ACTION NOTES
Chesham and Chiltern Villages Local MEETING: Area Forum DATE: 20 March 2019 7.00 pm to 9.20 pm Chiltern Hills Academy, Chartridge Lane, LOCATION: Chesham. HP5 2RG
Patricia Birchley (Buckinghamshire County Council), Chris Brown (Cholesbury- cum-St Leonards Parish Council), Noel Brown (Buckinghamshire County Present: Council) (Chairman), Anne Hyde (Clerk to Latimer and Ley Hill Parish Council) and Joan Lherbier (Chartridge Parish Council) Christina Beevers, Mark Davis, Martha Edwards, Roy Evans, Robert Gibson, In Attendance: Clifford Marshall, Joe Saunders and Rosie Taylor Apologies: Simon Garwood, Jane MacBean, Paul Nanji, Aidan Shutter and Fred Wilson
Item ISSUES RAISED 1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE / CHANGES IN MEMBERSHIP
Apologies were received from:
Ms J MacBean, AV&L District Council and Lowndes Chesham Town Council, Mr P Nanji, Chiltern District Council, Mr F Wilson, Chiltern District Council- Hilltop and Townsend.
2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Mr Chris Brown, Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards Parish Council declared an interest in item 10 as Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Scheme that GLL and the Good Neighbours Group were looking to run at Cholesbury/ St Leonards Village Halls.
3 MINUTES
The Chairman held a one minute’s silence as a mark of respect for the passing of PC Kevin Flint
RESOLVED The minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2018 were agreed and signed by the Chairman as an accurate record.
4 PETITIONS
There were no petitions.
5 QUESTION TIME
Mr C Boyd -of Moor Road- raised the issue of the 1 way system on Moore Road. It had been previously discussed at a residents meeting to discuss the option of moving the entrance of the one-way system back to the car park. It was advised a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) would be required, funding would need to be secured and legal implications investigated. Ms R Taylor, Area Manager, Transport for Bucks (TfB) to take this forward and return a response to the forum. ACTION: Ms R Taylor
Ms M Lee- of Eskdale Avenue stated there had been an ongoing parking issue for all residents. Parking restrictions were enforced six days of the week. Other streets in the local area had been converted to resident parking. Penalty enforcement officers visited minutes prior to the close of the enforcement period and residents were now seeking a solution. Residents suggested that a one way system was required or the restrictions should be lifted on Saturdays as a short term solution. TfB officers stated this would be a costly exercise. Following discussion no further action would be taken by TfB, residents could apply to the LAF for a feasibility study if they wanted to take the matter further.
6 CHILTERN COMMUNITY FORUM
Members received a presentation by Mr R Gibson and Mr A Garnett from the Chiltern Community Forum. Presentation appended to the minutes.
The forum raised and discussed the following points: The issue of rogue traders and scams targeting the elderly were currently circulating the local area, it was asked if local residents could keep an eye out especially for vulnerable elderly neighbours Street associations was a national project. The local contact was Helen Cavill- contact details to be shared with Latimer & Ley Hill Parish. ACTION: Ms M Edwards
Mr C Brown praised the Chiltern Forum website as a one stop shop to find the crime data, including links to other areas.
The Chairman thanked Mr Gibson and Mr Garnett for the update.
7 THAMES VALLEY POLICE UPDATE
PC R Evans from Thames Valley Police (TVP) presented an update report, appended to the minutes for information.
The forum raised and discussed the following points:
Statistics from Jan 2019 to date were highlighted. A member of the forum noted they were very reassuring statistics. In Chesham with a community that had a longstanding Asian community- there had been no real tension in the short term following the recent attacks in New Zealand. TVP stated they had increased patrols for reassurance to the community but also found more communities were coming together to show a hand of friendship.
The Chairman thanked TVP for the update.
8 TRANSPORT FOR BUCKS UPDATE
Ms R Taylor, Area Manager, TfB gave an update of the report provided.
