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MINUTES OF THE WIVENHOE COMMUNITY SAFETY
AND NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH GROUP
25th February 2010
Present
Nick Rowlands(Chair), Austin Baines, Dennis Bullard, Margaret Currell,
Heather Edwards, Cllr Steve Ford, Keith & Pauline Hunt, Helen Johnson, Dave
Matthias, Terry O’Brien, Linda Rutledge(secretary), Dennis Searle, Cllr
Julie Young, Sgt Paul Thompson from the British Transport Police, Aragorn
Davies from Carlisle Security & National Express, Mick Dear from Carlisle
Security & National Express.
Guest Presentation
The order of the agenda was changed so the guest speakers did not have to
stay for the whole meeting.
Sgt Paul Thompson from the British Transport Police introduced himself and
his colleagues Aragorn Davies & Mick Dear who are Enforcement Officers from
Carlisle Security & National Express. They outlined the areas covered by the
British Transport Police, how the force is structured, local issues and
answered questions.
They are keen to forge close links with the community and Sgt Thompson
stated he would like to hear from anyone with concerns regarding the rail
line or station at Wivenhoe. He can be contacted directly on - T: 01473
693762,
M: 07917 268066, E: paul.thompson@btp.pnn.police.uk. There is also a direct
free number to the British Transport Police control – 0800405040.
A more detailed summary of the presentation can be seen as an attachment to
these minutes.
1 Apologies
Ken Rogers, PC Mick Bond, PCSO Louise Neville, Elke Ray
2 Matters arising from previous meeting
Linda Rutledge reported that Louise Neville had contacted her regarding the
creation of a schools emergency contact list. There is already a Schools
Watch in operation in the area, so by generating our own alert list is a
duplication of work and could be confusing. The group will keep our list as
is, but those schools who did not respond will not be chased.
Margaret Currell wanted to expand on the incidents of ‘snowballing’ during
the recent icy weather. She had to ring the police as she, and as she later
found out, a neighbour had endured a large group of youngster throwing
snowballs at their houses. The police did come and search for the culprits;
it would seem the incident was deliberate and planned. Although hard to put
an age to the children they were probably 10 years old and upwards. She
would like those responsible to be given a formal reprimand. Julie Young
said the police had been very busy at that time with similar reports of
‘snowballing’. Nick Rowlands said there is a fine line between what is
antisocial behaviour and criminal behaviour.
3 Chair’s Report
Nick Rowlands had spoken to Ken Rogers who wanted to pass on information
about the latest scam. The elderly are being targeted, suggesting they can
have free intruder alarms; but this involves a contract with very high
monthly payments. The group needs to make people aware not to be drawn in.
In brief, anything that sounds too good to be true usually is!
Following Peter Carrington’s visit to the last meeting Nick has applied on
behalf of the group for a £75 grant, which will be coming in due course. He
will write a letter of thanks when it arrives.
Traffic problems – Julie Young has done a lot on these issues, both speeding
and the parking problems around the schools. Julie’s report is minuted
below.
The local councillors have worked hard over the last month to collate
information about pot holes around the town and to pass information on to
the relevant departments. Some damage has been repaired - by the Co-op,
along The Avenue and on Rectory Road, but there are still a lot of potholes
remaining with some roads being very dangerous in places.
As it was an opportune moment Steve Ford presented his report regarding
potholes. Some very deep pot holes in Park Road have been repaired, as have
those mentioned by Nick. Steve is intending to walk every street in his ward
looking for what he considers to be dangerous potholes. The Essex County
Council definition is one that is 2ʺ deep but he will report any that he
considers to be dangerous, no matter length/depth. If anyone has a pothole
they are worried about please e-mail him at stephen.ford@colchester.gov.uk
and he will contact the relevant department in Chelmsford. Nick confirmed
other councillors were also concerned about the potholes as they have
appeared all across the town. Steve said that ECC has set aside £5.6million
for road repairs for the whole of the county, which (although probably not
enough) is quite generous in comparison with other counties.
4 Secretary report.
Linda Rutledge talked about publicising the CSNW meetings. She has produced
some laminated A5 posters to say the group meets each month, all residents
welcome, with dates for the next four meetings. They are displayed at the
Post Office lower Wivenhoe, Bryans Newsagents, the Council notice boards,
The Library, The Co-op, Premier, Henley's chip shop on Vine Parade and One
Stop.
She spoke to Tom Parkes on the editorial team at Colchester Gazette to write
an article about this meeting and wrote a short piece on behalf of Ken for
the Wivenhoe News. The Essex County Newspaper had a bulletin in the Wivenhoe
Rural News. A short discussion followed regarding publicising the group. A
number of ideas will be considered for the future (poster in doctors
surgery, bring a buddy, invite young people via the youth club, boasting
page in paper).
