They grey light of a dull November day spread over Melton Mowbray when I arrived. But the weekly market was colourful, bustling and busy. I spoke to several of the stallholders and was gratified to hear that crime was considered to be low, while the police were held in high esteem. The same view was shared by passersby – one of whom kindly took a video for me.
My first appointment was the council’s Community Safety Team. I have funded some of their work from my budget, and they were keen to show me what had been achieved. A most impressive array of measures was in place to make Melton a safe and prosperous community. Among these were:
- New solar-powered street lights in dark alleys and open spaces
- Anti-climb spikes to stop intruders reaching roofs
- Help points to put public in touch with advice
- New CCTV system
- Undergrowth cut back to remove hiding places.
My patch walk over I headed to the livestock market to have a chat with the manager there. Business was brisk, he said, but the outbreak of blue tongue disease in seep was causing some issues. So far as crime was concerned he thought that was down, at least the farmers did not mention it as much. “But they do mention that Rural Policing Team you’ve got,” I was told. “They’re doing a great job by all accounts.”
With time for lunch, I went to the excellent Nigel’s Coffee Shop in King Street. Nigel and his customers were complimentary about the police, but it was the US Presidential election taking place that day that dominated conversation. When the phone rang. “That’ll be Trump,” Nigel joked. “He always phones me for advice.”
Then I was off to Gates Garden Centre near Cold Overton to meet with borough Councillor Leigh Higgins and a group of parish councillors from the area. The conversation ranged widely over issued affecting villages of High Leicestershire. We discussed flooding, speeding traffic, road safety and arson on farms. Nat, the manager of the concessions at the garden centre, told me that retail crime was rising here as elsewhere. She was, however, confident that her security team – back by CCTV, some able to read number plates, and other measures were on top of the issue. “But it is still a concern,” she told me.
I then headed to the charming village of Somerby where I called at the post office and knocked on a few doors. Undoubtedly the main concern was about the increase in traffic on the main road through the village, which carries traffic from Oakham to Leicester. “There is far more traffic than there was five years ago,” one gent told me. “It is the heavy lorries that bother me, “ a lady said, “how they get around the corner by the church is beyond me.”
Of less immediate concern, but still mentioned to me by several was the spate of burglaries that had occurred some years earlier. One weekend more recently there had been attempts to force windows open.
Back in Melton my final meeting of the day was with PC Sanderson who is leading the police crackdown on retail theft and anti-social behaviour in Melton Mowbray. I’d love to tell you what his plans are for they sound most impressive and destined for success. But as is the way with police business, were I to let the cat out of the bag it might not work as well as if it came as a shock to the criminals.
By this time it was dark, but my day was not yet over. I was off to Swinford near Lutterworth for a parish council meeting. But that was not part of my Community Day in Melton.
