Sidlesham, Hunston and North Neighbourhood Panel

10 December 2014 – 7 pm – North Mundham Village Hall

Attendees

Name Representing Paul Chivers North Mundham PCSO Jacob McQuillan Manhood Peninsula Neighbourhood Police Team Roger Pagram Hunston Parish Council David Rozier North Mundham Neighbourhood Watch Tim Russell (Chairman) North Mundham Parish Council Denia Turnbull North Mundham Parish Council

Visitors in attendance

Inspector Kris Ottery Police Neighbourhood Policing Team Inspector Mark Rendall Sussex Police Neighbourhood Watch and Volunteer Manager Michael Shergold Neighbourhood Watch representing John Wright

1. Introductions

1.1 The Chairman welcomed the visitors, who were invited to introduce themselves. Michael Shergold noted that he was attending as the local NHW voice in , on behalf of John Wright, the Chair of Sussex Neighbourhood Watch Federation.

1.1 Apologies were received from David Baron, Cllr Margaret Evans, and Sarah Gunn.

2 Approve minutes of the previous meeting

2.1 The minutes were agreed to be an accurate record of the previous meeting.

3 Matters Arising

3.1 Neighbourhood Watch (Minute 3.3). The Chairman noted that his letter to the Police and Crime Commissioner had provoked a response which had resulted in the visitors attending this meeting. A prolonged discussion ensued.

3.2 Neighbourhood Watch Signs. Mark Rendall observed that a route to the provision of NHW signs had been identified.

3.3 The ‘Our Watch’ Website. Concern had been expressed that reference to the Our Watch website produced no link to any of the NHW schemes known to be operating in the parish, despite the fact that the web site purported to be the ‘official’ national website for Neighbourhood Watch. The Police representatives emphasised that the site had nothing to do with the Police or Sussex NHW, and schemes only appeared on it if the individual scheme co-ordinator chose to register their scheme. However it was pointed out that the Sussex

Police website itself contains a link to Our Watch in the first line of its NHW page. The lack of any way of identifying and contacting a local scheme was disappointing. It was explained that many scheme co-ordinators were reluctant to identify themselves and put their contact details on so public a forum. It was suggested that there should be a system for passing messages to them using the site as a third party, without compromising the privacy of either party to the dialogue (similar to the messaging system that operates between buyer and seller on E-bay).

3.4 Local representatives of NHW had expressed their disappointment that they no longer seemed to have the direct liaison with the local police that they used to enjoy. In the past they had regular personal telephone contact, and could expect to be advised of emergent problems in their immediate area where NHW might be able to help. By contrast, they now only receive advice of local matters through the Community Messaging system which any member of the public can sign up to. Where they once felt they had an ‘inside track’ and a recognised role to play in fighting local crime, they now found it difficult to see how their role was differentiated from that of any other public-spirited person. By the time they received news of crime in their area the information had lost its immediacy. There was some considerable discussion on whether a scheme could be arranged whereby selected crime reports could be filtered direct to NHW co-ordinators, but it appears that this was unlikely to be achieved because of concerns about personal privacy, data protection, and the cost of implementing such a scheme. It was not clear whether such a scheme could be shown to ‘pay its way’, but on the other hand there had apparently been no cost benefit analysis of the Community Messaging system either.

3.5 The Structure of Neighbourhood Watch. Concern was expressed about the structure of NHW in the area. In North Mundham in particular it was not clear who was acting as the area co- ordinator. The police could identify an individual listed as having this role, but it was by no means certain the information was up to date and that the individual was still signed up to it. It was suggested that this might be a role for the Parish Council alongside its existing commitment to Community Resilience and Emergency Planning, though it was recognised that this could lead to some awkward conflicts of interest. Another possibility might be the Neighbourhood Management Panel itself (though noting that the Panel covered a wider remit than just North Mundham).

4 Discussion of Previous Priorities

4.1 PCSO McQuillan updated the meeting. A copy of his notes is attached at Annex A. He noted that the figures may seem high, but some considerable time had elapsed since his last report.

