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.