The Dovetail Project - for the Rowner Beat - 11 MAY MEETING
Members of the VRA committee attended a dovetail project meeting on the 11th of May at Gosport police station which has now been renamed the “Rowner Neighbourhood Panel”.
At the meeting we discussed the problem of litter, graffiti, rubbish and drug taking in the area. The panel set about identifying achievable objectives, initial these were to reduce the litter and graffiti.
The panel was reminded that there was already a contact number and e-mail address for anti-social behaviour, the contact details are as follows
Mon-Fri 9 am – 5 pm 02392 545501
or email any time asb@gosport.gov.uk
Also anti-social behaviour or low level crime can be reported to the police, on 0845 0454545.
The police stated they would examine Gosport's abandoned vehicle removal scheme.
Another avenue explored was to make the local shops more responsible for the litter generated outside their front doors. In particular a letter would be written to Tesco asking them to widen their litter picking route.
The council will be asked to allocate more vandal proof litter bins to the area.
One other point raised was educating people generally in Rowner as to their responsibilities and the environment, and to initiate a sense of pride.
VRA/VRSG vice chairman
October 2004
A meeting was recently held at Gosport police station, here are the informal minutes of the meeting while awaiting for the full minutes from the police officers involved.
The dovetail project does not simply just involve the village but includes the whole of Rowner, south of the Rowner road. But to save time I will concentrate on the issues affecting the village until the formal minutes of the meeting are published.
The Rowner crew’s activates are slowly being curtailed thought the issuance of anti-social behaviour orders, and involvement with the time out group. As a result vehicle crime is down 70%, burglaries are down 33% over the last year.
The New legislation regarding the miss-use of drugs will only work if you report every little thing, from burnt tin foil and discarded needles to unusually behaviour of neighbours. Your information will help the police to piece together a picture of events happening here on the estate and will ultimately lead to arrests. If we can report these drug related incidences then eventually we can drive out the drug culture.
A part from the drug issue we also talked about the mounting piles of rubbish around the estate. This rubbish is a potential fire hazard, and with bonfire night fast approaching, the VRA expressed its concerns. The police officers suggested that the fire brigade visit the village to assess the situation, and that the police would arrange this with the local fire chief.
We also expressed our concerns about the thugs who have taken over the walkway above the takeaway. These thugs have been seen dropping cans and bottles over the balcony without thought for those walking below. Unfortunately the CCTV doesn’t pick up this activity due its location. Again the police have asked that everyone contact them to report this type of behaviour so that they can deal with it.
The police will be holding bicycle workshops in the local schools to help improve the safety of your kid’s bikes. Also they will offer to postcode the bikes too. The police report that they have hundreds of bike that they recovered but have no way to return to their rightful owners because they haven’t been post coded.
The Dovetail Project is based on the response to the questionnaire sent out to all residents in the Rowner area, to address fears and concerns. Only 30% of residents in The Village responded to this questionnaire.
About 20 people attended the Dovetail meeting, from various groups, including the Access Point, Timeout Group, the local vicar, a member of the Council, landlords, the police and military police and a representative of the VRA. Labyrinth and David Seymour were also sent invitations but did not attend.
Crime
Police records show that residents living in the Rowner beat are less likely to become a victim of crime than in the recent past although residents expressed a fear of becoming a victim of crime or at risk. Minor offences and anti-social behaviour are common in the area and this is becoming as the acceptable norm by many.
Drug Use
Drugs are seen as the cause of acquisitive crime in the area and as such is reducing the quality of life for all residents.
Policing and other enforcement
The need for greater CCTV coverage and improved police presence has been requested BUT a greater police presence will be seen by many as a greater level of crime! This is not the case.
General Environment
The idea was put forward that we have a clean-up week, starting on the 28th of May and ask all landlords and residents to get involved. Cleaning the area will include litter, dog fouling, run-down and boarded up buildings and broken windows. it was suggested that more litter bins be provided. (The VRA should get the media involved to 'name and shame' our landlord over his boarded up flat). Free skips are available upon request - you no longer need to have multiple signatures) so there is no need for rubbish to build up anywhere in The Village. If the estate looks clean and tidy this will help to encourage people to act more responsibly. Take the humble 'cigarette butt' for example, it takes 1000 years for the materials used to break down.
Long-term issues
The aim of the Dovetail Project is to improve and to have a positive impact on the following:
poor shopping, poor housing (especially the precinct), poor quality of life and the poor reputation of the estate. The estate is being used as a dumping ground for people which is having a negative effect. if we improve the estate, a better quality of tenant will be attracted to the area and landlords will be able to charge more of a going market rent. Better tenants will have a better social attitude and hopefully rubbish will not be dumped, litter will not be dropped, crime will fall and house prices will rise.
Children and young people
The problems include: teenagers hanging around (intimidating), underage drinking, young children allowed to roam acting in rude and aggressive ways without guidance or control. the answers include: giving teenagers more to do or places to go, a curfew for those up to 16 and improved play areas. With nothing to do these teenagers will turn to smoking drinking and drugs.
Cars, driving and roads
We need to take action on illegally parked cars. The fire service have the right to shunt cars out of the way. it was reported that the security guards on the village were doing a good job by putting notices on illegally parked cars and informing the police. the VRA corrected this saying the security guards did this only when asked but that generally the issue was ignored. there is a free service to remove abandoned or burnt out cars.
MUGA - Multi-use Games Area
This is to be situated at Siskin Junior School. there will be hard-court surface areas and a floodlit Astroturf area. This will support a range of activities including football, netball and many other sports. It will be used by the school and will also be accessible to local residents and community groups. Work is due to start in August and is hoped to be completed by November. this brand new facility is being funded by Gosport Council and the labour Government.