The group now have a licence from the Home Office to use the yellow
Neighbourhood Watch logo on headed paper/publicity materials. Although the
group has oral permission to use the image of the red shield, which is part
of the Town Council Coat of Arms, a letter will be sent to the Town Clerk
asking for written consent to avoid any possible future ambiguity of
permission.
Linda has explored the costs of printing headed paper, all of which are very
expensive. Printing letter heads via a couple of internet printers are at
least £75 + p&p to have 500 sheets. This is about 15p + per page and the
group doesn’t really want 500. Staples charge £25 for 100 sheets ie 25p per
page. To colour photocopy is 29p per page. Linda suggested using Tesco paper
– cost approx £3 for 500 sheets ie just over 1/2p per sheet. The quantity of
ink used does not justify paying for ‘professional’ printing. Linda will
continue to use her own paper/ printer/ laminating etc with the group
funding the occasional pack of paper or laminating pouches to cover some
costs.
5 Reports from members and the public
Most members had nothing to report, which is good.
Dave Matthias updated the group on what has been happening on Chaney Road
since he last spoke on 26.11.09. He has fitted security lights front and
back together with CCTV cameras. He has only experienced one incident since;
the property next door had its windows broken. His property backs onto the
Broomgrove schools playground which is used after dark by the perpetrators.
He has approached the head teacher requesting a sensor light in the
playground, but nothing has happened to date. Julie Young said she has had
correspondence from Cllr Dave Purdey regarding the lighting. She will raise
the issue at the next NAP meeting and make a request for funding towards
additional lighting. There was general discussion regarding the sometimes
inconsiderate parking in the roads near the school.
Heather Edwards reported there are a lot of new dogs in the area and their
owners are not always clearing up after them. Heather is currently out of
leaflets but would like the dog warden to display some posters and do a
leaflet drop. This would serve as a reminder to dog owners and let others
know where, if necessary, to report dog fouling. This is a problem that
affects everyone. Nick Rowlands offered to contact the dog warden. A couple
of weeks ago there was an incident of fighting at the bottom of Rosabelle
Avenue near the woods and this is still being investigated by the police.
Julie Young has ongoing reports of concerns in Rectory Road regarding
speeding vehicles. There has been an assessment which concluded insufficient
footfall to warrant a crossing for the many Colne School children who get
the bus in Rectory Road. Julie has asked for another survey. The vehicle
activated sign (VAS) should be installed by March 2010 which will hopefully
reduce the speeding as the other VAS on the main road into Wivenhoe has
proved successful. Julie is also looking into the possibility of a bus
shelter on Rectory Road.
Both Wivenhoe Schools are aware of the concerns regarding parked vehicles
and traffic movements at drop off and pick up times. She has requested some
enforcement by the borough parking services and some notices have since been
issued. She visited Millfields School in February. They are encouraging
walking and cycling to school and are establishing a volunteer led walking
bus, which hopefully will include a ‘walking lolly’ to stop cars when
crossing roads. There is also the possibility of creating a parking lay-by
for about six cars. The Wivenhoe Town Council are still concerned about
staff parking arrangements at Millfields.
On The Avenue there are proposals to make a pull-in area by the Methodist
church to aid the passing of cars up and down the road. There should soon be
some parking restrictions on the junction of Rosabelle Avenue and The Avenue
to prevent cars parking very close to the junction. She has also reported
many potholes. ECC say they will take action within a maximum of 28 days, so
she is keeping an eye on the calendar.
Steve Ford offered to try to arrange a meeting between the group and either
the head or one of the Broomgrove Junior school governors to discuss some of
the above issues.
6 Police Report
Unfortunately neither of the Wivenhoe officers were able to attend, but Mick
Bond e-mailed a report for Nick Rowlands to pass on.
CID are still investigating the assault at Vine Parade. Half-term passed
without any reported problems regarding youths in the Broomgrove/Chaney Road
area. Mick Bond and Louise Neville have tried to patrol as much as possible.
There have been no reported problems of students causing nuisance or noise
late evening along the Avenue and they are building a good relationship with
the university.
7 Guest Speakers
Reported above
8 Future Meetings
Nick Rowlands asked if anyone had any ideas for speakers or themes that
could be covered at future meetings. It was agreed that the input tonight
from the British Transport Police and last month from Peter Carrington of
the Colchester Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership had been very helpful.
Heather suggested womens safety issues or some input from the youth club in
Wivenhoe. Dennis Bullard suggested links with the new rector of St Marys
Church. Margaret Currell suggested forging links with the university. If
anyone has any other ideas please contact Nick or Linda.
The next meeting will be 25th March and there will be no meeting in April
unless something happens to warrant an emergency meeting.
7 Any other business
None |
