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Decision Maker: West Central Area Committee
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
The Committee received a report from
Sergeant Wood regarding Policing and Safer Neighbourhood Trends.
The report outlined actions taken since the
West / Central Area Committee of the 4 September 2014. The current emerging
issues/neighbourhood trends for each ward were also highlighted
Comments from members of the public:
John Lawton:
i.
Would it be possible to break down the traffic
offence report to show speeding offences, particularly 20mph offences in the
central area.
ii.
Action on 20mph enforcement on Maids Causeway was
required.
iii.
A local resident of Maids Causway,
Mr Kellett had been speaking with HGV companies whose
vehicles had been accessing Maids Causeway. Their response has been that they
cannot stop their drivers using this route and enforcement should be actioned
by the Police.
iv.
Queuing was a separate issue in Maids Causeway
particularly during and after the Christmas period. Vehicles were not permitted
to remain stationary, do PCSOs have the power to request that drivers move on.
In response Sergeant Wood said the following:
i.
A breakdown of speeding offences was not currently
available. This information has been requested for future reference.
ii.
With regards to 20mph enforcement on Maids
Causeway, PCSOs do have the power to issue tickets and have been trained,
however we are required by law to give a certain amount of leniency
iii.
We are aware of this issue of HGVs and Officers
have been appointed to liaise with Mr Kellett on this
matter.
iv.
Officers are asked to take a pragmatic approach on
the matter of queuing.
Member of Public:
i.
The Police have said that they are no longer
responsible for speed cameras in the City. I would like the person who is
responsible to attend a WCAC meeting and address why the speed cameras do not
work when most needed, ie a Friday and Saturday night
on many of the roads out of Cambridge.
Sergeant Wood replied that the County Council was responsible for speed
cameras although the Police did have a mobile unit.
Colin Rosenstiel:
i.
20mph
enforcement has been mentioned in Maids Causeway but there were other problems
in the City such as King Street and Emmanuel Street.
ii.
With
regards to car park queuing there had been an attempt to address this issue at
the Grand Arcade, with signage in Pembroke Street, but this was ignored. The
Police had a duty to keep the traffic moving and this should be a priority.
Sergeant
Wood stated that over the festive period there had been an increase in traffic
into the City and Officers had been on patrol. Officers had also been requested
to patrol the areas mentioned at certain times but it was not possible to
allocate Officers at all times to this issue.
Comments from the
Committee
Councillor
Holland:
i.
Stated that she had reported a couple of near miss accidents
on Huntingdon Road involving young children due to construction traffic parking
on the grass verges.
The Safer Communities Section Manager
confirmed that she had passed the information on the Sergeant Misik to investigate the matter further and who had sent
Officers to the area and would report back on this issue.
Councillor
Bick:
i.
Noted the positives in the report.
ii.
Remarked that residents had asked to address the
problem of cycling in Portugal Place and would welcome enforcement in the area.
iii.
Stated that noise issues in Sussex Street had been
brought to his attention.
Sergeant Wood noted the remarks on Portugal Place and stated that,
Street Night Officers had been tasked to patrol Sussex Street and the
surrounding areas encouraging people to move on, preferably to the Market
Square.
The Safer Communities Section Manager
advised that the pilot scheme for Sussex Street was progressing well and a
report would be brought back to the Committee at a later date.
Councillor
Nethsingha:
i.
Stated that Police should continue to be firm on
the issue of over-ranking of the taxi ranks.
ii.
Remarked that taxi drivers needed to be made aware
of the cycle routes in the City.
iii.
Noted an increase in the figures in burglary and
theft in the Newnham area and asked if the Police
could advise what action was being taken.
Sergeant Wood replied that the question
regarding burglary and theft would be taken back to Sergeant Misik.
Inspector Johnson informed the Committee
that this trend was reported in last quarter and has been addressed.
The Committee:
RESOLVED
(unanimously) to prioritise the following:
i.
Address alcohol
related violent crime and ASB
ii.
Tackle cycle
theft
iii.
Address a range
of road safety issues, including parking, inconsiderate cycling, driving and speeding.
Report author: Lynda Kilkelly
Publication date: 19/03/2015
Date of decision: 07/01/2015
Decided at meeting: 07/01/2015 - West Central Area Committee
Accompanying Documents: