Broadgate PACT Meeting July 08 - The Minutes

PACT/BRAG minutes 2nd July 2008

Held at Empire Services Club, Hartington Road, Preston

Present:

PC3908 Wayne Marsden
PCSO 7283 Suzie Waite
PCSO 7745 Faye Kellett
Kash Kamal
Terry Quinn – Secretary
Doreen Sanders – Eavesbrook Housing Association

Councillor Bhikhu Patel
Councillor Jack Davenport

Apologies:

PC360 Carl Ingram

Members of the public were in attendance.

Introduction

The meeting was opened by Kash, acting as chairman. He introduced a representative from St Matthews who gave a talk about a young person’s group called Jigsaw, which run activities for children and young people. Their objectives are to promote participation in youth activities. This summer they are setting up a three week pilot play scheme, which will take place three days a week for 7-11 year olds. The activities will be held in the area, whilst the youthclub is based in Fishwick. From September onwards they are hoping to offer activities, including training for young people up to the age of 21. Packs were left for people to take away.

Policing Report:

PC Wayne Marsden and Faye Kellett went through the police report. For the period 4 June to 2 July there have been 33 crimes, which is considered good for this time of year.

Car safety packs were also made available for people to take.

Update on last month’s PACT priorities:

Parking on the footpath on South Meadow Lane, near the Continental Pub

During the month the police did several patrols in the area and 30 cars were noted, with five being given penalty tickets. Near the Continental Pub was noted as the worst area. There is supposed to be restricted waiting in the area but this is a Council matter. Parks maintenance has been asked to cut back the bushes/hedges in order for more room to be available for pedestrians on the pavement.

PC Carl Ingram also did a couple of days down Kingswood Street, focussing on parking. He issued 12 letters of warning during this period. Most of the cars were non-residents, with the majority being County Hall Staff. PC Ingram has asked County Hall to issue an email to staff asking them not to park there.

Letters of warning on Broadgate will be issued explaining about parking restrictions.

General behaviour – people hanging round drinking openly on the streets with cans.

Anti-social behaviour is less of a problem now at the top of Fishergate Hill. A drugs warrant was issued for a flat at 98 Fishergate Hill, where four people were caught with drugs and drugs paraphernalia. The police were accompanied by a housing manager and the residents were evicted and the flat has been locked and secured.

Stone throwing during the month accounted for 5 out of the 6 criminal damage incidents mentioned in the police report. The police think they know who it is and it was mentioned as a possible PACT priority for the coming month.

At the recent Polish PACT meeting a resident mentioned concerns about the anti-social behaviour at the top of Fishergate Hill. PC Marsden thinks this is historic but they will keep monitoring the situation.

Speeding

A couple of operations were held during the month with PC Marsden and Jack conducting operations. The highest recorded speed was 38 mph. People were given verbal advice. The speeding devices appear to be working in slowing traffic down. Councillor Bikhu Patel has additional funds for a further device and this will be available in the next couple of weeks. There are currently devices on Broadgate, Hartington Road and they are hoping to erect several more posts, including one on Bow Lane and two on Fishergate Hill.

Community Issues:

Grafton Street has now been cleaned up. PCSO Faye Kellett and PCSO Suzie Waite assisted with moving cars in order for the road sweeper to clean the Road. Linda Compton helped organise the sweeper.

The Continental Pub: the new owners of the pub were in attendance, Ruth and Jeremy. They explained that the pub was currently being refurbished and that they wanted the pub to be an integral part of the community. They want people to voice any concerns/suggestions they may have and are going to put questionnaires through people’s doors in order to get some feedback. They are hoping to open at the beginning of August. The refurbishment involves both internal and external areas. They are hoping to make the pub more upmarket, with a focus on good food and cask ales and continental larger, with coffee and tea available during the day. There won’t be a pool table or bandit machines and they are hoping the absence of these will deter the wrong sort of people. They are aiming to be a family friendly pub and will be redeveloping the play area and having children’s theatre. They want to open up the pub to events and have function space and invite community and touring groups, which will include performing arts and possibly some exhibition space. They are also hoping to have bands in and comedy nights. If you want to find out anything further or organise anything, feel free to ring them on 07708 615 877. Their current licence is 11 am -1 am at weekends and 11 am -12 am during the week.

Councillor Bhiku Patel welcomed the owners of the Continental Pub to the community.

Crime and Punishment: PC Wayne Marsden asked if anybody would be interested in listening to a presentation on ‘Crime and Punishment’. It is a joint venture by magistrates and probation officers. It lasts about one hour and has already been given to a range of community groups around the county. The majority of people at the meeting were in favour and so PC Marsden will try to arrange it for the next meeting.

Issues Raised by the public

Parking at the bus-stop on the junction of Broadgate and Fishergate Hill: People are currently parking there all day. PC Marsden explained that letters have gone out to people, although it is an ongoing problem but he is hoping the word will get round that people shouldn’t park there. Unfortunately the main problem is that people are usually parked there by 8 am and the police normally have a briefing at this time. However they will continue to monitor the situation.

Westcliff: It was hoped that more could be done to encourage Westcliff residents to come to the meetings and get more involved in the community. PCSOs Faye Kellett and Suzie Waite explained that they had tried to get residents more involved but without much success, however, they will keep trying. Councillor Bhiku Patel suggested an open van, from the Council, manned by the police in order to get the residents more involved. Currently there are new housing association flats, around 24/25, and people are gradually moving in, the police will make themselves known to the residents.

Distribution of the Newsletter: Although there are 2000 addresses in the Broadgate area, the newsletter currently reaches around 800 houses. In order to deliver to everybody, more people are required to deliver the newsletters and approximately £3,000 per year would be required to fund the printing costs. Councillor Bhiku Patel said that the Council had £1,000 available if the committee put a proposal together. Jack and Joanne will email Councillor Patel with the proposal.

Flood Risk Action Plan: Matthew Marsh, who has produced a report on flood risk in the area, gave a brief talk about flood risk in the area. The areas from Grafton Street to Broadgate and Hartington Road down to the river are all at a high risk of flooding. People still need to be aware that Broadgate has always been a high flood risk area. It is within the top 25 areas of risk in the North West. Preston County Council has just issued their flood risk management programme. Matthew proposed that a group be formed to look at the document, which needs community involvement. He is hoping the first group will meet at the end of July/beginning of August. Councillor Jack Davenport has offered his services in this respect. If anybody else is interested in becoming part of the group, please contact Matthew on matthew.marsh@blueyonder.co.uk.

The Blog: Max gave a brief talk about the blog, explaining that it is now up and running, with many interesting articles already online. The aim of the blog is to be a positive force in the area, showing how good Broadgate actually is. The address is http://broadgateisgreat.blogspot.com/ and people are welcome to contribute with articles about the area and any pictures that they feel show a positive side to the area.

PACT Priorities

Stone throwing.

The next meeting will be on 6th August 2008 at BAC Club, South Meadow Lane