The Horsham district neighbourhood wardens were working with local schools last week as part of the
national charity BRAKE’s Road Safety Week.
Vanessa Green and Carol Boniface, wardens for Pulborough and Nutbourne, attended St Mary’s primary school in Pulborough to liaise with children and parents about road safety. They handed out ‘Arrive Alive’ and road safety leaflets, bicycle spoke reflectors and Sussex Safer Road Partnership pens. They also recruited some parents to join a road safety action group to be led by the school PTA.
Mike Pearce and Paul Conroy, the wardens for Steyning, Bramber and Upper Beeding, ran a road awareness quiz for children at Steyning Primary School. They also stopped people cycling without lights in the dark to talk about the dangers involved and undertook a school patrol targeting those parents parking on yellow lines at school pick up.
Councillor Tricia Youtan commented: “As Chair of the Horsham District Community Safety Partnership, I am thrilled to see the neighbourhood wardens working with local schools on the important issue of road safety. It’s essential that children know how to keep safe when walking, cycling or crossing roads and for parents to drive and park considerately when dropping off or picking up their children from school.”
Dave Nichols, Community Engagement Manager for BRAKE, added: “We’re delighted Horsham district’s neighbourhood wardens and their local schools got involved with Road Safety Week and strengthened BRAKE’s campaign for safer roads.”
Incidents of Anti-Social Behaviour have decreased throughout the last quarter and the attached
Police data ALL CRIME comparison reflects this trend. We have however had significant spikes, usually centred on repeat offences by the same individuals whilst drunk and or under the influence, resulting in criminal damage usually against vehicles, assault within their own group, and on two occasions against individual members of the public, and most recently the instigators of a public brawl at a Sports Club. We continue to monitor these individuals and intervene when necessary and feed intelligence into the Police and the Anti-Social Behaviour Team. The behaviour of these individuals has had an impact across all three parishes.
Two of the most prolific offenders have been summoned to Court for their actions and await Trial.
Other Incidents of Anti-Social behaviour have occurred in traditional hotspots such as recreation areas, Car Parks, and other public spaces where we have used our powers to confiscate alcohol from underage drinkers. This early intervention has helped reduce the number of incidents and any escalation of associated rowdy behaviour. The introduction of prohibitive signage in the playground on the Upper Beeding Recreation Ground has helped reduce the number of incidents significantly and the recent introduction of C.C.T.V has also acted as a deterrent to such behaviour.
We continue to monitor and disrupt the supply of drugs in the parishes by regular patrols of Hot spots and feed intelligence into the Police of suspected dealers and users known to us. There has been an increase recently in the evidence of use of Nitrous Oxide.(Laughing Gas).Canisters have been found in The Fletchers Croft Car Park area, The Churchyard and Cemetery of St Andrews Church Steyning and Bramber Castle Car Park.
The incidents of Anti-Social driving of vehicles had fallen considerably in the previous quarter but there has been a slight increase in the number of incidents reported to us in the Fletchers Croft Car Park area during November and December of 2017.
We have had an increase in the reports of shoplifting from Village Stores and in particular the regular theft of petrol from the Shell garage in Upper Beeding. Working with the proprietors we have been able to identify individuals known to us and pass on that information to Police.
Rough Sleeping is on the increase across the country and although the incidents are rare in the Parishes we have had two such incidents and have given advice and information on support services available to one such person. Both Men involved were passing through the area towards other destinations. We have had also three reports from residents regarding people sleeping in their cars overnight.
It is often the case that crimes can be committed by unscrupulous traders and Criminals posing as Cold Callers. We regularly receive calls from Residents about cold callers and have had cause to check these individuals’ credentials and there have been a few occasions where we have had to summon Police Assistance.
Whilst the incidents of large amounts of fly-tipping have fluctuated we believe that there has not been a significant increase. However we believe that there has been an increase in the amount of small deposits, probably related to domestic disposal, as opposed to Builders or Garden Waste disposal. We have no statistics to support this belief but will be contacting Environmental Services to enquire if any such data is available.
There has been a significant decrease in the number of incidents of dog fouling. We have only had two such reports during the last Quarter
We continue to work with local groups, support local clubs and offer transport solutions where possible for elderly vulnerable residents across the parishes. We’ve run several trips for residents at Dingemans including a Christmas trip to Worthing theatre and a race night. We hold regular indoor sessions which include quizzes, indoor games and refreshments. Over the past quarter our number of regular attendees has increased.
We have recently attended a social prescribing event which held workshops and brainstorming sessions with a view to implement a strategy to organise volunteers to assist NSH Patients and signpost to various and relevant organisations.