The following points were highlighted:
Mr J Saunders was introduced as the new Local Area Technician; members of the forum were advised to make contact with him. Mr C Marshall was still in place for the other half of the area. Ms Taylor had now taken the role of Area Manager for the Amersham Depot. Ms P Birchley asked Ms Taylor if she knew what allowance she had left to spend in her area. Ms Taylor agreed to find out and report back to Ms Birchley directly. Ms Birchley thanked TfB for all their hard work. ACTION: Ms R Taylor
TfB had an increase in fly tipping in Chesham, Fuller Hill. Keepers Lane had been affected twice, resulting in the road having to be closed. It was stated that the situation was being monitored by enforcement teams.
The following questions were raised by the forum:
Would the Parish portal have access to the forward plan programme of works. It was stated this would be available once budgets were agreed. The Vale Road- excess material had been used during resurfacing and had pushed down the road, leaving a mess and excess product. An inspection needed to be carried out to get it resolved. ACTION: Ms Taylor/Mr Davis
A member of the forum raised the broken wooden village sign in St Leonards. Ms Taylor advised a replacement had been ordered and was due to be fitted. Ms Taylor to update on fitting date. ACTION: Ms Taylor
9 FIRE AUTHORITY UPDATE
Apologies were sent but no report provided.
10 LOCAL PRIORITIES UPDATE
Ms M Edward, Communities Project Manager gave an update of the report provided and the proposals.
The report set out the following proposals:
Proposal Match Total project Amount funding cost recommended Advice at Home- Reaching the Lonely & TBC £7,000 £7,000 Isolated Community Cards £* £1,442 £1,442 Latimer & Ley Hill - Community Wellbeing £0 £575 £575 Family Community Garden £5,150 £9,131 £3,981 Cholesbury Village Hall Activities £0 £1,056 £1,056 Total £5,150.00 £19,204.00 £14,054.00 *in kind contributions received from local partners.
The total budget for 2019-20 was £25,500. There were no transport schemes allocated in the2019-20 budget. If all schemes were agreed, there would be £11,446 left in the budget, it was requested that any other proposals be received by 26 May 2019.
RESOLVED: The LAF agreed the schemes presented.
11 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL/UNITARY UPDATE Ms M Edwards gave an update of the report provided and highlighted consultation dates.
12 BROADBAND WRITTEN UPDATE
Report provided for information only.
13 LOCAL PLAN
Report provided for information only.
14 AOB
It was requested that all future meetings have a standing Unitary item which would be officer led. ACTION: Mr S Garwood
15 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
3 July 2019, 19:00- 21:00. Exhibition Room, The White Hill Centre, Chesham. 5 Chiltern Community Forum Presentation to Chesham and Chiltern Villages Local Area Forum Minute Item 6
Andy Garnett (Chairman) Robert Gibson (Webmaster) 20th March 2019 What does Chiltern Community Forum do?
Chiltern Community Forum helps identify: • Chiltern community’s major concerns. • Which most suitable for TVP Neighbourhood Policing. 6 • Which are being addressed elsewhere within TVP or nationally, and how to access resources. • Where involvement of community and other agencies can complement the work of TVP. Partnered with Thames Valley Police and Chiltern & South Bucks Community Safety Team. Why is it needed? Statutory answer:
Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 Chief officer of police must: • make arrangements for obtaining views on crime and 7 disorder within neighbourhood; • make arrangements for providing information about policing in that neighbourhood; • make arrangements for regular meetings between community and police officers with responsibility for policing in that neighbourhood. Why is it needed? Philosophical answer:
‘Consent’ model of British policing • Policing underpinned by public approval. • Force-wide, national priorities have become more 8 dominant; funding scarcer and more from local taxes. • Need to balance national/regional priorities with the more local demands of neighbourhood policing. • “Ignore the local community, you lose the support of the public.” • Forum provides platform for dialogue and narrative. Quarterly Meeting and Priorities Cycle
• Open-to-all public meetings, moving around Chiltern. • Surveys of local concerns
9 beforehand – including youth survey. • Police reports on previous priorities, discussion on these and other policing/crime matters. • Coming quarter priorities set. Quarterly Meeting – February Survey 10 Quarterly Meeting – February Priorities 11 Balance in Action – Knife Crime
