Witney News - Witney Neighbourhood Management Update

Witney Neighbourhood Management Update

Following our period of public engagement with communities in and around Witney, the three new priorities for us for the next 12 months have been identified as:

• Anti-social behaviour
• Speeding
• Litter

The team will now be working closely with the Neighbourhood Action Group to identify areas locally where these issues are prevalent and to find fresh ways of tackling them.

Anti-Social Behaviour
The team continues to undertake regular high visibility foot patrols in areas where we have had problems involving anti–social behaviour. Despite the fact that it is the school summer holidays we have been pleasantly surprised by how few complaints we have received.

We have received complaints from members of the public following a spate of anti-social behaviour at the Leys in Witney involving young people and their anti-social use of vehicles. As a result two warnings have been issued about their future conduct and one vehicle has been seized following a second instance of this behaviour.

Following complaints of cruelty to horses that were placed in a field on Cogges Hill Road opposite Waddard’s Meadow, the team found that children aged between five and 15 had been throwing items including stones and bottles at the horses. Working with the RSPCA and the owner of the horses all the children and parents were spoken to.

Speeding
We are currently surveying local roads which have been suggested as potential speeding problem areas. We are currently using a system which records the speed of all vehicles over a 48 hour period and this is then downloaded onto a computer. This allows us to analyse the mean average speed and helps us to target our education/enforcement.

The Neighbourhood Specialist Officers are trained to use the Ultralyte laser device which will be used in enforcement operations. We will also make use of a Speed Indicator Device and the expertise of the Thames Valley Roads Policing Department.

Litter
Despite the hard work of the Neighbourhood Action Group and West Oxfordshire District Council in trying to address this issue, it has been raised again by local residents as an issue for the next 12 months.

Other News
PC Chris Ince, one of our Neighbourhood Specialist Officers has recently left the team for pastures new. After two years in post he has decided to take on a new challenge with the Response Teams at Witney.

The team has held two street meetings over the past month, which have been well received by the local residents.

On Saturday 22 August we attended Blake’s School charity fete offering bike marking and crime reduction advice.

The team will be at Witney Feast on Monday 14 and Tuesday 15 September.

We have revamped our weekend surgeries and will now be including various estates within the town as well as the local villages. The next few dates for your diaries are:

Saturday 12 September - Witney Town Centre in the morning and Burwell Estate in the afternoon.

Saturday 27 September – Hailey in the morning and Minster Lovell in the afternoon.

Please come along to meet the team and raise any issues you may have.

If you would like to contact a member of the team please either telephone 0845 8 505 505 or email [email protected].