SNAP: We're serious about ASB

Anti-social behaviour and speeding have once again become priorities after the meeting of the Bowthorpe Safer Neighbourhoods Action Panel. At a meeting yesterday held at Chapel Break, the Bowthorpe SNAP decided upon 2 new priorities.

The first was to tackle speeding down Rawley Road by investigatingpossible traffic calming measures and increasing traffic officer presence. Rawley Road is a commonly used cut through in the area with a school at one end and with residential homes along it. There is an issue with speeding and with the school term about to start local people felt thisought to be an issue which is highlighted. The local police are very supportive of this initiative because it fits well with other traffic calming projects in the area and across the City. Bowthorpe has suffered the tragedy of losing of our youngersters in a road traffic accident and this priority hopes to remind all motorists of the need to stick to the speed limit.

The second priority was to tackle anti-social behaviour in the Peverell Road area by invetsigating the use of Dispersal Orders, increasingwarden/PCSO/Police foot patrols at key times and working with Norfolk County Council and Norwich City Council to design out the crime (i.e.block up alleyways used for crime and disorder).

This was the number one issue raised and I am grateful to local peoplefor their input into the matter. This is something which we have lookedat before, but the weakness of the SNAP priorities is that you can worktowards solving an issue, it then ceases to be a priority and then theproblem comes back.

Local hard working people have a right to live their lives in peacewithout intimidation. We were told of large groups of youths throwingstones at windows, lighting fires, urinating in gardens and pulling upplants in gardens. If challenged by residents, local people are jeeredand have abuse thrown at them. This has to end.

If yobs want to make life difficult for local residents they ought toknow that we will use every tactic to stop them. The Police are actively looking at Dispersal Orders to stop gangs of young people from hanging around, especially late into the night. We are ensuring that more footpatrols go on at key times to discourage anti-social behaviour. And we want to work together to make sure that we don't make crime easy - by cutting off alleyways that are used for nothing but crime and disorder we can send a strong message that we the community won't tolerate this anylonger.

I am glad Peverell Road is back on the agenda; we owe the decent residents of the area every chance to live their lives free from crime. This SNAP priority shows we are on their side and ready to fight for them.

We've been SNAPped

Tonight I was chairing the latest Bowthorpe & Costessey SNAP meeting, held at St. Michael's School in Astly Road, Chapel Break, and it was a good chance to hear some of the views about the local area from residents. In the end we created 3 priorities;

Tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in the Peverell Road area of Clover Hill - both in terms of long term strategy but also short term ways to tackle the problems.

Secondly working with South Norfolk Council to ensure a neighbourhood response to issues in Beaumont Road and Crown Road in New Costessey.

And also to look at innovative ways to solve the parking problems in Attesley Way, Chapel Break. This last one is a real tribute to one resident who has raised this issue again and again in such a decent and polite way that it marks her out as a remarkable campaigner.

Next meeting is 18th November, 7.30 at Costessey High School.

Back into Action

Whilst the local elections are really the one concerted time you get on the streets meeting and talking to local people, it does have a sense of artificial reality about it.

I have spent the last few days simply doing the case work I have built up from a few weeks on the doorsteps!

Bank Holiday was a fantastic family weekend away, with Lou's brother in London - very relaxing although the toll of limited sleep in the last week did impact on me! It was, though, great to be at the center of the Boris earthquake that took the capital by storm. I found myself watching another election count (the Mayoralty took about 24 hours to do!) and it almost (and I mean, almost) felt as good as winning in Bowthorpe.

By Tuesday night I was back chairing the Bowthorpe & Costessey SNAP Panel; an extremely well attended meeting it was too and the people there certainly made their feelings about the policing situation in the area clear. The Evening News report is here and we came out with 3 priorities - cutting crime in one area of Clover Hill, tackling parking in New Costessey and working on a youth centre for Bowthorpe. I am most determined to make sure that these priorities become realities and expect results; the people who put their trust in the democratic process deserve it.

Also that day the news broke about the apparent fiddling of crime figures by the Norfolk police, who were told in a leaked memo that they should be sure a crime was committed before recording it. They admitted that they were being driven by targets set by the government. So if a car window is smashed, that wouldn't count as a crime because you couldn't assume it was done on purpose without evidence.

