PRESENT: Chair Karen Leakey, Vice-Chair Pam Freegard, Secretary and Archivist Kevin Leakey, Diana Banner, Muhammad Chaudhry, John Clark, Vi Clark, Kate Johnson, Mohammed Khan, Cluniford Mason, Imtiyaz Shaikh, Madge Sutton, Ros Timlin, Pat Townsend, Roy Townsend, Bob Walter, Robert Williams
ALSO PRESENT:
Mark Walker – SBC Town Centre Locality Lead, PCSO Millarvie, PCSO Mervyn-Smith, Julie Wright – ward councillor, Tim French
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Treasurer John Freegard, Paul Izquierdo, Kay Malko, Evelyn Mason, Rebecca McIntosh, Frances Barrone – SBC, PC Atkinson - Broad Street Area Beat Manager
NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE TEAM :
NPT STATISTICS: 01 September 2014 to 30 September 2014
Criminal damage – 7 (2013 – 13)
Assaults – 10 (2013 – 18) (4 x domestic incidents)
Theft and Handling – 13 (2013 – 29) (9/13 relate to commercial premises)
Drugs – 2 (2013 – 2)
Dwelling Burglary – 5 (2013 – 4) (please see below)
Robbery – 0. (2013 – 0)
NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICE TEAM REPORT – PC Atkinson
Year to date for September 2014 incidents of crime are reduced across all key crime areas with the exception of dwelling burglaries which has again slightly increased much like in August. Of the 5 dwelling burglaries, suspects have been named and arrested for three of them. Many of the incidents of dwelling burglaries or attempt dwelling burglaries taking place across the last two months are as a result of properties being left insecure. Please remember to lock your doors and windows and ensure that garages and sheds are also left secure, especially at night.
In the 12 months up to September 2014 complaints of anti-social behaviour have reduced 21.5% compared to the 12 months up to September 2013. This equates to 79 less reports of ASB in the last year than the previous year. This again demonstrates that our robust approach to Policing the designated public place order, and the Section 30 Anti-social behaviour act dispersal order is having a positive impact on the area. I’m aware there are still incidents of alcohol related ASB occurring so please contact us and make us aware when these are taking place so we can target the perpetrators and the times and locations identified.
Myself and colleagues are proactively dealing with the licensed premises on Manchester Road which are breaching their licensing conditions and as a result contributing to alcohol related ASB in the area. As a result of our work in recent weeks we have identified two of these premises breaching conditions and they are being taken to review by Police and Swindon Borough Council Licensing. We will continue to strongly contest the opening of any new licensed premises in the Broadgreen area and Wiltshire Police and I will be attending a meeting with Police Licensing in the next few weeks with regards the License application for 42 Manchester Road.
Anti-social behaviour is still a priority for the Central Neighbourhood Policing Team and we will continue to target persons causing issues in the future. Last week’s ASB partnership tasking meeting has kept Broadgreen on the agenda and a number of planned operations will be taking place across the next few months with regards to ASB, parking, littering/fly tipping and a number of other issues. For example a partnership operation was conducted last Friday with Swindon Borough Council Environmental Enforcement Officers looking specifically at offences taking place in the alleyways to the rear of the shops on Manchester Road.
Vice
PC Lou Kuklinski, myself and other Central Sector NPT colleagues have spent over 200 ‘man’ hours in September conducting vice operations in the Broadgreen area both with and independent of outreach partnership agencies. As a result of this work, 4 kerb crawlers have been identified and placed on conditional cautions to attend an educational course with a £200 surcharge, 4 sex workers have been formally dealt with and given conditions restricting their movements, and one further gentleman refused to accept a conditional caution and as a result will attend court.
These Vice operations will continue into the future when dedicated resources will be provided by Wiltshire Police to increase visibility and allow us to specifically target key times and locations.
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 - Cllr. Julie Wright delivered the following report -
Enforcement We had a meeting with Paul Simmonds, Public Protection Manager regarding enforcement in the area. As you know we have continued to identify areas where enforcement is needed but are concerned about the apparent lack of action. Paul explained the process to us and the difficulties in producing the right type of evidence in order to gain court action. He stated that if the evidence is not good enough Magistrates will not accept it and the Council are accused of misuse of powers. He provided us with the following information -
Reports of fly-tipping this year are already up by 120% on last year. To date we have received 196 reports of fly-tipping across the Borough. We know that this is a major problem in the Broadgreen area and a large proportion will have been in this area. The fact that reports have increased shows our success to date in getting incidents reported to us. We can only investigate when we know about the problem. ALL reports of fly tipping are investigated to try to ascertain the source of the rubbish and where possible to take action against the person responsible. This is notoriously difficult to prove as offenders are usually careful not to leave incriminating evidence. We currently have 4 on-going investigations where there is evidence indicating potential to prosecute the perpetrator. We have been able to prosecute only 2 cases of fly-tipping reported to us last year. In all such cases we aim to maximise the publicity, as successful prosecutions can act as a deterrent to some who are tempted to fly-tip. Unfortunately there are others who continue to do so and recognise that they can avoid being caught by leaving no evidence. We often have to rely on the local public - not only to report incidents of fly-tipping, but also to provide any evidence they have as to who has dumped it. Unless the witness is prepared to give evidence against the offender the council cannot proceed formally. However, sometimes calling the suspect in and giving a warning can still be effective in getting the rubbish removed. Where the dumped rubbish is harmful, causing an obstruction or causing nuisance, the council will sometimes arrange for its removal. We cannot do this routinely as this will give licence to others to leave their waste on public land (Fly-tip). Where rubbish is left on private land the owner (even if they did not deposit the waste themselves) can be held responsible and be asked to remove the waste. However, we normally only do this when it is hazardous, offensive or likely to give rise to a public health nuisance or vermin. The council cannot take formal action if the waste on private land is solely ‘unsightly’ – UNLESS, it is so exceptional that it is leading to a deterioration which is ‘detrimental in the amenity of the neighbourhood.’ This is always a subjective view but we would need to evidence this before any action could be taken under planning powers. In all cases we need the help and support of local residents to:
Dispose of their own waste appropriately. Encourage others to do so. Make use of the councils bulky waste service and the Civic amenity site at Waterside. Report incidents of fly-tipping etc. to the council as soon as possible either directly or via your Councillor. If possible provide the council with robust evidence proving the fly-tipping offence (When, where, what, how & who)
Paul has offered to attend a meeting with you if you so wish to discuss this matter further.
