RESIDENTS PRESENT: Mohammed Khan, Zohair Lone, Imtiyaz Shaiki, Mossen Toonah, resident 158 County Road.
ALSO PRESENT:
Mark Walker – SBC Town Centre Locality Lead, PC Atkinson - Broad Street Area Beat Manager, Councillor’s – Bob and Julie Wright, Brian Jones, Tim French, Kathryn Hawke, Azim Khan – Thamesdown Islamic Association, Trevor King – Discovery Church, Genti Mullaliu – Discovery Church, A Townsend
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Kay Malko, Evelyn Mason, Rebecca McIntosh, PCSO Millarvie, Frances Barrone – SBC, Cllr. Junab Ali
MEETING MINUTES, 02 April 2014 – Confirmed John Freegard - seconded Muhammad Chaudhry
NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE TEAM STATISTICS: 01 to 31 April 2014
Criminal damage – 8 (2013 – 4)
Assaults – 16 (2013 – 6) (8 x domestic incidents)
Theft and Handling – 27 (2013 – 29 (21/27 relate to commercial premises)
Drugs Offences – 2 (2013 – 5) (Due to proactive stop searches and a warrant)
Dwelling Burglary – 1 (2013 – 9) (Male located inside address, arrested and charged with bail conditions)
Robbery – 0. (2013 – 1)
NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE TEAM REPORT – PC Atkinson
In the Broadgreen and Shrivenham Road beat areas victim based crime is slightly up however incidents of domestic burglary are down 20.8%, vehicle crime is down 17.5%. Incidents of anti-social behaviour year to date are down 7.4%. In April 2014 we received 12 calls relating to ASB in Broadgreen. These mainly relate to groups of youths in the area during the Easter Holidays and several complaints about street drinkers.
Due to the marginal increase in levels of Anti-social behaviour relating to street drinkers hanging around in the alleyways a patrol Tasker was put in place to make other Swindon Police officers aware of the issue. In the last month in addition to routine patrols, 41 specific patrols have been carried out in the area to deal with this issue. Local town centre officers have been out on patrol and dealt with street drinkers on numerous occasions resulting in alcohol being seized and evidence being compiled for anti-social behaviour action. The street drinkers have also been notified that their pictures have been given to alcohol retailers and that they are not to be served with intoxicating beverages. To date this appears to be working and complaints of street drinkers causing ASB in Broadgreen has decreased compared to March. Myself and my Licensing colleagues are contesting off-license trading hour extensions on the basis this will increase alcohol related ASB in the area. This process is ongoing and I will be attending meetings with Licensing at SBC in the near future.
All the key crimes on the area during March have decreased or stayed at a steady level with the exception of criminal damages and assaults. The increase in assaults is due to a marked increase in domestic incidents inside residential premises. The year on year increase in criminal damage is up, although figures in April 2013 were exceptionally low. Figures in April 2014 are at a level more consistent with previous months in 2014.
Broadgreen Officers carried out three days of operations in early April around unlawful and illegal parking in the area. As a result of this a number of vehicles blocking alleyways and obstructing junctions were issued with tickets by Police. These operations will be ongoing in the future.
In partnership with the Town Centre community beat manager I have compiled evidence and applied to Swindon Borough Council to create a Section 30 ASB dispersal zone in Broadgreen. This will effectively give Police Officers and Community Support Officers the power to disperse two or more people involved in anti-social behaviour from the area for up to 24 hours. If they refuse to leave or return in this time period then they can and will be arrested. This application is currently with SBC for review and authorisation and I am confident that it will be granted.
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 - luke.atkinson@wilthire.pnn.police.uk
PC Atkinson answered the following questions and queries:
- Street drinkers, in the mornings and dinnertime, have been seen taking their dogs onto the Broadgreen Centre green area, to do their business. The mess was not cleaned up, which was a big concern because young people played there.
- Other issues with Street drinkers - they were hanging around Abbey’s shop and were also throwing their empty bottles and cans into residents’ gardens
- People were drinking in alleyways, not necessarily street drinkers; they were leaving their empties everywhere and were not being moved on.
- Drug paraphernalia and suspicious people at the County Ground Extension, young children play there and it put people off using the area. – Mark Walker said the Probation Service normally do a weekly sweep of the County Ground on a Friday, but was not aware that they had found an increase in this type of litter, but would request that they might show a greater visibility. The more people used the area, the greater the deterrent was to this type of problem.
- Abbey’s shop had been seen still open at 11.45pm. PC Atkinson would ask the licensing Officer to look into it.
- Whitehouse Bridge being hit by large vehicles, a notice on the bridge indicated the local police should be contacted, was that still correct? – PC Atkinson said that they could be involved if the driver made off from the scene of an accident, or, if a vehicle had hit the bridge it could be careless or dangerous driving, so ring 101.
PC Atkinson took note of all of the issues and said it was important to report them.
COUNCILLORS REPORT:
Parking Scheme
Discussions with Shops, Mosque and residents about the experimental parking orders in the Broadgreen area. There are two different schemes. The Manchester Road scheme is currently being reviewed. We have had representations from the shops saying that the current changes have led to a decrease in trade. This was never the intention of the scheme but was as a result of concerns raised by residents (not the Community Council) that there were not enough residents parking spaces. We have had complaints that cars parked directly on the junctions to roads off Manchester Road causing very dangerous situations. The Emergency Services have raised their concerns about gaining access to roads leading off Manchester Road due to parking too close to the junctions. We have also had complaints from residents and the bus company about cars parking at the bus stops. As a result of the consultation with the shops we are looking to reuse the loading bays on the roads leading off Manchester Road. Manchester Road will remain a clearway but 2 further loading bays will be introduced.
