Minutes of Neighbourhood Watch Meeting
CHURCH STRETTON & DISTRICTNEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH ASSOCIATION
MINUTES OF MEETINGheld at Church Stretton Club, Essex Road, Church Strettonon Wednesday 21st January 2015 at 7.30pm
8 Members in attendance.
In the absence of the Chairman, Mrs Sheena Thomas, the Hon. Sec.,as Acting Chairman (A.C.), welcomed Members to the meeting in its’ new location at the Club and expressed disappointment that there was no Police representation. He said this had never happened before in the 18 or so years that he had been associated with Neighbourhood Watch in the area and there must have been very good reasons for it occurring. He would enquire at the Police Station and bring up the matter at the PACT meeting the following week.
1. Apologies for Absence
Mr peter Bond (31), Mr Philip Hooper (12), Mrs Susan Cleaver (67), Mr Harold Longstaff (67), Mrs Di Kimpton (67), Mrs Meriel Blake (67).
.2. Resignation and Retirements
Mrs F Holiday, Deputy Zone 81. This leaves this Zone unrepresented. Mrs Di Kimpton (67)
3. New Volunteers
Mr Rob Bateson (01694 724562) will be Deputy in Zone 12.
4. Minutes of the last meeting held
The minutes, having been sent to as many Co-ordinators and to the Deputies by e-mail as I could, were taken as read.
5. Matters Arising
The Hon Sec reported that Mrs Sheena Thomas (Zone 52), our Chairman since May 2010, had recovered sufficiently from her stroke to be discharged from hospital and returned back home. He had spoken to her daughter, Kate, who said that she was making excellent progress – could walk and talk much better than initially expected but, more than likely, would not be able to take up her duties as previously. The A C thanked her for her sterling work in the past and hoped that she would continue with her recovery. Obviously, this leaves us with a vacancy and the A C went through the procedure of how one would be appointed if no volunteer came forward. As luck would have it, a candidate under this process (and only 2 Zones down) happened to be present – Mrs Anne Stafford (Zone 55) – who, thankfully (wonder of wonders) agreed to volunteer (no arm-twisting there then!!) We should all be very grateful for her public-spiritedness. She requested that she take up that position at the start of the next meeting.
Mr Jeff Thomas (13) asked what was happening about The Letter. The A C said that the situation regarding all the Police involvement was very fraught due to the cuts, the closing of the Police Station etc but that there was a new volunteer – Ms Eleanor Bothwell – who will (might? could?) help in organising the printing of this – and the Minutes? – so that we might be back in the sams position as before. However, the Hon Sec had tried to contact her with, so far, no success. He will try again. [The Hon Sec spoke to Sgt Adrian Woolley in the morning following the meeting and explained the situation re their absence and meeting up with Eleanor. Sgt Woolley apologised profusely, all the result of a terrible mix-up, said it would not happen again {the Hon Sec will copy them into the Group email}. He also said he would try to speak to Ms Bothwell but, later, the Hon Sec did manage to speak to her and a meeting will be arranged].
Mr Mike Walker (69) asked 1)how the Minutes had been sent out - the Hon Sec had set up a Group email, – 2) in what numbers – 48, and 3) just as well that it was under 50 as, if over, the program might have treated it as spam, and it might be wiser to break the Group up into 2, or even 3, Groupettes to overcome this possibility. However, this still does not address the problem of our current inability of informing people who are not on the internet and various ideas were put forward. Mr Brian Bradley (67) suggested that a copy could be left in the Library, Mayfair and the Town Council offices. [The Hon Sec managed to meet Ms Bothwell at the Police Station and suggested that if he continues to send the Minutes to those Members for whom he has emails, he could send her a list of those who have supplied emails and she could compare that to the list of all the representatives and send the Minutes out by post to the remainder of Co-ordinators and Deputies (who obviously do not have emails) on that list]. Mrs Anne Stafford (55) suggested having rhem printed in the Focus. Concerning the topic of the Library, Mr Walker, wearing his Councillor hat, said that there was now a 2nd stage consultation up th the middle of March and that any enquiries relating to Shropshire Council will have an output at the Town Council offices but that the location of the Visitor Information Centre had not yet been resolved.
6. Election of Officers
This is only done at the September meeting.