No wonder people don't have faith in government crime statistics withthis happening. Labour are saying crime is falling but people know it isrising in key areas. Every crime needs to be reported, every crime needs to be invetsigated and every crime needs to be logged as such. Just because its a neighbour dispute or petty vandalism, doesn't mean it isn't a crime. This is outrageous. The Chief Constable needs to make a statement at once, reassuring people that every crime a policeman comes across and every crime that is reported is logged. We need to know we can trust the crime figures. I did an interview for the lead story on Look East for the BBC which went out at 6.30pm; certainly made an impression given the amount of response to it.

After that I then got to a residents meeting in Bowthorpe to discuss more anti-social behaviour issues.

Wednesday night was then a residents meeting in Town Close; interesingly those there weren't shocked by the LibDem collapse in the polls both locally and across the City. I knew a couple of party supporters there but most I was meeting for the first time. So many said that the LibDems were now out of the race to be our next MP and they knew that Cameron could beat Brown (hence a 26% poll lead) but that Clegg would keep Brown in power. Interesting stuff and a line we need to push harder. The meeting was very successful indeed.

I then went on to a party meeting / celebration drink at The George in Arlington Lane with a dozen or so of the key party activists. We did a lot of planning - more news to come - and there is a real feeling of momentum now. One said to me that he couldn't wait to get back on the streets campaigning given the political backdrop. We are raising money, getting money and winning support faster than ever before.

And tonight? Admin, marking and lesson planning - oh the glamerous life of the PPC!

Anyone got an answer?

I have just been passed this email from Niki George, our candidate for Bowthorpe, who recieved it from a constituent. This is not the first person to mention this - in fact I had a resident wave his card at me whilst out canvassing yesterday.

This moring I received my free bus pass in the post from the Cuty Council, a bit late maybe but no real issues with that. What is concerning me is the apperent free blantant advertising of the Labour party within the design.

Not only the red ribbon but also the red rose in the top left corner, it might be argued that this is just a design, but in my view it is too close the the labour colours and motiff to be anything else but advertising the labour party.

Is the delay in bring these cards out so close to the local elections anything to do with the so called logo or am I being cinical (nothing unusual in that), I take this logo and design extreamly personal I am concerned that money has been wasted yet again, and has this money been spent illegally on pre advertising prior to the elections.

Anybody know how or why this rose got there? If it isn't for something specific then Labour have some real questions to answer. Already they are in trouble for launching a massive government advertising blitz - on Safer Neighbourhood Teams and tougher immigration rules - in the lead up to the election. This could be serious.

My Night Tonight

Tonight I did two meetings at City Hall - firstly to feedback on the new Councillors IT system which is better but still has some problems. Then it was the Waste Working Party. Although I'm not at liberty to say, we recieved some very good news about the way in which AWC has been rolled out and also some very tricky questions to solve in the future. It was a thought provoking meeting really. Odldy enough not a single LibDem Councillor bothered to attend; if the boot was on the other foot they'd be shouting about a lack of interest from other parties (I have blogged before about thier glee when Labour, Tories and Greens don't put down motions at Council) so I wonder why they passed up the chance to have their say on important recycling and waste issues.

Then tonight I have been formulating my questions for the Bus Scrutiny Committee and I focused heavily on the length of total bus journies, the cost of the tickets and the social, economic and educational impact of late buses in the morning. I mean, how many hours of education are lost because of bus lateness? How much productivity in industry and business is thrown away?

Tomorrow I will be at a Scrutiny meeting and then onto the Bowthorpe and Costessey SNAP, 7.30pm at Costessey High School if you'd like to make any points there.

HELM SNAP

That is, of course, the Lower Hellesdon, Earlham, Larkamand and Marlpit Safer Neighbourhoods Action Panel and its where I've been tonight. It is a collection of key agencies, including housing officers, the police, the council and the NELM development trust for residents to meet with and then a panel of members select the priorities for the area. They can be to do with crime, the environment or even planning and transportation. It was a fantastic event in which local peopel had their say on what was going on - and the powers-that-be having to sit, listen and then take action. I was slightly disappointed in the number of particularly City Council issues that were "still being actioned" but clearly a lot of work had taken place. Local MP Charles Clarke sat in to hear the debate and I hope he heard the message loud and clear - people are sick of the mess and fly tipping on the streets. They don't want rude kids making lives a misery by, for example, throwing things as their houses and hurlign abuse on the streets. They want to feel safe on the streets.

For what its worth I spoke up on the issues of clamping down on illegal mini motor bikes on the streets and pathways and also for a cleanup in West Earlham. I hope someone takes note and we aren't sitting here in 3 months wondering if somebody else might action it.