THE “CALL IN” PERIOD FOR THIS SET OF MINUTES ENDS AT 12 NOON ON MONDAY 4 JULY, 2016. MINUTE NO.S 1 TO 3, 5 TO 18, 20 AND 22 ARE NOT SUBJECT TO “CALL-IN” SOUTHPORT AREA COMMITTEE MEETING HELD AT THE TOWN HALL, SOUTHPORT ON WEDNESDAY 15TH JUNE, 2016 PRESENT: Councillor Hands (in the Chair) Councillors Ashton, David Barton, Jo Barton, Bliss, Booth, Dawson, Dodd, Jones, McGuire, Preece, Pullin, Shaw, Lynne Thompson, Weavers, Bill Welsh and Marianne Welsh Local Advisory Group Members: Mrs S Cain, Ms. A. Egerton-White and Ms. M. Gowers ALSO PRESENT: Inspector Jim Atherton and Inspector Graham Fisher, Merseyside Police and 11 members of the public 1. APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR OF THE AREA COMMITTEE FOR THE 2016/17 MUNICIPAL YEAR RESOLVED: That (1) Councillor Hands be appointed Chair of the Area Committee for 2016/17; and (2) Councillor Booth be appointed Vice-Chair of the Area Committee for 2016/17. 2. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ball, Keith and Daniel Lewis and Local Advisory Group Members Mary Pointon and Sir Ron Watson. 3. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST No declarations of any disclosable pecuniary interest were received. 4. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meetings held on 23 March 2016 be confirmed as a correct record. 5. POLICE ISSUES The Chair welcomed Inspectors Jim Atherton and Graham Fisher, Merseyside Police to the meeting. 1 SOUTHPORT AREA COMMITTEE- WEDNESDAY 15TH JUNE, 2016 The Area Committee received updates on the following matters affecting the Southport area: Operation Colme – an ongoing reassurance and disruption plan in relation to Burglary dwelling offences. This had included additional resources from the neighbourhood disruption team and matrix Roads Policing units. Every Burglary victim received a follow up reassurance visit and the Police conducted extensive house to house enquiries in the immediate vicinity. In the last 3 months there had only been 4 reported house burglaries in the Ainsdale area and there was no obvious pattern to the burglaries Operation Dragonfly – the crime prevention and property registration initiative. The Police had now completed property registration sessions at Birkdale High school and ran special events at MeCycle where free property registration of phones and Bikes was offered and the free fitting of immobitags that were funded kindly by the Ward Councillors from their devolved budget. Over 300 items of property this year alone across the area had been registered and it was hoped to do another special event in the Summer School holidays. Residents were reminded to lock their bikes even for a quick visit into shops and use the best lock you they could afford, ideally a gold standard one. The Police were working in close partnership with British Transport Police in tackling this cycle theft joint Bike registration sessions had been run Operation School Gate - Parking around schools was a continual problem at certain locations across Sefton and work was undertaken with the local schools and hopefully parents to keeping these areas as safe as possible Operation Brookdale - this was an annual operation to tackle the menace of Anti-social use of off road vehicles Twitter / Social Media – The local Police now had 716 followers on Twitter and this was used to let the community know of parts of daily operational duties Mersey Now - the community messaging system had now gone live and residents were encouraged to sign up for it to enable updates to be provided for where they or their family lived and worked Sefton Crime Alert - this was a collaboration between Merseyside Police and Home watch. Margaret Jepson was the Police volunteer co-ordinator who sent out occasional and very informative e mails about current crime patterns and emerging trends especially in relation to fraud. To receive these emails residents needed to sign up by simply sending an e mail to [email protected] with their contact details Newsletter - the spring newsletter was free to download from the Merseyside Police website Beachsafe 2016 – the Police were continuing to work in an established partnership approach to promote safety and prevent crime and ASB in the coastal areas, often using specialist vehicles i.e. Land Rover and Quadbikes for patrolling purposes and that this 2 SOUTHPORT AREA COMMITTEE- WEDNESDAY 15TH JUNE, 2016 was done with the permission of National Trust, Natural England and Sefton Council's Coast and Countryside Service. Other partners included British Transport Police, HM Coastguard, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, RNLI, Sefton Council and Ward Councillors and Parish Councils. The 2016 Beachsafe media launch was on 19th May 2016 just prior to the Bank Holiday and half term and extra staffing was in place over this