7. Crime Update
[Further to the meeting, The Hon Sec obtained the following details from the Police]
During the period 21st October 2014 to 21st January 2015, 203 incidents were reported to the Police resulting in a total of 38 recorded crimes. These are broken down into the following categories, with the previous 4 monthly totals in brackets:-
5 Burglaries from Dwellings (4)
2 Burglaries from Non Dwellings (8)
2 Theft from Motor Vehicle: (1)
6 Thefts from shops- (4)
5 Other Theft and Handling related matters (9)
0 Thefts of pedal cycles (0)
2 Vehicle Related Crimes: (4)
1 Theft of Vehicle (1)
2 Criminal Damage to property: (8)
4 Criminal Damage to Motor vehicles: (4)
0 Assault on a Police Officer: (0)
4 Assaults on a member of the Public: (5)
14 Domestic/Vulnerable Persons Malicious Communication: (9)
0 Drugs offences: (2)
0 Firearm offence: (0)
0 Forgery Offences:(0)
0 Fraud offences: (0)
8 Public Order Offences: (0)
1 Sexual Offences: (0)
16 Other Offences including Anti-Social Behaviour and Robbery (3)
38 Concern for Welfare ( Not noted previously)
Some of these incidents are for administrative purposes only and do not relate to an actual crime.
For information on any of the crimes committed in the area, you can go online at Police.co.uk and enter the Post Code. All the police crime information is published in the Stretton Focus but Domestic figures are not published as there is no need for this to be public information.
The following reports were also noted.
What are Police Surgeries?
Police Surgeries provide an opportunity for residents to attend Church Stretton Police Station to speak to their Safer Neighbourhood team, in order to ask questions regarding local policing, talk to officers about community concerns or find out about home and personal security. Please refer to the Church Stretton and Craven Arms Safer Neighbourhood Team website for the time and date of the next Police Surgery.
PCSO takes up duty as Police Constable in Telford
PCSO Ross O’Neil left on 1st December to take up is duty as a regular Police Officer. We wish him the very best of luck in his new role. Ross spent 8 years as a PCSO based at Church Stretton Police Station. During his time here he provided a vital, visible link between the police and the community. PCSO’s functions are deliberately limited so that they are able to focus on getting to know people, thus gaining an understanding and awareness of local needs and problems and soliciting the appropriate specialist support when required.
Safety talks in schools
PC Damon Preston and PCSO Dave Baron paid a visit to St Lawrence Primary School, much to the delight of the pupils. They delivered a talk to the pupils on general safety and preventative measures and stranger danger.
In reiterating their message, the Police would like to offer the following advice to parents. Young children’s comprehension of potential dangers is still quite limited and so a parent’s vigilance is their protection. As the responses to PC Preston and PCSO Baron’s questions on stranger danger revealed, it is not easy to expect young children to exercise judicious caution around strangers. Nevertheless, it is the ideal time for parents to lay the foundation for safe behaviour for the future.
As the Police, schools and parents educate children about stranger danger, it is important noit to send the message that strangers are universally menacing. Rather than warning your child that ‘strangers might harm you’ or ‘strangers might steal you’, tell them that he/she always needs your permission before talking to a stranger, going somewhere with one or taking something that a stranger offers to them. The aim is to make your child prudently cautious, not unreasonably fearful. The benefits of Police talks in schools are myriad, for the Police, pupils, teachers and the wider community. They establish increased accessibility and foster positive relationships between Police, pupils and schools; provide an increased sense if safety for pupils; gives exposure to positive role models; improves pupil attendance; encourages higher achievement and attainment and encourages a reduction in offending behaviour, both in school and in the community.
PCSO Dave Baron’s role comprises a number of purposes and activities, of which three broad areas can be identified:-
Safety and behaviour of young people (discipline, preventing and tackling crime and
restorative justice)
Supporting improvements in pupil’s knowledge and quality of life 9extra-curricular
activities, school assemblies). This directly complements the school pastoral system.
Strategic and multi-agency preventative work (sharing intelligence, working with other
agencies, Police presence and profile.
If any individual, community group or organisation is interested in attending a talk, please email PCSO Dave Baron via the contact details as shown:-
The website is =
Recent Burglaries
In December 2014, there was a spate of burglaries in and around the Battlefield area of Church Stretton in which a number of expensive items were stolen. The Police are urging people to be especially vigilant at this time and take extra precautions to ensure their homes and businesses are secure from opportunist thieves. In response to these burglaries, the Police have increased patrols in this area. On one of these uniform mobile patrols, a Police Officer noted that one local resident had inadvertently left their garage door open, making it very easy for a would-be thief to steal property from inside the garage. The Officer immediately alerted the occupier thereby averting a potential crime.
