NW Great Totham South Neighbourhood Action Panel News

News

2010-03-24T09:54:00.001-07:00

I got a bit cheesed off with doing these blogs because nobody seemed to be reading them, sowas a waste of time. Furthermore, the Essex Police Website carries all the forthcoming NAPs on the appropriate NSO page, so it seems futile to repeat the information.

Do please remember that the meetings move around in the case of Great Totham NAP, since it covers such a large area, and the NAP was renamed Blackwater Villages to let everyone feel included (except on the Essex Police website where it's still Great Totham.)

Note that the Essex police URL changes from time to time. If the link no longer works,. please uise a search engine.

I will continue to post odd items of news aboyut the NAP meetings but the best idea is to look at the Essex Police website,

NAP Meeting

2009-01-14T00:10:00.000-08:00

Please remember the next meeting is in Great Totham Village Hall 22nd January 2009 7.00pm

NAP for Blackwater Villages (AKA Great Totham)

2008-12-25T23:32:00.000-08:00

NEIGHBOURHOOD ACTION PANEL NORTH BLACKWATER (Gt Totham area)

PROGRESS REPORT ON PREVIOUS NAP PRIORITIES 18th September 2008

Priority Area

1. ASB in car park of Great Totham village hall
OUTCOME:No further reports received
Carry forward? No

2. Visibility issues in Bakers Lane and Scraley Road, Great Totham
OUTCOME: ECC Highways and Maldon District Council to be made aware
Carry forward? No

NEW NAP PRIORITIES AGREED 24th November 2008

PRIORITY
1. Speeding vehicles through village of Great Totham
Initial Actions Mobile police patrols and use of speed device

2. Speeding vehicles through village of Tollesbury
Initial Actions Mobile police patrols and use of speed device

3. Youths drinking alcohol Tollesbury church area
Initial ActionsHigh visible patrol.

FUTURE NAP MEETINGS:
Thursday January 22nd – Village Hall, GREAT TOTHAM 7pm

Tuesday 17th March 2009 – TOLLESHUNT D’ARCY Village Hall

POLICE CONTACT: PC MICHELE OLIVER, Neighbourhood Police Officer.
Tel. 01621 868576 Mobile 07977 512068

NAP meeting 24th November

2008-11-30T09:16:00.000-08:00

The new priorities are listed here

NAP meeting

2008-11-19T22:38:00.000-08:00

The next NAP meeting for Blackwater Villages North (Great Totham)is Monday 24th November 7.00pm Tollesbury Community Centre.

The current priorities are

Nuisance Youths... Great totham

Visibility... Great Totham

NAP meeting

2008-11-12T15:15:00.000-08:00

17th November 08 at Tollesbury Community Centre 7.00pm has been postponed. New date to be announced when it's been organised.

NAP meeting 10th March 08

2008-03-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

Great Totham District NAP Report:- 10th March 08

For those who are unaware of what Neighbourhood Action Panels are about, this is a bimonthly meeting of the public (that’s you and me) and various interested Key Individuals in the Neighbourhood (KIN) to discuss problems specific to our Neighbourhood. The NAP selects 3 problems in particular which need tackling. These are called ‘Policing Priorities’. (This is an umbrella term for problems which might not actually be a policing matter, but part of the wider brief of the NAP being linked with Maldon District Community Safety Partnership.)

The 3 Policing Priorities from 24th January 08 have been addressed thus:-

1. Obstruction at Tolleshunt Darcy road junction with Tuwick Road. Currently building work going is on there, causing a potential hazard to motorists. This is mainly resolved because the building work is coming to an end. The Parish Council need to check their plans to see if the path is too far into the road.
2. Speeding Through Tolleshunt Major. The traffic police have been dealing with this, but there has been no feedback from them as yet. PCSO Steve Butler spent a morning there, and gave advice to a few motorists, but people were mainly obeying the speed limits at that time.
3. Advertising of NAPs. We have addressed this in several ways. Attempts to devise a more inclusive poster have been made, and a couple of variations have been put up in shops and on notice boards. An article on NAPs has gone into the Courier, published by Maldon District Council and delivered to households in the District. A new name for the NAP has been suggested; Blackwater North Villages.