period. Visitor numbers to the area were very high due to the school holidays and a sustained period of good weather. Reported crime was very low and a lot of time and resource was used on Sunday 6th June looking for a missing child who thankfully had simply wandered off and was found safe and well. Information was provided on the major congestion on the Coastal Road, due to a number of events being held in Southport combined with the glorious weather and High Tide at Ainsdale. Mr Dave McAleavy and Gordon White from Sefton Coast and Countryside Service did everything possible to open the car parks without compromising safety and Police also assisted with this. So far 8 warnings had been issued under section 59 of the Police Reform Act as a result of anti -social use of vehicles Burglaries - only 1 this month and the offender was the victim’s partner and was arrested. Currently there were very low levels, though now we were entering summer and the advice was not to increase opportunity for burglars by locking doors and windows at night or when leaving home. After a spike in reported Burglaries from businesses in the town centre and garages and sheds in the Birkdale, Greg Hawkshaw (45) from Southport had been charged with 1 offence with others also being looked at. He has also been recalled to prison. A 22 year old male had also admitted to a string of offences (burglary and theft of motor vehicles) across Sefton and Manchester. John Graham (32) had been charged and remanded for a Burglary in Kew and property was recovered. Two males, One 23 from the Formby area and another 25 from Manchester were awaiting charge for burglary in the Marine Lake Café. Officers attended within 90 seconds of the alarm activation in respect of this crime Cycle thefts - bike theft numbers were very low Drugs - many offences and locations were reported and submitted to intelligence. Work was on-going as sometimes initial actions didn’t have the desired effect. As a result the Police were working with the Council and other partners regarding more permanent solutions A S B – There had been a significant reduction in ASB incidents though they were still an issue and as it had been highlighted previously the profile had been raised and all incidents were reported and attracted media coverage. A prominent group of males had been interviewed regarding some of the incidents and referrals had been made to the Youth Offending Team and obviously their parents were now aware. Other youths had been identified in lower level nuisance and the Police would be working with parents and Schools to speak to these individuals and take appropriate action. 3 SOUTHPORT AREA COMMITTEE- WEDNESDAY 15TH JUNE, 2016 There had been an increase of patrolling in the Town Centre and Kings Gardens areas using the assistance of patrol Officers and also Officers in plain clothes. This had enabled the identification of groups hanging around the areas and had led to seizures of motorbikes used in an anti-social manner. A group of 7 youths causing ASB had had letters sent to parents this week Theft from a motor vehicle - this was an area that where incidents were up from last year, though not drastically. It was expected to see an increase due to the recent hot weather as it attracted significant amount of additional vehicles to the area including Formby; and whilst the local economy would undoubtedly welcome visitors, unfortunately it also attracted opportunists and those intent on crime. The message was to secure vehicles and not to leave items in sight and also be aware of where you parked. There were limited parking spaces and people tended to park in secluded areas where there was no deterrent from passers-by Local male, Christopher Jackson was arrested in the Town Centre last week on a recall to prison. When arrested he was found to be in possession of £260 worth of fake £20 notes. Theses had obviously been prevented from entering local business tills and the police had also been able to raise awareness and circulate the relevant serial numbers Marching Season - we were now entering the marching season. Appentice Boys of Derry marched last Saturday, 11 June and there were no incidents of disorder. The Orange Lodge march this year fell on Tuesday 12th July. Elected Members, Local Advisory Group Members and members of the public raised the following issues/commented as follows:- Why were parking tickets not issued on buses (used as part of Marching Season events) parked on double yellow lines – The enforcement responsibility rested with Sefton Council. Dave Marrin, Manager – Highways Management indicated that the Council worked closely with the Police on such issues and that a pragmatic approach had to be taken. If for instance coaches were directed to park in a particular location by the police then tickets would not be issued.