Present: Nick Brown (Chairman), Jim Bolland (Secretary), Inspector Simon Williamson, Robert Windass, Sgt Andy Graham, PC Jan Powell, PCSO Lee Brittain, Mike Boswell, Dave Siswick, David Fearnside, Jessica Masterman, Capt Colin Taylor, Peter Phillips, Martin Leather, Anne Fletcher, and Ken Lawson.
- Chairman’s Welcome
Chairman, Nick Brown welcomed everyone to the meeting especially new attendees including our new Inspector Simon Williamson and Capt Colin Taylor from 6th Regiment at Dishforth. Since so many newcomers were here we went around introducing ourselves.
- Apologies for Absence Apologies had been received from:
Graham Archer, Paul Gill, Nic Holmes, Sally Brown, Mike Fisher, John Helliwell. Superintendant Paula Booth, Pauline Phillips, Suzanne Campbell, Mike Collins and Richard Cole.
- Approval of the minutes from the last meeting of 21st April, 2016 The minutes were approved. Proposed Robert Windass, seconded Martin Leather.
- Matters arising from the minutes
All matters arising from the minutes were covered by today’s agenda.
- Matters brought to the attention of the Group before the meeting and advised to the Police in advance of the meeting Enforcement of HGV signage in Boroughbridge and Roecliffe Jim Bolland and Dave Siswick set out the case as far as Roecliffe is concerned. Because of overnight parking in roads off Bar Lane, if it were not policed once new signage is in place by April 2017, then Payne’s Dairies HGVs would not be able to access their new parking lot at the end of Brickyard Road. HGV parking has also got to be stopped as parked up HGVs emit noise, and also the excrement which the drivers leave was totally unacceptable. Jan Powell accepted vehicles cause problems, but that the problem should be tackled before parking up. When parked they can’t be moved. Also, if moving them on, where to move them to? Wetherby Service area only place left. Highways are talking of advertising change in signage in January 2017. The Inspector said that whether Continental drivers or not they can prosecute and/or give on the spot fines. It is the time they can put into doing it. It will not be their highest priority. However, council traffic wardens work into the evenings and start work early. Satnavs also can be programmed with Highways information of parking restrictions. Nick Brown said that once signage is in place, then the police must make a real push. The new signage needs to be publicised to drivers, and companies like Reed Boardall need to prepare information in different languages for drivers. In Boroughbridge photos have been taken outside the school with HGVs parking on the pavement. HGVs should use the bypass and be banned from driving through Boroughbridge. A ban has to be policed. It was decided that we needed to raise the last £2000 for this project to start by mid-February. Secondly Nick Brown thought that a “Task and Finish Group” was needed to sort out these issues. This was agreed and the members were Dave Siswick, PC Jan Powell, Peter Phillips and Robert Windass. This could be reported back at our next SNG meeting if not before.
- Update on the CCTV cameras in Boroughbridge. HBC Community Safety Team have said these are costly to run and and they will disappear at the end of the financial year. They are not advanced cameras and don’t give a good image. They can’t even pick up registration numbers. Also not infra red. The Inspector welcomed the presence of CCTV cameras. The police can’t fund them but they would like to keep them. The police would also like HBC to continue funding and maintaining them. It was agreed to add this associated issue to the aforementioned Task and Finish Groups remit. .Robert Windass suggested cameras could police HGVs coming through Boroughbridge.. Another suggestion by the Inspector was that mobile camera vans could be used with better equipment and better images. It was decided to add this associated issue to the aforementioned Task Force.
- Where is the east side response unit to be based? Inspector Simon Williamson said that the N.Y. Police overarching strategy was to reduce the size of the entity. The plan was still to sell the Boroughbridge Police Station in August 2017. But they needed to maintain Boroughbridge until plans were developed in Ripon. Knaresborough Police Station was Tier 2 and would then be OK for two years and will then be sold. It was then reported that local policing plans have been submitted for approval for a new build at Ripon, and that the new build will house the Boroughbridge NPT as well as Ripon response. When Boroughbridge was sold PCSOs will go to Ripon and the response unit will go to Knaresborough. Police vehicles will be based in Ripon. Overall the future police plans were that police will be based in Harrogate and Ripon. It is the mobile data technology aspect that has changed the strategy. The new build in Ripon is planned to be ready by August 2017.
- Response to 999 call at Church Lane Surgery The police have already addressed this issue by email.