Fraud and Identity Theft
This is one of the fastest growing areas of crime and occurs when your personal information is used by someone else without your knowledge. While overall levels remain low across Herefordshire, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Worcestershire, the nature of modern technology and communications means that people can fall victim to criminals both here and in other parts of the world.
The National Fraud Authority estimates the loss to the UK economy from fraud is £73 thousand million per year. In the 2011/2012 financial year, 2,715 fraud and forgery offences were recorded in the West Mercia policing area, a rise of 7% on the previous year. However, officers believe offences may be significantly under-reported. Your identity and personal information are valuable to criminals. If they can find out your details, they can use your name to open bank accounts, get credit cards and loans or apply for state benefits and documents such as passports and driving licences. If your identity is stolen, you may have difficulty getting loans, credit cards or a mortgage until the matter is sorted out and you could also find yourself liable for financial losses caused by criminals using your identity.
WHAT INFORMATION ARE CRIMINALS INTERESTED IN?
The key documents and information that criminals would like to get hold of are your:-
Passport
Driving Licence
Bank account details – cheque books, debit cards, receipts and statements
Credit card details, statements and receipts
Other information can also be useful to criminals such as dates of birth, home addresses and even the names of your next of kin. Much of this information is routinely posted by people on the internet – either during transactions with retailers or through social networking sites. It pats to think carefully about what you want to disclose online.
Police Meetings
PACT meeting = Wednesday 25th March at 14.00pm at Mayfair.
Police Surgery = Saturday 28th February between 9.0 am and 12.00am at the Police Station.
8. Zone Reports
The representatives of each Zone were requested to report in turn.
Mr Mike Burman (11) reported a break-in at a property in Alison Road.
The Hon Sec reported a burglary at a property in Helmeth Road – he knows this as it was a Good Neighbours client.
Mrs Anne Stafford reported a break-in to a property in Churchill Road and suggested that perhaps we should write to the Police to ask if they were going to be as pro-active as they used to be [in the light of the Hon Sec’s conversation with Sgt Woolley, he feels that we should give them a second chance].
Mr Mike Walker (69) reported an accident in Street Meadow.
9. Any Other Business
Mr Jeff Thomas (13) reported that he is in receipt of an email from Mr Graham Oliver, the Deputy PCC under the National N Watch system in which he said that he would be willing to come to any Group that invited him, and suggested that we take him up on his offer to attend the next meeting. The Hon Sec acquiesced. [The Hon Sec spoke to him and accepted that Mr Oliver’s function is to be the eyes and ears for the P&CC on concerns that any N Watch group might have and not to give a talk. On that basis, he would be pleased to attend]. Mr Thomas also noted that the Police website may not be as accurate as perhaps they thought – at least 3 of the names on it may not exist.
The Hon Sec spoke of the problems his wife was having with her medical condition, known as Progressive Muscular Atrophy. This has got much worse over the last year (the clue is the first word) and, as a result, they had made a decision to move to a McCarthy & Stone Assisted Living accommodation in Cardiff, near their eldest son and his family. This decision has not been taken lightly – they have been in Church Stretton for over 18 years and would not have considered moving but for the situation they are in. Their house has only just gone onto the market and, in all likelihood, they could still be here at the date of the next meeting in May. He would still produce the Minutes for this meeting and distribute them by email –hopefully, the weather will be better then and more members would attend.
Mr Keith Martin (27) apologised for his absence from the meeting in May.
The Hon Sec asked those attending whether the transfer of the meetings to the C S Club was a success. All 8 Members attending agreed that it had.
The forthcoming meetings, in future, will therefore be as follows:-
The 3rdWEDNESDAY in January. In 2015 this will be the 21st.
The 3rdTHURSDAY in May In 2015, this will be the 21st.
The 3rdTUESDAY in September In 2015, this will be the 15th.
This will then go back to the original format of Meeting days which should allow for Members being able to attend at least one Meeting in the year.
The meeting ended at 20.30pm, and some Members repaired to the bar. Job done!!
The next meeting will be held on Thursday 21st May 2015 at 7.30pm at the Church Stretton Club – Caradoc Suite.
Chris Kolvin, Hon. Secretary
01694 722609