Update from Inspector Wilson, Nottinghamshire Police, to include information on local traffic speed monitoring.
Minutes:
Inspector Wilson of Nottinghamshire Police provided a verbal update on a range of policing, crime, anti-social and traffic issues in Wollaton East and Lenton Abbey and Wollaton West wards as follows:
Wollaton West update
(a) total crime levels between April 2015 and April 2016 were similar. Shed burglaries saw a big reduction in this period and, while home burglaries had increased marginally, a prolific and persistent offender in the area had been apprehended and numbers of incidents had dropped;
(b) figures for shop thefts had increased in the period from April 2015 to April 2016, primarily as a result of a spike in thefts from a particular store in the first part of this period. Figures had since stabilised;
(c) incidents of anti-social behaviour have seen a significant 28% reduction in the past 12 months.
Wollaton East and Lenton Abbey update
(d) overall crime levels in the ward have reduced by 9% in the period between April 2015 and April 2016. Burglary from dwellings had dropped by around 45%, though this was from a high baseline in 2014/15;
(e) bicycle thefts have reduced significantly following close work with the University, while incidents of anti-social behaviour have also declined.
Operational changes
(f) Canning Circus Police station has now closed and Police and Community Protection colleagues are now located at Byron House on Maid Marian Way;
(g) under current Police restructure proposals, the Wollaton West ward will fall under Broxtowe, which is under the remit of Inspector Fenwick;
(h) Inspector Wilson expressed the view that moving away from a City/County divide in policing was a positive development.
Traffic and speeding enforcement
Councillor Steve Battlemuch introduced the item by setting out several concerns about speeding in the area and indicated that he had recently met Nottinghamshire Police about this and had written to the Police and Crime Commissioner to raise these concerns.
Inspector Wilson stated the following:
(i) speed and safe driving is a major issue for Nottinghamshire Police, with a lot of resources put into speed monitoring. This has helped lead to a significant reduction in road traffic accident casualties in recent years;
(j) the effect of introducing 20 miles per hour (mph) limits in residential areas has been to reduce average speeds from 30-33mph to 24-25mph. While the revised average speed was above the legal limit, the Nottinghamshire Police position was that rigid enforcement of the 20mph limit was not the best use of finite resources;
(k) changes to road structure, signage and markings have a stronger impact on changing driver behaviours;
(l) the Committee highlighted several speeding and parking ‘hot spots’ within Area 7, including parking issues on Arleston Drive, and cut-through issues on Torvill Drive, Woodbank Drive and Grangewood Road, where it was believed an occasional physical Police presence would have a positive impact;
(m) in response, Inspector Wilson advised that the Police focus needs to be on arterial routes and on issues where there is a risk of accidents. He expressed the view that parking around schools, while inconvenient for residents, slowed traffic speeds and meant fewer accidents;
(o) the Committee highlighted speeding on Bramcote Lane, particularly by heavy goods vehicles, as an ongoing issue.
RESOLVED
(1) to note the Police update and Committee comments;
(2) to consider how traffic management measures, such as additional signage and markings, can address speeding and traffic issues at a future meeting of the Committee.