To begin the meeting the police gave a report on recorded crime figures for the previous month. These were broadly similar to those recorded for the same period last year but reduced from the previous month’s report. We took the opportunity here to point out that the crime rate for the Blackhall PACT area had reduced gradually over the past six months, from 196 reported incidents in December 2017 to just 106 in May 2018. This has resulted in our area having the second lowest crime rate record of all neighbouring PACT areas within a five mile radius (please see our article on reliable crime rate statistics dated Wednesday 13 June 2018).
Because of the reduced attendance figures last night (there were about 12 residents at the meeting) there was a fairly informal discussion, mainly about environmental issues, particularly those relating to fly-tipping in the streets and in the back yards of some properties. In general it was felt that there had been a much more effective response to these issues when reported, mainly due to the MAP group we established last month to deal with such matters (please see post dated Wednesday 30 May 2018 for more details).
There had been specific reports earlier in the meeting of off-road bikes causing a nuisance in a number of locations in the PACT area, particularly in Hesleden and along the coast. We spoke of the concerns of residents in Hesleden and parts of Blackhall Rocks who had contacted us recently about the danger, noise and nuisance generated by bikes in their area (please see post dated Wednesday 13 June 2018 for background details) and we asked that the police give this priority as an issue to be addressed over the coming period.
At the beginning of this article we noted that there had been a reduction in the number of residents attending this month’s PACT meeting. This in no way implies that we’ve won the battle against crime and anti-social behaviour. It simply means that we’re making good progress as a result of interventions made by the police working together with the community through the PACT process. There will certainly be incidents yet to come, so we mustn’t become complacent.
