ALSO PRESENT: PC Atkinson - Broad Street Area Beat Manager, PCSO Rogers Frances Barrone – SBC, Councillor Junab Ali, Azim Khan, Mansoor Khan, Mahmud Paswal
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Kay Malko, Cluniford Mason, Evelyn Mason, Rebecca McIntosh, Mark Walker - Town Centre Locality Lead, Councillor’s - Bob Wright and Julie Wright,
The following issues and points were reported, raised and discussed
Parking in back alleyways
Drinking outside the lunch club at St. Luke’s – The Police reported that the Public Place Order was still active and they regularly spoke to people seen drinking. Last week 5 cans of alcohol were disposed of. PC Atkinson said that ASB and street drinking problems had been one of his main priorities in the 15 moths as Beat Manager.
Ros thanked the Police for the help she received after her purse was stolen.
The hoardings around the former Davis House site have been blown or knocked down on numerous occasions, leaving rusty nails etc sticking out. A resident has put them back up but they are soon down again.
Commercial wheelie bins on pavements, a resident is still waiting for Phil Thomas, SBC, to get in contact about this. A resident has shown Cllr. Ali, problems in the alley between Corporation Street and Manchester Road and below County Road Bridge, the latter has now been cleaned up.
Rubbish not belonging to a resident has been put in their wheelie bin, when SBC was contacted to ask for advice they were told it was not the council’s responsibility, but the Landlords, and to talk to a councillor about it. The bin has not been emptied by SBC on 3 occasions since Christmas as it was overflowing.
Due to a tree growing through a wall at the back of Manchester Road near Alfred Street it has become very dangerous. SBC are aware of the issue but will not remove the tree even though they could if they wanted to. Cllr Ali said he didn’t think there was anything the council could do as it was on private land, but he would find out. Vans and lorries being parked in residents parking areas, are there height and weight restrictions? Cllr. Ali would find out.
Fish is being sold from side door of the shop at 21 Broad Street.
Structures are being built over the front of many shops in the area, they look very untidy - do they need planning permission? Cllr. Ali said they did not require planning permission, but he was asked to double check with the planning dept.
NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE TEAM STATISTICS: 01 December 2013 to 31 January 2014
Due to no BSACC meeting in January, the below statistics cover a two month period.
Criminal damage – 13 (2012/13 – 6) (Increase in overnight vehicle damage around Christmas and New Year)
Assaults – 22 (2012/13 – 11) (Majority took place in private premises of which 8 are domestic)
Theft and Handling – 39 (2012/13 – 39)((Bulk relate to commercial premises in particular Tesco, Ocotal Way)
Drugs – 5 (2012/13 – 11)
Dwelling Burglary – 0 (2012/13 – 6)
Robbery – 3. (2012/13 – 2)
NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE TEAM REPORT – PC Atkinson
In the Broadgreen and Shrivenham Road beat areas victim based crime is down 1%. This equates to 7 less reported crimes in the 12 months to January 2014 then in the 12 months previously. Incidents of anti-social behaviour year to date are down 8%. In October/November 2013 we received 11 calls relating to ASB whilst only receiving 10 In December/January. Due to the Christmas period I would have expected this to be significantly higher.
Since the last meeting 88 additional patrols have been carried out in the area, specifically targeting ASB in addition to routine patrols. Street drinkers continue to be targeted and dealt with robustly and as a result we have only received 1 complaint in relation to them during this period. It is in the pipeline that several of the shops on Manchester Road, which sell high strength alcohol, will have their licenses and suitability to sell such alcohol assessed in the near future.
As above since the last meeting Wiltshire Police have received 10 calls relating to antisocial behaviour taking place in public areas in Broadgreen. Anti-Social behaviour incidents in December and January include a road rage incident, apparent drug usage in public places, males drinking in alleyways and two incidents of groups of youths causing problems.
Police can attribute the marked increase in offences against a person to an increase in domestic violence incidents, as well as repeat attendance to the same addresses. Very few of these 22 incidents have taken place in public areas and the vast majority are by persons known to each other. We have had no dwelling burglaries reported in December and January, which is hugely positive as a spike is often found around the Christmas period, much like in the previous year.