There has also been concerns raised by the Mosque, St Luke's Church and other organisations that the current Broadgreen gated scheme has led to some difficulties with users. Officers are looking to adjust the current scheme to make Station Road/Broad Street into dual use. We have had further representations and ideas, which will be considered within the scheme.
Health Centre Parking
We have won extra time for the Carfax Street Car Park. We have asked for the car park to remain open until the new surgery has been built and operational.
Changes to Swindon Town Centre Roads
We have had meetings with Forward Swindon and the new developers of Whale Bridge to raise our concerns and objections about the proposed new road system being introduced and the situation of the new Bus Station. We remain concerned about the current plans and the impact it will have on residents of the surrounding area. We will continue to act on your behalf on this matter and keep you updated about any public consultations taking place. Cleaner Broadgreen
The Council has been awarded £30,000 specifically for the Broadgreen area to clean up the area and make it a better place for residents. Russell Sharland is the Officer who is currently leading on this project and I am attaching a copy of the draft action plan (which is open to any changes needed). If you do have any ideas that believe would be helpful then please do let us know.
Sector Inspector Paul Saunders
Paul has outlined how he intends to use officers and working with the Council and how joint working will offer more enforcement opportunities.
Shrivenham Road Area
We are just waiting on power supply costs before we arrange another residents meeting for the Event/Match Day parking Scheme. The plan is to try to have this scheme in place by the start of the next Football Season.
CORRESPONDENCE
SENT – None RECEIVED – 2014/2015 Insurance documents
PLANNING S/14/0583 - 78 Manchester Road SN1 2AJ - Erection of single storey side/ rear extension to form 3no. flats. Application Pending Consideration - Case Officer - Miss Helen McCabe
S/14/0330 - 31 Manchester Road SN1 2AB - Erection of a single storey rear extension - Application Granted - Case Officer – Mr Tom Buxton
TREASURERS REPORT - to 07 May 2014: John Freegard
Proposed Madge Sutton - Seconded Kath Jones
MEMBERS - Any Other Business: The Chair invited non-members and non-residents to participate in the forum. The following information, issues, problems and concerns were reported and discussed –
Broadgreen Area Parking Review issues -
- The general parking bays in Broad Street are for half an hour only, if there was a funeral and the service lasted longer than that, what would happen?
- Members of the Discovery Church were not aware of the consultation or changes, and the provision for short term parking in Lagos Street was no longer available. The building was used on a daily basis and there was nowhere for people to be dropped off etc. They also run a youth club on Friday nights at which 40 to 50 attend and the youth leaders did not live in the area.
- There was lots of activity throughout the day, including 5 lots of prayer time, at Broad Street Mosque; more flexible parking close to the Mosque would be appreciated. Around 1pm, 6 or 7 cars needed to be parked for prayers, after 6pm when people finished work, there were about 15 cars parking by people going to pray. There is also a problem with people dropping children off at the Mosque and getting ticketed while inside.
- The information on some of the new parking signs were not very clear.
- How will the changes affect disabled parking?
- On football match day, supporters flooded the area and used resident’s visitor permits, often meaning there were no spaces for resident’s visitors to park.
Councillor Bob Wright took on board all of the concerns and issues and gave the following replies –
- Funerals – Parking could be extended beyond 30 minute waiting and inspectors would use their discretion.
- Officers should have put notices through all letterboxes in the area explaining the consultations and it was an experimental order that could be influenced. The driver for the alterations was not the shops or businesses, but was to see if more spaces for residents could be found. If this effected other organisations it could be looked into.
- Looking to find extra spaces – At the moment there were 12 spaces in Broad Street available for a 30-minute time period every day except a Friday. The future for Broad Street was to look for extra spaces that were more flexible, which would be consulted on. The current 30-minute bays should be ample time to accommodate the needs of people being dropped off and collected.
- Carfax Street car park was being kept open at the moment, but the numbers of spaces available had been reduced, this had been done specifically for the people that used the Carfax Street Health Centre but the council would listen to see if there was a demand beyond that purpose.
- Parking requirements for churches and Mosques – There were car parks either side of the area – (Queenstown and the County ground) where people who were desperate to come here from further afield could park for 20p for as long as they liked. It was also being looked at, to see how on Broad Street during the day, before 5pm, there could be limited parking.
- Disabled parking - Disabled people could still park in the area.
MARK WALKER REPORT
Mark spoke to the meeting about Community Asset Transfer. The Mechanics Trust had taken over the day-to-day management of the Central Community Centre. At the Savernake Street Hall, a similar arrangement with a community group had been made.
At the moment the Broadgreen Centre was the only centre the council had no intention of looking to transfer to a particular community or interest group.
By the 1st June Broadgreen would be the only centre SBC would directly manage, the booking of the Broadgreen Centre would probably go over to a local system on site, with 3 members of staff to open and close the centre and temps to cover when they were not available. The centre would cost around £100,000 to run per year. There were no discussions, open or in private, around what was happening to the Broadgreen Centre. In the middle of June all users of the centre, around 40 groups, would be invited to a meeting, with an update of community management and to ask for views around the future of Broadgreen
Waste partnership - Dog fouling issues – could be put on the action list, but it might require a by-law to stop dogs being allowed in certain areas.
Meeting closed 8.20pm