The three policing priorities from this meeting are:-

1. Enforcement of not using Mobile phones whilst driving.
2. Zero tolerance of Fly tipping, particularly in Braxted
3. Continue to promote communications and advertisement of the NAPs meetings, aims and objectives

The next Great Totham (and other villages) NAP will be on Tuesday 6th May Great Totham Village Hall at 7.00pm. All residents from the whole neighbourhood are welcome. For further details, contact :-

Pc Goodchild on 01621 868576 (often an answer machine) or
mobile 07710 046 156 (picked up by the officer on duty.)

Essex Police Website Great Totham Neighbourhood:
http://www.essex.police.uk/yourarea/y_np_mal.php?nptId=28

Great Totham South Neighbourhood Watch Blogs
http://nhw-greattothamsth.blogspot.com/

http://nw-gts-feedback-forum.blogspot.com/

NAP Report 24 Jan 08

2008-01-31T02:17:00.000-08:00

Great Totham District NAP Report:- 24th January 08

For those who are unaware of what Neighbourhood Action Panels are about, this is a bimonthly meeting of the public (that’s you and me) and various interested Key Individuals in the Neighbourhood (KIN) to discuss problems specific to our Neighbourhood. The NAP selects 3 problems in particular which need tackling. These are called ‘Policing Priorities’. (This is an umbrella term for problems which might not actually be a policing matter, but part of the wider brief of the NAP being linked with Maldon District Community Safety Partnership.)

The 3 Policing Priorities from 14th November 07 have been addressed thus:-

1. Parking with half the wheels on the pavement in Tolleshunt D’Arcy, especially on Tollesbury Road, particularly on Sundays and in the morning with the school run. This has seen a vast improvement. The shop and the pub have been very helpful in this matter. Warning signs have been put up, and one ticket has been issued. Tollesbury Road is still ongoing because football hasn’t been played recently.

2. Dog fouling is increasing in Great Totham, particularly in Harvey Road. The Street Scene Enforcement Officer has been informed of the problem. The neighbourhood watch coordinators have identified several problem areas. There are also reports of people bagging up the mess but not disposing of it properly.

3. A couple of potential road hazards were highlighted, This has been put forward to highways and added to the list of items which need to be considered.

The Priorities of the NAP meeting from 24th January are:-

1. Obstruction at Tolleshunt Darcy road junction with Tuwick Road. Currently building work going is on there, causing a potential hazard to motorists.

2. Speeding Through Tolleshunt Major; Main drag through Tolleshunt Major and Tolleshunt Darcy Road.

3. Advertising of NAPs. The feedback and turnout from the public was disappointing this time. We fear that the public are not aware of these meetings. Part of this problem is the NAP name: Great Totham NAP which means that other villages may mentally switch off before realising it applies to them too. (The name comes from Neighbourhood Policing Team, which is called Great Totham somewhat arbitrarily.) It is deemed so important that every resident in the Neighbourhood feels involved, that this was our third priority

The next Great Totham (and other villages) NAP will be on March 10th at Tollesbury Community Centre at 7.00pm. All residents from the whole neighbourhood are welcome. For further details, contact Pc Goodchild on 01621 868576 (often an answer machine) or
mobile 07710 046 156 (picked up by the officer on duty.)

Essex Police Website, http://213.210.6.88/yourarea/y_np_mal.php?nptId=28

Can anyone think of a name for the Great Totham NAP which removes the emphasis on Great Totham and makes the other villages feel more included. Great Totham and District NAP? Great Totham and other villages NAP? Something completely different? Any ideas?

Just a reminder...

So what's The Neighbourhood Action Panel (NAP) all about?
Neighbourhood Action Panels are being set up as a response to the new Crime and Disorder Act, To help us, the residents, voice our concerns over Policing issues and Community Safey in our area. This is Our Voice.

The way it works
Each Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) has a Neighbourhood Action Panel (NAP) made up of Key Individuals in the Neighbourhood (KIN). Our NAP covers the "Great Totham Neighbourhood Policing Team" area, which includes the area from Tollesbury to Broad Street Green. NAPs are an informal liaison between the Police and the local community, where we aim to find out what is causing problems for local people, and focus attention on 3 of those Priorities

The NAP will meet every 8 weeks. The meeting is split into two parts. The first half is where the Public are invited to bring their concerns to the meeting, either in person, or via filling in a form or contacting Pc Goodchild by email or phone: Tolleshunt D'Arcy Police Post 01621 868576 (Answer machine) or Mobile 07710 046156 (Picked up by the officer on duty) or Maldon Police 01621 852255 (You will get through to Chelmsford. Ask for Maldon.)