4.2 Because so much time had been devoted to Neighbourhood Watch matters, discussion on the individual priority topics was limited. PCSO McQuillan noted that intervention at the Alternative Provision College (‘the ‘Links College’) seemed to have been effective in curbing anti-social behaviour.

5 Current Issues

5.1 PCSO McQuillan noted that there is growing concern about possible hare coursing and/or poaching in the areas of Chalder Farm Lane, and Fisher Lane, North Mundham

and asked everyone to be vigilant. Descriptions of individuals and their dogs would be valuable, and registration numbers of any vehicles, but the desirability of gathering this information should not outweigh considerations of personal safety.

6 Establish New Priorities

6.1 It was agreed that the current priorities should be retained. The priorities would therefore remain as:  Driving Offences  Maintaining high visibility  Thefts and burglaries

7 Any Other Business

7.1 There was none.

7.2 Date of Next Meeting. It was agreed to hold the next meeting at 1900 on Wednesday, 11 March 2015, in North Mundham Village Hall.

7.5 The meeting closed at approximately 2040.

Annex A: Copy of PCSO McQuillan’s “Sidlesham, Hunston and North Mundham NMP – 10 December 2014”

Annex A to Minutes of Meeting 10 December 2014

Hunston, Sidlesham, and North Mundham NMP – 10 December 2014

Current Priorities

Anti-Social Driving, specifically speeding

On the morning of Friday 5th December an RPU Operation was run from the Sidlesham Football Club. A number of vehicles were stopped with all drivers breathalysed. No drivers were found to be over the limit, but some of the drivers were ticketed for other driving offences (no seatbelts and/or using mobile phones).

On Tuesday 25th November I deployed at various sites on the Peninsula in order to take average speed checks from 100 cars. Speeding refers to travelling at a speed at which ACPO guidelines would state that an offence has been committed. At 11.00 I deployed to the Sidlesham Football Club and gained an average of 33.03mph with 26% of drivers speeding. At 11.20 I deployed by the petrol station in Sidlesham and gained an average of 33.39mph with 39% of drivers speeding. At 13.00 I deployed to Hunston at Little Boultons, and gained an average of 30.54mph with 14% of drivers speeding.

Four Section 165 (driving without valid license or without insurance) seizures have taken place on the relevant beats, with a further 165 and a Section 59 warning issued on a neighbouring beat.

High-Vis Patrols

I have been conducting High-Vis patrols as and when I can, particularly in areas where other offences have taken place.

Thefts and Burglary

Since the last report, incidences of offences have been as follows:

Hunston:  5 occurrences: o 1 x OTD - shed break – Selsey Road o 2 x vehicle - tractor thefts – Church Lane, Selsey Road o 2 x theft (cycle, electric fence energiser)

Also  3 x violence (social club, dog bite, male vs female in street)  4 x damage (barn fire, football goal nets, car tyre, car mirror)

North Mundham (excluding Lakeside and the school)  6 occurrences: o 1 x attempt dwelling –

o 2 x OTD (bike from garage, welder from garage) o 2 x vehicle – (quad bike moved, off road bike stolen) o 1 x theft – electric fence  Also o 2 x damage – (car scratched, tree damaged)

Sidlesham:  11 occurrences: o 2 x OTD (shed – chainsaws, garage – chainsaws / hedge cutters) o 1 x vehicle crime (theft from car – satnav / clothing / cash) o 8 x theft (portaloo, sea kale from beach, mobile, ladders, metal bollard, handbag, caravan, red diesel)  Also o 1 x assault in pub o 1 x drugs – cannabis o 4 x damage – (car window, mirror sign, padlock cut, tyres slashed)

Other Issues

Wildlife Crime

There have been further reports of hare coursing/lamping/poaching in the areas around Chalder Farm Lane, Sidlesham and Fisher Lane, North Mundham. I have been directing patrols to the areas at night for lamping, and on the morning of Sunday 7th December, with a colleague, I started at 6am to target the offences occurring somewhat regularly on a Sunday morning in the North Mundham area. There are persons of interest and investigations continue.