Operation HARNESS - 29/01/14
On Wednesday 29th January Wiltshire Police carried out the largest operation in the force's history involving over 400 Police Officers and Staff. 70 warrants were simultaneously executed at Business and Residential premises across Swindon and London, many of which took place in the Manchester Road and Broadgreen area. These warrants were the result of 12 months of hard work by undercover and local Police officers and were specifically set up to disrupt and disable the activities of drug networks across the town and associated crime such as thefts and the handling of stolen goods.
- A total of 45 people have been arrested
- A large amount of class A drugs have been seized
- £11,500 in cash seized
- £15,000 (street value) of illegal tobacco seized
- 39 of the 45 arrested were from Swindon
- 55 of the 70 addresses were in Swindon
- Over £5,000 in designer clothing/accessories seized
- Weapons including a samurai sword and a machete seized
- Number of electrical goods seized
Operation Harness is an ongoing Policing Operation and our aim to combat drug supply and usage will not stop following the hugely positive results from last week. Local town centre officers will continue to deal with drug offences robustly and will continue to target addresses linked to drugs on a routine basis.
Policing is an Intelligence driven business and the NPT would urge you to contact Wiltshire Police on 101 if you have something you need to tell us. Or alternatively email Community Beat Manager PC 2410 Luke ATKINSON on luke.atkinson@wilthire.pnn.police.uk
COUNCILLORS REPORT :
Although unable to attend the meeting, Councillor Julie Wright forwarded a report that included the following:
Wellington St
Reported problems caused by Taxis. Officers are addressing the problem but are limited by resources. It is on the Licensing Committee agenda.
Taxis parking in back alleys and using Broadgreen as a Rat Run. The resident parking scheme changes will help with part of this problem.
Euro Bins & Waste
We have passed to Pam a letter from a Minister stating the council has all the powers it needs to take action over these issues
Police activity
For quite some time your local councillors have been highlighting the issues you have raised with us. We still need to report issues even if the Police are taking things forward because some of the actions belong to the Council. The day of action recently involved Council officers working with the Police.
Schools
Please participate in the consultation and even if there is no consultation please tell us the difficulties with school places. Mountford Manor is the nearest school with places. Robert Le Kyng is being looked at as a potential site for place expansion. Holy Cross development is ongoing.
Enforcement
As part of the response to the Euro bin and waste issue from shops and others it has been agreed enforcement action is to be taken. We cannot tell you which operation will have action taken against however we have been assured by the CEO of the council, resources will be put in place for this to happen.
Residents Parking
Please participate in the consultation. The main change could generate 100 extra spaces.
Event Parking
An experimental order is to be raised for Pavilion Close and Marsh Farm. If successful it can be rolled out in other areas. There was no clear guidance in some areas on what would be the best scheme for an area. We put this down to conflicting needs, avoidance of costs and simply being happy with what exists.
Community Event
We participated in a recent BOND event
CORRESPONDENCE
SENT – Annual Charity return
RECEIVED – invite to a meeting at Civic Offices, Thursday January 30th. - Call for Action. The success of any proposed multi agency operation to tackle neighbourhood issues and concerns relies on community participation and support - Jane Dudley.
Transfer of Central Community Centre to community management (Mechanics Trust) on Wednesday 5th February 2014 – Mark Walker.
Town Centre Locality meeting in the main hall at Broadgreen Community Centre, Salisbury St, SN1 2 AN from 6.30pm for 7pm start, finish approx. 8.30pm. – Frances Barrone.
PLANNING –
S/TIME/12/1519 - Extension of time to previous permission S/09/1335 for partial demolition and erection of 118no. bedroom hotel and associated works. | Former Paragon Laundry Aylesbury Street - Application granted - Case Officer - Mr Rob O’Carroll
S/TIME/12/1525 - Extension of time to previous permission S/LBC/09/1338 for partial demolition and erection of 118no. bedroom hotel and associated works. Former Paragon Laundry Aylesbury Street - Application granted - Case Officer - Mr Rob O’Carroll
S/13/1028 - Change of use from 1no. dwelling to 4no. bedsits. - 13 County Road SN1 2EG - Application granted
S/12/1627 - Change of use of 1no. dwelling to 3no. flats 107 County Road SN1 2EE - Application Finally Disposed Of
S/13/1693 - Tesco Superstore Ocotal Way, SN1 2RH Erection of Dry Cleaning, Key Cutting, Shoe and Watch Repairs Pod - Application Withdrawn
TREASURERS REPORT - to 05 February 2014: John Freegard
Drop-in closed 8.25pm