NHPT priority in Nov, but dropped in Feb – WHY? • NHPT activity and work of new Schools & Youth Liaison Officer: 2 knife arch operations found zero knives, recent knife amnesty yielded only 4 knives. 12 • Weapons possession consistently lowest reported crime category in Chiltern. • PC Claire Annison explained planned ongoing work with schools, colleges, youth groups. • Upcoming Thames Valley-wide Operation Sceptre. • Still no room for complacency, Knife Crime higher concern in youth survey than main survey. Community – Joining the Dots 13 How YOU can help
• Help spread the word • Complete the surveys – and encourage others • Attend and participate at meetings
14 Next meeting: 6pm Thursday May 23, Chiltern Hills Academy • Follow us on Twitter @ChilternForum • Bring us suggestions and feedback www.chilterncommunityforum.org @ChilternForum [email protected] Minute Item 7
Chesham LAF report – March 19 Burglary Throughout the past months residential burglary offences have had neighbourhood officers give crime prevention advice which includes the application of Selecta DNA. All neighbouring properties are also visited by the Neighbourhood team who provide crime prevention advice. Officers continue with high visibility and continue to run burglary operations made in conjunction with predictive crime trend analysis. Every year, areas are identified as being likely to see a rise in burglary offences over the autumn / winter period. With this in mind, residents in those areas are visited with crime prevention material. We have also patrolled train stations during peak times in order to target as many persons as possible. Handing out ‘Leave a Light On’ cards to hundreds of commuters who tend to be away from home for long periods will hopefully provide a little reminder to make their homes appear occupied.. In Chesham, a pilot initiative was completed working closely with the Rotary Club. As explained previously the idea is that if a property is identified as vulnerable for a number of reasons when the club are collecting / doing their rounds with Santa, the police will be informed of these addresses and the occupants will have a visit within 48hrs with crime prevention material. The pilot was conducted and although numerous issues were identified ie: Weather and staff sickness, the rotary club still reported back and homes that were identified as vulnerable and officers made personal visits with Crime Prevention Advice. We hope that this will continue in 2019 but more volunteers / staff will support the rotary club from both the police and community. The Operation Stronghold team has been created to tackle burglars and to bring them to justice. Chesham and Amersham officers worked together on Operation Garland an ANPR operation. This resulted in the disruption of an international organised crime group with 6 arrests for a series of burglaries.
Drug dealing and usage Proactive stop checks have been conducted on numerous vehicles and persons where drug offences have been suspected. Offenders have been arrested with positive disposals. Each month, areas of concern are identified using statistic and volume of calls. Officers are aware of the most demanding areas for drugs and Anti-Social behaviour and patrols these area’s in order to deter and detect. Car parks and recreational areas are common areas where drug usage has been taking place. If an officer believes that someone is in possession of drugs they can conduct a search under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act. If drugs are found, naturally a crime report is created hence the rise of drug offences in Chiltern. The rise shows protective stop checks and arrests.
15 We work closely with our intelligence department and the “Stronghold team” in order to help tackle serious and organised crime. Some great work recently has resulted in suspects being arrested for possession with intent to supply. The offenders are not only local, but cross boarder offenders entering TVP Warrants have been executed throughout Chiltern based on intelligence and again, positive outcomes are likely when drugs and associated paraphernalia have been found. At the time of this report, an offender appeared in court on 19/3/19 in relation to one of these warrants. In Chiltern there has been numerous positive disposal since the last forum. Some drug offences recorded are still under investigation including Possession with intent to supply. Amersham and Chesham officers took part in a country wide operation targeting County Lines criminals. As a result of this Operation there were
Arrested 106 CDL related suspects Executed 27 warrants Conducted 156 CDL stop searches Seized 2823 deals or wraps of drugs Seized 147 mobile phones Taken 34 weapons off the street – including machetes and flick knives Confiscated over £133,000 in cash Safeguarded 43 children and 69 adults Intervened in 115 suspected ‘cuckooing’ addresses Visited 47 schools in the Thames Valley
One week of action, no matter how good, will not solve the CDL problem – it remains pernicious, destructive and a real threat to local people. Our work continues – both overt and covert – as we seek to drive this criminality from the Thames Valley and make its good citizens safer.
