This evening I am attending a meeting of the Safer Reading Campaign in my capacity as Lib Dem Safer Communities spokesperson. On the agenda tonight is an update by Thames Valley Police on the impact of the roll-out of Neighbourhood Policing - something I requested at the July meeting.
My Lib Dem colleagues and I have concerns about Neighbourhood Action Groups, a key plank of Neighbourhood Policing, not being adequately supported by RBC and TVP. We have a number of NAGs in Redlands and in some areas the number of local residents attending has slumped, partly because meetings are not being well advertised. Why? because NAGs have no budget for communication or publicity. We are campaigning to change this.
The effectiveness of Neighbourhood Policing is not helped by the problems we continue to pick up around residents reporting crime via the Thames Valley Police Call Centre - the subject of the last Safer Reading Campaign meeting and a major Lib Dem campaign last year.
However, some NAGs like the Redlands & University area NAG (which Kirsten is a member of) are working quite well - thanks in large part to a lot of support from Reading University.
Our other ongoing concern is a general lack of Policing across South Reading - Whitley in particular. This is something that was came out as a major issue for local people in the recent Council survey of residents on Hexham Road estate .
We will also be receiving an update during the meeting on so-called 'capital projects' - small crime-reduction projects funded by RBC. These projects are only given funding if crime figures suggest they are needed.
Last year I pressed RBC to do more post-project reviews to see whether or not capital spend by the Council had an impact on reducing crime. This follows a highly critical inspection of the Community Safety service last February in which lack of emphasis by RBC on value for money delivered by the service was one of the issues raised by inspectors.
The Lib Dem team in Redlands have had a good record of successfully attracting funding for local projects to improve community safety across the ward. We've done this by listening to local residents' concerns and campaigning for action by RBC and the Police.
The latest info on Redlands projects is as follows:-
- A bid for £6500 worth of improvements to street lighting on Foxhill/Cardigan Roads & Blenheim/Cardigan Gardens was approved by RBC following a successful campaign by the Redlands Lib Dem team - unbelievably several months on officers are still waiting for SEC to install (!) We will be chasing this up.
- A bid to improve community safety around Erleigh Road/Denmark Road submitted by the Lib Dems - officers are still seeking ways to reduce crime in the area.
- A bid for improvements to lighting to reduce graffiti Stanhope Road/Bamburgh Close put forward by the Lib Dems- see my recent post for an update on this.
- Bede Walk crime reduction - following a lengthy campaign by the Lib Dems a third anti-cycle bar has been installed and the number of motorbikes using the Walk (a major problem last year) has apparently reduced. Extra lighting was installed in the area at the end of last year, however, we are still pressing RBC to install additional lighting as residents still feeling unsafe at night.
- A bid for improved lighting on Sutton Walk has been submitted- this is not currently considered a priority by RBC (!) We will follow this one up with officers.
And finally, following my campaign last year to get the Council to tackle problems with alley gates behind houses on Hexham Road/Bede Walk I am pleased to report that a bid is currently in progress to alter gates to prevent unwanted visitors from accessing rear of property (cost around £1700). Fingers crossed it will get approved soon.
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