A period of up to 15 minutes is allocated for the asking and answering of questions. This may be extended at the discretion of the Chairman with the agreement of the majority of those present.
To deal with any questions on notice from Members of the Council, in the order in which they have been received.
Minutes:
Question submitted by Councillor M. Thompson
“The cuts to the police imposed by the Conservative government have been felt acutely throughout the country. The crime on estates in my ward, Rock Hill, has been well publicised. Fly-tipping, burglary, drug abuse, drug dealing and prostitution have all been reported over the past year. Indeed, the local papers recently reported the arrest of a man wielding a hammer smashing a resident's door in. I raised awareness of such crimes over a year ago, which were subsequently referred to Safer Bromsgrove. The only outcome of a report by Safer Bromsgrove resulted in a hedge being trimmed by one foot. Does the leader agree with me that such action is an insult to those suffering such crimes and, does he agree with me, that, with such a response, Safer Bromsgrove is not addressing real crime issues in Bromsgrove?”
The Leader responded that Safer Bromsgrove was a sub-group of the statutory Community Safety Partnership and Bromsgrove District Council was a responsible authority member. The Council had a duty to work with other partners to reduce crime, disorder and all associated issues to improve community safety for local residents. Safer Bromsgrove facilitated the local delivery of this partnership duty, bringing together all responsible authority agencies, groups and partners to look at community safety issues in the district.
Safer Bromsgrove received a referral to look at crime and community safety issues in the Rock Hill area following Councillor Thompson’s original request for CCTV in the Ward. Safer Bromsgrove’s Community Safety assessment focused on the areas specified by Councillor Thompson, namely Rock Hill main road, the alleyway through to Morris Walk opposite the Greyhound pub and the alleyway through to Austin Road lock-up garages.
Crime and anti-social behaviour data analysis and face-to-face consultation with residents was carried out at these locations to identify any community safety issues that partners could resolve. As a result of the Community Safety assessment of the area the following actions had been taken by Safer Bromsgrove partners.
· In consultation with residents, the hedge opposite Albert Road bordering the highway from Housman Close was trimmed by BDHT to increase natural surveillance of this alleyway. Residents stated that they wanted the hedge to remain as it provided a noise and sight barrier from the traffic on the highway. Following engagement with a particular resident whose property adjoined the alleyway to Morris Walk, the hedge at this point was reduced by 18 inches by BDHT along a distance corresponding with the frontage of the resident’s property. The resident supervised this reduction so that it met his requirements as a screen whilst allowing BDHT to open up the area to natural surveillance.
· The same resident, in collaboration with his neighbour on the other side of the alleyway, removed or trimmed vegetation from their respective gardens to again open up surveillance of the alleyway. This included cutting down a large tree and hedgerow which had substantially improved lighting and natural surveillance.
· In relation to this alleyway and the alleyway from Austin Road to Rock Hill, the Council’s Place Team confirmed that they were litter picking and emptied bins on a regular basis in the area and did not find it to represent a location with significant problems.
· BDHT repainted an unsightly garage door at the Austin Road site and their Community Environmental Manager continued to regularly monitor the area for fly-tipping and graffiti. The mount that was providing access to the garage roofs was removed and anti-climb paint would be applied to key points on the garages as an additional deterrent. The area was visited as recently as Friday 15th September and there was no evidence of any fly-tipping and the area was reasonably clear.
· BDHT had also commissioned the Council’s Place Team to conduct a clean-up of the garage area and removed the earth banking at the side of the garages at the top of the alleyway, which was also being used to access the roofs. These works were financed by BDHT.
· The car park at the rear of the former Greyhound pub and the pub itself accounted for a significant proportion of crime reported in the area when it was open. The pub had since closed and had been boarded up, with the perimeter secured by fencing.
· It was suggested that the railings at Morris Walk could be removed but this would cause problems for elderly and disabled residents who would have to use the footpath with no supporting hand rail. In consultation with residents it was agreed that the rails were an essential requirement for access which outweighed the occasional instances where young people used them to sit on. The area was being regularly monitored and the group was not aware of any reports of anti-social behaviour relating to the railings.
It was worth noting that the Community Safety Project Officer was solely funded by the Safer Bromsgrove group to work specifically on community safety issues in Bromsgrove District. Without this external resource, the level of co-ordination, consultation and liaison would not have been possible and the officer had over 30 years’ experience of working in the field of crime reduction. Alongside the environmental improvements and partnership co-ordination, West Mercia Police carried out a number of actions to reduce criminal activity in the area which at the time was limited to a small number of offenders, some of whom were identified as coming from the West Midlands area.
Safer Bromsgrove was working as a partnership addressing a number of crime and anti-social behaviour issues across the town, including crime linked to the night time economy, alcohol-related disorder, Hate Crime and youth anti-social behaviour. Safer Bromsgrove used crime, data and partner information to allocate limited resources to the areas where they would have the greatest effect. This is a long established and nationally recognised method of problem solving called the SARA process and had led to Safer Bromsgrove having one of the most well attended and best supported partnerships in Worcestershire. They were working together to address real issues of crime across the District; with officers responding quickly and appropriately to a wide variety of concerns from multiple locations. Effective solutions to crime problems could be found by working together with residents, community members and staff on the ground to devise interventions and improvements that were sustainable, prevented crimes taking place and kept people safe and feeling safe. Finally, it should be noted that the crime figure for this area during July 2017 was zero.
Question submitted by Councillor M. T. Buxton
“The colossal costs of protecting the former Council House, Burcot Lane gives concerns to all members of this Council. While recognising recent moves to dispose of the building, has the Leader considered the excellent example of "Protection by Occupation" introduced by Worcestershire County Council as a temporary measure at former Finstall First School Aston Fields, where homeless persons take on role of guardians (not tenants) of the building on a short term agreement thus reducing vandalism, security costs and putting a much needed roof over heads of unfortunate Bromsgrove residents?”
The Leader responded that he had not considered this and confirmed that a written report would be prepared and provided to all Members.