Since the meeting at St George’s School in late March, the neighbourhood watch committee has been progressing the measures agreed at the time. John Caunt and Rob Currie met with council officers at the beginning of May and obtained their agreement to upgrade the Avenue’s street lighting. Thanks go to Rob for his survey of existing lighting, and to Alex Robbins for his preparatory lobbying.
We will shortly be distributing a reference card which aims to enhance communication between residents, and make reporting of incidents easier. The card will include the names, locations and phone numbers of about twenty residents, evenly distributed along the road, who have agreed to act as contact points for other residents who may require a second opinion or another witness for an incident that is concerning them. A number of incidents in recent months have involved groups of youths passing through the road, and doing damage at various points along its length, and so it is also our aim that the distribution of contact numbers may allow residents to alert others further along the road if they see this happening. We are still short of two or three contact names in the upper part of the road. Anyone willing to volunteer should contact John Caunt on 8090 4166.
A number of people have commented on increased police visibility over recent weeks, and there is no doubt that rigorous reporting of incidents helps to make the case for a regular police presence. Please continue to report all incidents, however small. The neighbourhood watch group also intends to maintain its own record of incidents so that we may consider ways of offering effective mutual support and be more informed of trends when talking to the authorities.
Remember, on every occasion report crime to the police on 0845 0454545.