorised encampments as well as abandoned vehicles – not just cars but bikes, caravans and even shopping trolleys and most recently a container full of waste.
Helping to return stolen items back to owners
We recently returned some stolen bikes to some very grateful owners after discovering them at a property in Wokingham.
We work with Thames Valley Police and other local community safety partners to help get issues resolved as effectively and quickly as possible and our work has had a positive effect across the Wokingham Borough Community.
The team and I will continue to work with our residents to make Wokingham a cleaner, greener and safer place to live and work in.
The statement below sums up the role of an ASB officer perfectly:
We’re defined by what we’re not. I’m not a police officer: I can’t arrest people or investigate crimes. I’m not a social worker: I can’t put children into care. I’m not a solicitor: I have no formal legal training. I’m not a mental health worker, a fire safety officer, or anything else. But an ASB officer is a tiny bit of all of the above, and when it’s done properly, it knits all of those services together to make people’s lives a bit better.
How to report anti-social behaviour
- Visit our website
- Email asb@wokingham.gov.uk