We also discussed some of the problems with the fixed shop canopies that have been erected. This issue comes under planning enforcement and therefore under Andy Brown in Planning. Andy has responded to us and has told us that he has carried out a ‘walkabout’ with Louise Moore (Planning Enforcement) and has agreed to take co-ordinated action against the fixed canopies. I will update you further when I have further information.
Lunch Clubs We have been successful in securing funding to support the lunch clubs in Broadgreen for this year. We visited the lunch club on 22nd September to tell them the good news and to discuss how they can support themselves in future years. We have offered our support with activities, for example an indoor car boot sale to help raise funds.
Parking A review of the residents parking in Broadgreen took place on Thursday 30th September where residents came along to register their views. We have since had a request from St Luke's Church to extend the parking outside of the church to enable evening services.
Town Centre Road System On Thursday Civic Voice are holding an open meeting on the Town Centre roads. We are attending the meeting with Members from other parties to discuss the proposed Town Centre road system. We will be representing resident views and our concerns that the proposed system could produce rat runs through Broadgreen and other Town Centre areas. We will update you about the meeting accordingly.
School Visits to the Council We invited the 6th Year of Holy Cross (Holy Rood) to have an educational tour of the Council and to debate a subject of their choice. We had 68 children and 7 teachers (including the Head) and they all thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We hosted the event along with Cllr Ann Richards (Lib Dem) and the Deputy Mayor Andrew Bennett (Conservative) so that we had a cross party approach. The children debated on whether the historic buildings in the Town should be restored or whether they should be pulled down and new buildings erected. You may be pleased to hear that at the end of the debate there was a unanimous vote in favour of keeping and restoring our historic buildings!
We have offered this event to other schools. We are hopeful that all the schools in Swindon will eventually come to the Council and experience a debate in the Council Chamber.
CORRESPONDENCE and PLANNING
SENT – None
RECEIVED – Notice that Swindon Borough Council has published a schedule of proposed Main Modifications to the Swindon Borough Local Plan 2026 for consultation, as instructed by the independent Inspector who is currently examining the Plan for its soundness and legal compliance. Alongside the Main Modifications, the Council is also consulting on a Schedule of other (Minor) Modifications to the Plan. These Minor Modifications do not affect the soundness of the Plan, as they mainly provide clarification and aim to improve the Plan as a whole.
PLANNING
· S/14/1595 - 1-8 Manchester Road SN1 2AB - Change of use from Shops (Class A1) to Restaurant/Cafe (Class A3) - Application Pending Consideration - Case Officer - Mr Ian Halsall
· S/14/1597 - 1-8 Manchester Road SN1 2AB - Change of use from Class A1 (retail) to Sui Generis (laundrette) - Application Pending Consideration - Case Officer - Mr Ian Halsall
· S/ADV/14/1468 Football Stadium - County Ground SN1 2ED - Display of a non-illuminated signage - Application Pending Consideration - Case Officer - Mr Tom Buxton
· S/14/1627 - 86 Shrivenham Road SN1 2NT - Erection of a single storey rear extension - Application Pending Consideration - Case Officer – Mrs Sarah Smith
· S/ADV/14/1572 - Tesco Superstore Ocotal Way - Display of roof mounted sign - Application Granted - Case Officer - Mr Tom Buxton
· S/ADV/14/1199 - Tesco Superstore Ocotal Way - Display of signage for Dry Cleaning, Key Cutting, Shoe and Watch Repairs Pod - Application Granted - Case Officer - Mr Tom Buxton
· S/14/1198 - Tesco Superstore Ocotal Way - Erection of a 'pod' for key cutting, shoe and watch repairs and as a reception for articles to be dry cleaned - Application Granted - Case Officer - Mr Tom Buxton
TREASURERS REPORT - to 01 October 2014: John Freegard
The monthly Treasurers report was distributed to Members present.
The following issues and points were raised and discussed with the NPT and Mark Walker
The continuing parking problems in the alleyways and on Manchester Road.
Alleyway issues - Street drinkers, alleys being used as a toilet, prostitution and connected problems including condoms littering the area. NPT – were carrying out more patrols and spoke to and removed alcohol from people.
Concerns around calling the 101 police number – there was a feeling of being interrogated when called.
CCTV cameras in alleyways – no longer working. Mark – there was a lack of finance, cost £30,000 a year to run and needed to be of a quality that could be used in court. Would look into it further.
Shrivenham Road alley – fly-tipping problems. Mark – The bushes had been cut back now and would chase up rubbish issues.
Shops around the area still have the homemade wood and plastic awnings at the front of the shops.
Could the rowan tree at the end of Medgbury Road, planted in memory of Jim Lancaster a former BSACC Officer, be cut back?
The NPT are hoping to raise funds for a defibrillator to be held at the Broadgreen Centre.
Drop-in closed 8.45pm
