Meet Your Local Police, Fire And Community Safety Team
The first Community Safety Forum is being held on 14 January at 7.30pm at Stratton Upper School, allowing local people to meet representatives of the local council, police and fire services.
People can raise concerns about anything from littering to dog fouling, vandalism to nuisance fires - and there will be someone there to listen and help decide on a course of action.
The forum is a new initiative of the Mid Beds Community Safety Partnership, to encourage public participation in finding solutions to local problems.
Rob Parsons, Community Safety Manager with Mid Beds District Council explains “This a new approach for the Partnership the first town in Mid Beds to stage a public forum of this kind”
Ivor Hall, Mid Beds District Commander of Bedfordshire Police said: “We want to hear people’s concerns about crimes and anti-social behaviour so we can take action, report back to them and put their minds at rest.”
Chris Adams, Fire and Rescue Service Station Commander added: “Nuisance fires are arson in our book and we want them stamped out - responding to these, costs council tax payers’ money.”
Chief Inspector Hall went on: “We are not suggesting that Biggleswade is a place where crime is any worse than anywhere else. But neither do we want people suffering from a fear of crime which is greater than the local reality. We know people are often concerned or distressed about certain types of street activity, which together, we can help put right.”
The Biggleswade event is piloting the scheme for the rest of Mid Bedfordshire along with a similar one in Ampthill in February. The forums will meet each quarter.
Rob Parsons added: “More forums will be set up in other Neighbourhoods in Mid Beds. In some places, like Biggleswade there already exist Community Safety Groups that provide valuable links to the neighbourhoods - but many areas are without this sort of opportunity to meet and discuss concerns, and people may not be sure who to talk to if they have a problem in their street. The forums will give local people a real opportunity to work together to find solutions to the issues of most concern to them.
“We intend the forums to give them their voice.”