The Panel then retire to discuss these issues and concerns presented to the meeting, and select three of those issues for special attention . These "Policing Priorities" are then taken to a Joint Action Group meeting, where the appropriate people are tasked with the job of tackling the issues.

At the next meeting, the NAP will report back to the community what progress has been made on these priorities, as well as listening to new concerns and issues brought to the meeting. The venue is varied, but every resident in the NAP area is welcome to every meeting, not just residents in that local ton. Please support us with your input.

Please use this opportunity to voice your concerns, and meet with your local Neighbourhood Policing Team

Check out Essex Police website: http://213.210.6.88/index.php

NAPs Meeting

2007-09-10T01:32:00.001-07:00

The Neighbourhood Action Panel for Great Totham NPT will be meeting on Wednesday 14th November at Tolleshunt D'Arcy Village Hall, 7.00pm

Do please come and make your views about what you think should be a policing priority for Great Totham NPT known.

Or print just this page off, fill the form in and return it to
Maldon Police Station, West Square, Maldon, CM9 7PA Pc Goodchild

Or bring it to the NAP meeting

Date .................................

1. What is your concern?

2. Where is it occuring- please be specific?

3. When and how often is this happening?

(There is no reason why other NAPs can't use this same form, but please make sure it gets back to the right Neighbourhood Specialist Officer)

Your Views

2007-06-29T00:22:00.000-07:00

Your views matter. The Neighbourhood Action Panel is made up of people who have an interest in the local area. (See the report on the main blog).

The NAP sits every 8 weeks or so, with a public meeting, to decide on 3 major priorities/targets for that area.

For this we need to know your views. There will be several ways of expressing these views... Fpr example, questionaires can be filled in, you can email to PCSO or the Neighbourhood Specialist Officer, come to the meeting (which will be announced in the local papers etc.) or leave a comment on here. No named allegations please, as this is a public blog. Please just say what you feel is a priority in the Great Totham area and I will convey this to the next NAP meeting.

Feedback Re Criminal Damage

2007-06-29T00:20:00.000-07:00

Regarding thecomment by anonymous person on the GTS blog, enquiring about what can be done about the criminal damage in GTS, I asked, what can be done? Ray Stannard (Crime reduction officer) said regarding graffiti, that the police have a “Graffiti” file of tags which can be matched to names. Such damage needs to be reported to the police so they can photograph it for the files before it is cleaned off. Furthermore, if the culprit has eg cut themselves and dripped blood anywhere, please don’t clean it up, as it’s a good source of evidential DNA. In other words, don’t tidy up the mess until the police have attended. Re offensive graffiti. If you feel you must clean it off because it’s too offensive to leave, at least take some photographs yourself. Also, particularly in the rural locations, such damage tends to be by local people, and several people are aware of just who is responsible. But unless they are willing to make a statement, then there is little the police can do about it. Heather said that people just aren’t reporting crime, not just criminal damage, but burglaries as well. She urged coordinators to make good use of the PCSOs and tell them what is going on, at the time, even if the information goes no further than the PCSO’s head or pocket notebook. Then it can slot into the bigger picture. Ray reiterated this, saying that resources are allocated according to need, and a place with only two reported pieces of criminal damage is going to get less attention than a place with 10 recorded incidents. So underreporting leads to under-resourcing, which means the problem is less likely to get sorted.

Hope this helps

Neighbourhood Policing. Does it do what is says on the tin?

2006-10-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

Residents' Feedback Needed

NPT Implementation review

I was at a meeting last night between Steve Currell of Essex Police, and District and Parish councillors, where the implementation of the new Neighbourhood Policing Team policy was discussed. I’m not altogether sure I understand Neighbourhood Policing, but this is what I gathered at the meeting.

Background
Neighbourhood Policing is the result of a Government White Paper embracing 10 principles, including locally known officers, and intelligence led policing, within the community. All police forces must be compliant by 2008 but the Chief Constable of Essex has pushed this through such that Essex is compliant by July 2006.

