Highlights
- Anti-Social Behaviour in Ratby – ongoing
- Anti-Social Behaviour at Bagworth Community Centre - completed
- Vandalism in Bagworth – ongoing
- Retail Crime in Market Bosworth – completed
- Road Safety across area – ongoing
- Hinckley – Neighbourhood Watch – ongoing
- Hinckley - Knife Crime – ongoing
I began my Community Day in the Hinckley & Bosworth Council area in Ratby.
I was here because of reports about anti-social behaviour in the village. The excellent local councillor Cllr Ozzy O’Shea has already brought up the issue with both the local police and the council. Both are co-operating to get on top of the issues, but I wanted to see for myself.
This is Anti-Social Behaviour Awareness Week, with a special emphasis on letting people know the options open to them if they are repeat victims of persistent anti-social behaviour. Fortunately the problems in Ratby have not reached that point yet, and hopefully after Cllr O’Shea’s intervention they won’t.
I then moved on to Bagworth to meet with Cllr George of the parish council. We met at the Bagworth Community Centre, then in use with a parent and toddler group. Cllr George led me to a quiet meeting room. He started by pointing out a prominent sign in the car park.
“We used to have a lot of trouble here,” he told me. “Teenagers would gather in the car park being noisy and causing a nuisance. And they left those silver gas canisters lying about all over the place. But a few visits by the police and the erection of that sign and it all stopped. Not had trouble here since.”
All good news then? Not quite!
“The summer holidays are coming,” Cllr George explained, “and we always get more bother then. Teenagers have their friendship groups at school, but in the holidays there aren’t the buses so the kids can’t go see their pals. They get bored. That is always trouble. Mind you, most of it is manageable – noise and stuff you know.”
Most of it?
“We have some really serious vandalism at the playground. It can cost the Parish Council a lot of money to put right.” I can certainly sympathise with that. I’m on the parish council in my village and we have similar problems – though they are not as bad. I went to look at the playground in question. All was in order, but I could see the need for CCTV to keep an eye on the place. It is well set back from any roads and is not overlooked by nearby houses.
Next it was on to Market Bosworth. Some time ago there had been some reports of shoplifting and other crimes affecting retail shops. I called at some of the shops which had been affected. Both reported that there had been no trouble recently.
One shop manager was very complementary about the police action. “They were brilliant,” she told me. They came in at the times when we were having trouble and had a word with those who we thought were responsible. And they still make a point of coming in when we are closing up. Not every evening, of course, but often enough that everyone knows they are about. My staff really appreciate that. Especially when our female staff is here alone. Like I say the police have been brilliant.”
Then it was on to Hinckley. My main reason for visiting was to talk to Cllr Michael Mullaney, who chairs the Community Safety Partnership, and his staff. They have recently reworked their strategy for keeping the people of the borough safe and secure. The plans are certainly impressive and, in my view at least, have a good chance of success. My office funds a lot of this work, so I have a real interest.
I learned about how the council was working with local Neighbourhood Watch groups. It all sounded very positive and encouraging. I promised to make contact myself to see if my office could help in any way.
My final stop was at the Hinckley Police Station to talk to the local commander about two issues that were causing concern to people who had been in touch.
The first was road safety in the rural villages north of Hinckley. Cllr Ross Hills, the county councillor for Mallory Ward, was among those who had contacted me. The commander knew about the issues. “We’ve had the speed cameras deployed on the worst roads quite a bit recently,” he told me. We are taking enforcement action on those we caught, and been having words of advice with those who were borderline. That will help for a while, but the effect is only temporary. So we’ll have to go back again.”
The other issue was knife crime. This is not such a problem in the area as in other places but can still be a problem. I was shown the knife bin at the front of the station by the front desk staff. “This has been really effective,” I was told. “Just the other day we had to have it emptied out again as it was full. The message is really getting out to the local youths that carrying a knife makes them a potential victim.”
How quickly does the bin fill up with knives dropped off anonymously? “Best to have a look,” I was advised. I peered down into the bin and shone a torch. Lurking at the bottom were several knives. Most looked to be kitchen knives, but one was rather more fearsome.
Good to see that more knives were coming off the streets. A sure way to save lives.