We are currently working with partner forces in trying to halt the supply of drugs into our area. This year already there has been 2 operations working alongside BTP in identifying and disrupting drug dealing from London Gangs using the trains to come into our areas. Knife Crime Chesham NHPT conducted an operation at Chesham Grammar School. The operation was supported by the head and staff. Officers attended the school with a knife arch and hundreds of students passed through it. The operation was a success and showed that NO students were carrying weapons. We hope other schools will follow. The wider Chiltern NHPT have also been closely working with the Schools Officer and have been supporting school knife crime operations. We are currently working to get all the areas secondary schools to work with us in disrupting knife crime, to further safeguard students and deter people from committing offences.
16 Stop and Search is a valuable tool in dealing with drugs, thefts and finding offensive weapons. This can act as a deterrent as people who do carry things illegally will know there is the possibility of being searched. Recently figures showed there has been instances were suspects have been dealt with for offensive weapons. Surprisingly most of those cases involved knuckle dusters. This is another example of the benefits of stop and search.
Emerging issues It is becoming more and more apparent that people are at risk of serious financial loss form Fraudsters. There are a number of different gangs who are making huge amounts of money and causing serious loss to vulnerable victims. TVP have brought in the following to try and combat this and educate the public Banking protocol; visits for suspicious transactions Op Signature; victim visits and assessments to identify vulnerable people Op Gauntlet; education for carers and potentials victims to raise awareness of types of fraud
17 Statistics from 1st January 2019 to 20th March 2019 – Priorities
Residential Burglary Last Year / This Year
Chiltern CSP 70 56 -20% Amersham 21 14 -33% Chalfonts 23 24 4% Chesham 17 12 -29% Missendens 9 6 -33%
Sheds and Garages
Chiltern CSP 31 24 -23% Amersham 13 9 -31% Chalfonts 5 6 20% Chesham 9 9 0% Missendens 4 0 -100%
Business / community Burglary
Chiltern CSP 27 36 33% Amersham 8 5 -38% Chalfonts 6 7 17% Chesham 8 13 63% Missendens 4 9 125%
Drug Offences
Chiltern CSP 22 30 36% Amersham 5 7 40% Chalfonts 11 10 -9% Chesham 3 8 167% Missendens 3 4 33%
Drug increase due to proactive policing across the LPA Possession of weapons
Chiltern CSP 6 7 17% Amersham 1 1 0% Chalfonts 2 2 0% Chesham 2 2 0% Missendens 1 2 100%
18 Other Business Theft from Motor Vehicle
Chiltern CSP 82 85 4% Amersham 15 20 33% Chalfonts 15 41 173% Chesham 45 15 -67% Missendens 5 6 20%
Violence with injury
Chiltern CSP 78 84 8% Amersham 20 19 -5% Chalfonts 15 14 -7% Chesham 31 35 13% Missendens 11 12 9% Doms
Chiltern CSP 32 19 -41% Amersham 9 4 -56% Chalfonts 5 4 -20% Chesham 13 7 -46% Missendens 5 4 -20%
Serious Violence GBH
Chiltern CSP 7 1 -86% Amersham 0 0 Chalfonts 3 0 -100% Chesham 4 1 -75% Missendens 0 0
Violence against the person
Chiltern CSP 251 277 10% Amersham 71 59 -17% Chalfonts 47 57 21% Chesham 105 107 2% Missendens 25 42 68% Doms
19 Chiltern CSP 70 79 13% Amersham 26 20 -23% Chalfonts 10 17 70% Chesham 26 22 -15% Missendens 8 15 88%
Victim based crime
Chiltern CSP 854 876 3% Amersham 241 177 -27% Chalfonts 165 243 47% Chesham 360 319 -11% Missendens 80 111 39%
20