News From The Beat – February ‘10:

Crime Update: by PC Jim Charlton

Hopefully you will take some reassurance from the fact that it is not only yourselves who have been affected by the snow and ice. Criminals have too. The levels of crime occurring in Chineham have been even lower as a result of the big freeze with no crimes of note occurring in the parish for some time. Consequently, article is somewhat shorter than normal (you may be relieved to hear).

Residents Briefing:
The next residents briefing is to be held on Monday 15 th February 2010 at 20:00 at the village hall. Following up on the discovery of a cannabis factory in Minden Close, I will be giving a presentation on how to identify drugs factories in our communities. This presentation will contain specific information on how private landlords and agents can avoid factories being established in their rental properties. It is important that they are aware of the risk posed by this phenomenon as they have a legal and ethical responsibility to prevent it happening, as well as for their own interest as there are considerable financial consequences, including the possible forfeiture of the property.

The guest speaker is a magistrate who will be talking about their role in the criminal justice system and will be answering any questions you may have.

The briefing is run in partnership with Chineham Neighbourhood Watch, and is open to all residents, so please come along.

Can you help!
Hopefully you are aware that the traffic problems linked to the drop-off and collection times at the Four Lanes Schools are a community priority, as decided by the Safer Chineham Panel (SCP) at its last meeting on October 1 st .

The problems include obstruction of residents' driveways, footpaths and roads by parked vehicles, and vehicles parking within 15ft of road junctions.

But another critical factor compromising road safety is the lack of crossing patrol warden. In fact there should be two; one outside the school entrance on Hanmore Road , and the other at the crossing near to the village hall.

It has been almost two years now since the last warden left and all this time children are left to cross alone. In fact the previous warden was actually the school caretaker and performed the role in addition to his normal duties at the school. But he eventually left for different job and all attempts to recruit a new warden, including my previous appeal last year, have had no response at all.

Therefore I am appealing to you, the residents of Chineham, to come forward and volunteer to fill this vital role and help make the community a safer place. Bearing in mind that a large portion of Chinehams' population are either retired, work part-time or for other reasons are available to take on this important duty, I am sure there are people out their who could take on this important role, or could indeed share it with another person.

If you would like further information please contact myself or the schools directly.

Anti-social Behaviour update: by PCSO Keith Patching

An unusual month! The typical ASB reports have almost been non-existent this month. Only to give way to, yes you guessed it “The Snowball” we have received numerous reports of groups of youths throwing snowballs at people, houses and more dangerously moving vehicles. This is an extremely serious matter as this could lead to the driver swerving and losing control of the vehicle on the ice, causing injury or death. I would urge anyone wanting to enjoy the snow to do so in a place that will not affect traffic, other residents and pedestrians.

The snow has brought out a sense of community spirit too, I have witnessed neighbours helping each other out with shovelling snow, pushing vehicles and generally looking out for one another. Many would say that this is what being a neighbour is all about, but often we are all too busy getting to work on time, doing the school run, food shopping that we seldom have time to acknowledge each other. I would ask that we all continue to keep an eye out for each other even once the snow and ice clear.

Now that the New Year is settling in and resolutions are being made, I would ask parents who have children at Four Lanes School to consider how they are parking at drop off and pick up times. The roads around the school are extremely busy at these times, and is often made worse by some parents who gather at the school to meet and chat with other parents which extends the amount of time that the roads remain clogged with parked vehicles. PC Charlton and I have been conducting regular high visibility patrols of the area. We have been monitoring who are the main offenders and we will be looking at enforcement in an attempt to resolve this on-going issue.

Abandoned shopping trolleys around the village continue to cause an eye-sore, should you see one that needs returning please either email myself or contact the store directly, Tesco have been made aware that their trolleys are often scattered around the village. They will come and collect it if you give them the location. However I would also ask any person who uses a trolley to take shopping home to return it to the centre.

Until next month, take care and keep safe,

 

PC Jim Charlton and PCSO Keith Patching

 

Tel. – 08450 45 45 45 on extension 626126 (or request to leave a message).

Email – james.charlton@hampshire.pnn.police.uk

- keith.patching@hampshire.pnn.police.uk