The problem with the speed of implementation is that our Neighbourhood Policing may be “missing a few tricks.” A “Health Check” of our NPTs has shown that we’re not yet compliant, according to the Home Office. The structure is in place, the boxes are ticked, but the quality isn’t there. Yet.

The implementation of NPTs has led to tensions, the increased demand has led to pressure on resources within Essex Police. There has been a change in policing style where 70% of the resources is now focused on Neighbourhood Policing, 30% on response, whereas before (if I’ve understood correctly) it was the other way round. This has resulted in policing actually being thinner in some areas. The introduction of NPTs has raised public expectation, which may mean that the police have “over-promised” and our (the public's) expectations are unrealistic.

Steve Currell is doing an in depth review of Neighbourhood Policing for the Chief Constable to address these issues. He is speaking to every officer from Chief Superintendent to Inspector, and to “focus groups” of Sergeants, PCs and PCSOs. He is speaking to public focus groups such as Neighbourhood Watch and Councils, and to members of the public in the high street. He needs as wide a range of opinion as possible.

Overview so far
Generally speaking the councillors at the meeting were very positive about the impact that NPTs have had on the policing in their areas. I raised one specific concern which I felt showed that nothing much has changed regarding response from that likely to be experienced 15 months ago. Steve said this would be followed up.

Your Thoughts and Opinions Matter
The problem I had in feeding back our experiences in Great Totham is that I had only heard of one or two instances over the last few months. I didn’t feel able to give the full picture of how NPTs have affected us in Great Totham South. Our NPT, as you should know from the newsletter is a large, rural NPT, called “Great Totham NPT”, stretching all the way round to Althorne. We do have dedicated officers to our segment, but the sergeant changed recently. The new police station at Tolleshunt D’Arcy seems to be working OK, but I haven’t had to phone the Specific Point of Contact number, or report a crime or anything. That's why we need your feedback.

One of the problems identified quite early was that if none of our NPT is on duty, the SPOC phone goes to an answer machine, and takes a message. This might not be picked up for a day or so. The SPOC number is not for a situation requiring an immediate police response, but for queries, a discussion of a situation that may be developing, for advice and so on. So the use of an answer machine is reasonable. However, it was felt that the public would want a live person at the end of the phone, so it now gets put through to Chelmsford, and if they are busy, farmed out elsewhere. This means you may be talking to someone who hasn’t a clue about the local situation.

And, thinking about it, this flies in the face of the principles of Neighbourhood Policing. I personally would rather speak to the local designated officer, not someone I may never encounter again. It's part of building up that officer/resident relationship.

So, first question for your comments:- If you need to phone the Specific Point of Contact Number would you rather,

1. Speak to an officer in the NPT, or leave a message on the NPT answer-phone if nobody is on duty at that time
2. Speak to another person if from Essex Police if none of the NPT is available?

Steve is really keen to know how Neighbourhood Policing has impacted on us.

Are the phones working?
Is police contact with NHW better or worse than it was before May, when NPTs were implemented?
What is working regarding NPTs?
More importantly if we want it fixing, what isn’t working?
Do the public feel more involved as a community with policing their local community?

I will be drafting a questionnaire re this NPT review, and for feedback from the public re the Neighbourhood Watch in Great Totham South, which has been in operation for about 18 months now. If you have any suggestions about points you’d like raised, please make a comment, or send me a note via the Village Shop.

Oh, by the way, are people puzzled by “Evelyn”? That’s my on-line name (you never know who’s looking on the internet) You know who I am from the newsletter.

Comments.

I have set the comments on these blogs so that anyone can comment. Please be careful not to offend, even if you feel strongly about something. No libellous comments, and no swearing please (I’ve seen some blogs where my computer screen blushes). Please also respect people’s confidentiality. I will try to delete anything offensive but can’t monitor this all the time (and I’m not sure I know how to do it!).

Can you please put some sort of tag, so that if you have a specific point to raise, and there are lots of comments, you can be identified, eg “GH of Gt Totham S” or “LYH of WB”. If you are a police officer, can you say so.

Of course, you can remain anonymous, but it gives me some idea of who is reading this and feeding back if you give some indication. Your initials don’t even have to be your real initials, but for the sake of avoiding confusion (!!!) please use the same ones each time.