- 101 System. A review of this National system was under way. Main problem is with the voice recognition system. Results of the investigation would be announced in due course.
- Police issues for 2017, plus District and Local crime reports Inspector Simon Williamson said the current four priorities were: 1) Protecting vulnerable people and keeping them safe 2) Cutting crime and intervention 3) prevention and early intervention 4) Improving victim care. Locally we have things like Rural crime which is included in the cutting crime priority. The lead for this attention on rural crime was the Police Commissioner.
- District Report Neighbourhood Policing was staying. But there were structural changes. There will be one Inspector covering Knaresborough and Ripon, and two sergeants, with Sgt Andy Graham covering Knaresborough and Boroughbridge. The team for Boroughbridge included part of an Inspector, a Sgt (Andy), a PC (Jan), and three PCSOs of which Lee Brittain was one. Crime overview. There was important trend changes in the District. Nationally violence without injury needed recording more diligently. There is an increase in sex offences as historical figures are recorded. Local hate crime figures were up 30%, but not in our District. Victim satisfaction similar at 93% vs 96% last year. 999 calls were handled within targeted times ie in rural areas within 20 minutes vs 15 mins in urban areas. In Harrogate District there have been 4238 crimes this year to date (YTD) as against 4124 LYTD. Last years figure dropped from over 5000 crimes in the year before last, so crime was coming down. Technology was driving down crime. Alcohol abuse was down. Victim based crime was down (400 less victims). Violence with injury, 492 down to 434. Robbery low, down from 23 to 15. Burglary down from 232 to 169. Now there were 100 cameras in N.Yorks. All borders are covered and there was excellent cooperation between N.Yorks and W.Yorks police. There was a Rural Crime Team and two Road Crime Teams. Local Crime picture. Sgt Andy Graham presented this and attached is the overview for Knaresborough and Boroughbridge. Andy pointed out what a huge area this is! In particular Robberies down 40% YTD vs LYTD. (from 5 to 3!!), Burglary of dwellings down 30% (in Boroughbridge 6), Sexual offences up 66% (a rise of 6) Here the Internet was a major issue. Bicycle theft down 37% (8 to 5) etc. Overall crime down 11%. There was good co-oporation with the public. PC Jan Powell said he wanted to get out into rural areas and would attend P.C. Meetings when needed.
- Dishforth Camp. Capt. Colin Taylor had read the last minutes of our meeting and wanted to stress that the 550 soldiers and their families had not come into the area to rape and pillage! They already have good contact with the police who attend regular coffee mornings etc. They are keen to interact in the area. He admitted that along the road from Dishforth to Boroughbridge there was a lot of speeding and asked the police to look into it. Anyone is welcome to visit them in Dishforth. Nick Brown said he had met the Colonel, who was very welcoming. Shop keepers in Boroughbridge should be happy. They have a good interaction with the Dishforth P.C. (Jim Brown). Andy said he was trying to get new signage up on the Dishforth to Boroughbridge road. The hedging needed trimming with poor cross views at present. Grass at road junctions should be cut more also. Anne Fletcher said she was happy to email events such as WI meetings, Historical meetings etc to Dishforth to promote integration.
- Neighbourhood Watch noone present to give report. The Sgt has regular meetings with the N.W Team. The only thing to report is that the N.W. Messaging system has changed. No more Ringmaster. One should download the APP onto ones phone.
- Fire and Rescue Again no one present. The Chairman appealed for someone to come to our next SNG meeting.
- A.O.B. Speeding on Horsfair. The police will analyse data and come back to us. Also Harrogate road in Minskip. The Inspector said the way the police handle speeding was to use a matrix. They analyse the results and if 85% or less were within the speed limit, they conclude that there was not a major issue. The Harrogate Road in Minskip fell in this category. One can always report speeding offences using 95 Alive saying where you were with shots of the vehicle. The police now have an additional two green vans so beware! Langthorpe raised an issue concerning school buses collecting children and dropping them off outside The Fox and Hounds in Langthorpe. Apparently there was chaos with parents parking opposite the buses and blocking the road and using abusive language if challenged! P.C. Jan said he would investigate.
- Date of next meeting Suggested for April/May 2017 depending on when the Task and Finish Group was ready to report back on HGV signage. The Chairman will come back with a date. The meeting finished at 9.15pm Jim Bolland – Secretary