With the final day of our CREW complete I would like to say a huge ‘Thank You’ to everyone who supported the event, especially our NHW Coordinator Tony Tuck and James Knight from Basingstoke Council, both of whom gave up their Saturday to offer advice and support at our CREW day.

The CREW day worked very well.  Residents dropped in throughout the day seeking advice, asking questions and receiving free crime prevention advice and gadgets.  We asked residents to partake in a questionnaire to ascertain views on problem areas and areas where it was felt that agencies (such as Police and Council) had made headway.  For the most part questions on the day and within the questionnaire raised the issue of parking and speeding, which as you may be aware, are one of our community priorities.  I am pleased to say that it was generally felt that these matters were being addressed successfully and that a notable difference had been seen.  Congratulations to the winner of our questionnaire lucky dip, Mr. Fletcher, who received a £10 Festival Place voucher.

Many of you will have seen Lauren and I (and other officers) dealing with traffic issues around the schools.  Following an advice letter home to parents, parking patrols were, for the most part, met favourably and we encountered very few offences.  We did find that in some cases parents became aggressive when approached about their parking.  Please remember that all we are asking is for vehicles to be parked legally.  This means observing no waiting signs, yellow lines, junctions, driveways and footpaths.  Please ensure that you leave yourself enough time to find a suitable place to park and remember that the school bus stop layby should only be used as an immediate drop/pick up point and the driver must not leave their vehicle unattended.  If you have any queries about parking around the schools please speak with either myself or Lauren.  The parking patrols will continue whenever we are free to attend and offences will be dealt with by way of enforcement. 

Also as part of the CREW Hampshire Constabulary’s Roads Policing Unit attended to address the issue of speeding, which I know is a concern for many of you.  You will be surprised to note that their visits were fairly fruitless.  In the four hours that they attended, 16 verbal warnings were issued BUT for relatively low speeds.  They did not witness driving in excess of 40 mph.  The roads addressed were Belle Vue Road, Park Lane, Hatch Lane and Byfleet Avenue.  From standing on the roadside with my colleagues whilst checks were carried out, I did agree with the traffic officers that in some cases perception of speed is very different to actual speed.  For example, small vehicles appeared to be going faster than they were, as did noises vehicles and vehicles coming round corners at a certain angle.  I can ask RPU to attend again but I would welcome comments as to the best time and most problematic roads. 

Another successful activity was litter picking at the local schools.  We would like to thank the head teacher for agreeing to allow the children to take part.  Lauren and I thoroughly enjoyed it (and learnt a lot about environmental issues from our helpers!)  The junior school were very surprised at the amount of litter collected from the school grounds and we are hoping to be able to partake in a regular collection with different students. 

I hope that you, like I, thought that the CREW was worthwhile.  Please do not think that we need an event like this to speak with us about your concerns.  The date for the next residents meeting will be announced shortly and we are happy to undertake beat surgeries if it is felt that these would be beneficial?

I do hope that the Remembrance Day Parade is a success.  Unfortunately I cannot attend due to family commitments but PCSO Lauren Miller will be there to lay the wreath. 

My best wishes,

PC 22725 Tracey Read,

Old Basing Safer Neighbourhood Team.