Beech Village Hampshire

Beech Village in Hampshire England

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Co-ordinator Meeting – 12 April 2016

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Beech Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator Meeting, Ref. NW 114

Minutes, 12th April 2016 at 8.00 pm at Beech Village Hall

Actions in Italics

 

  1. Attendees:

  • Colin Britchford, John Tomalin, Sally Leach, Richard Butt, Clair Groom, Ann Monk, Charles Cockburn, PCO David Nops

  1. Apologies received:

  • Margaret Filey (Hants Neighbourhood Watch), Ian D. David Woodroofe (Parish Council), Charlotte Wigzel, Sarah Neish. David R, Chris Brandon-Trye, Malcolm G, Sue B,

  • The meeting recorded their appreciation of Sue Richards long term support of the watch and wished her every happiness in her new home. Also Martin Armstrong has resigned after a number of years of excellent service.

  • The meeting welcomed Clar as the new coordinator for Kings Hill and Ann who has agreed to cover the Basingstoke Road.

  1. Minutes of Last Meeting

  • The minutes were approved as an accurate record.

  1. Actions from Last Meeting:

  • The meeting was disappointed that the speed indication system rarely appears in action in Medstead Road and that the data logging information has not been published. Richard agreed to chase the PC on this matter. Sally repeated her last year’s report that a high proportion of vehicles through the village had been detected by the Speed Watch team of exceeding the limit and concern was again expressed over speeding in Wellhouse Road. In fact the Speedwatch team are still awaiting a response from the PC on their report made last Autumn. The meeting agreed that speeding is still the most contentious issue for Beech and were concerned that only in the event of a serious incident will the matter be taken seriously. The meeting also agreed that the best solution is a traffic calming system of which many other villages enjoy the benefits and that Beech has lagged behind. Once we have determined the situation on the Speed Watch report and the data logging, it was agreed that although traffic matter were outside the remit of the Watch it would continue to agitate on this important subject and meet the PC. ALL
  • The watch will not arrange a litter pick this year.
  • We have no further report on the Good Neighbour Scheme from Chris.
  • Following the concerns expressed by the Watch, measures to protect the village green from illegal parking were taken by the hall Committee funded by the PC.
  • Richard has issued another newsletter report on scams..

  1. Parish Council Up Date on Road Safety

  • As David Woodroofe was absent no report was available at the meeting.

  1. Police, Rural and Beech incident report.

  • Colin’s records showed that there had been no serious criminal activity reported to the watch in Beech other than some minor vandalism, shed break-ins and some rogue traders all of which had been distressing to the victims.
  • David’s Beech police report reflected this list noting three break-ins to sheds in Wellhouse Road (one erroneously reported), no burglaries although 15 burglaries had occurred in Four Marks and Medstead. The 4 purse snatches in Alton were of concern last week as was the stabbing in the New Year where a conviction was achieved.
  • David’s national report concerned a campaign over con men dressed officially attempting to gain entrance to households posing as electricity, water and even police officers. Richard will try and display a poster in the village.
  • David explained that if immediate assistance was required then 999 should be used, all other concerns should be 101 and he issued some pamphlets on the matter.

  1. Scams

This still appears to be one of the most frequently reported issues, both Nationally, County and in Beech, with the elderly and vulnerable being targeted. Richard has issued two warning reports on scams that villagers need to be aware of, but with hardly any feedback. He was concerned that we do not know all the problems and all the victims and that our advice was not reaching the vulnerable. It was agreed that this is a serious threat to Beech but the local police have no authority or resource to respond and they pass the information to Action Fraud at the Metropolitan Police. Richard explained that Hampshire Police have appointed a contact on Scams, Richard Gelmann, with whom he has been discussing the problem. The meeting found it difficult to identify a communications strategy, However Clair suggested organising a village meeting where the concerns could be explained which was very successful at her Chinham Watch. Sally explained that in August the Beech Ladies Group were being met by the Blue Lamp Trust to advise on security. After some discussion it was agreed that we should advertise this presentation in the newsletter, make it open for all villagers and that the watch should also address those present on scams, and security, to dovetail in with the Trust’s presentation. Clair/Colin/Sally/Richard. Maybe the police would also attend, David

  1. Beech Village Website

Martin has resigned but the website has not been updated for a couple of years. We have no volunteers to take this on and it does not appear to be a pressing issue. Use of Facebook and Twitter was also discussed but with little enthusiasm, this may be a generational issue and we need to ensure we keep ourselves up to date. However it was agreed that we should encourage all co-ordinators and villagers to sign up for the Hampshire Police Alerts in order that they may receive warning direct from the police on a whole range of subjects that include rural crime, scams and traffic problems etc. All

  1. Data Base and Area Allocation Report

  • David R in his absence requested that co-ordinators advise him of their updated contact lists to keep the communication Data Base up to date.

  • He has reported that 216 houses are signed up for the scheme and that 60% have provided their e mail contacts.

  • All co-ordinators should be on the lookout for new villagers in their patch and consider contacting neighbours to up-date their details. It was requested that Colin sends out data base and welcome letters.

  1. Treasurer’s Report

  • Colin signed the accounts presented by Richard in Chris’s absence. Colin will forward this audited version to the Parish Council. Only £11.25 was expended in the past 12 months on room hire leaving a balance of £46.62.

  • The only scheduled spend is for the hire of the hall for the meeting Richard.

  • It was agreed that we have no need for extra funds at the moment; however David Woodroofe has confirmed that if required reasonable sums are available.

  1. Article for Beech Newsletter

Colin and Sally will discuss this for the proposed Blue Lamp Trust presentation in August.

  1. Village Initiatives

Booklets on Safe and Sound Households, new neighbourhood watch stickers and doorstop trader warnings were issued to those attending the meeting for distribution. Those not attending should contact Colin for their copies. All

  1. Any Other Business

  • Richard and Clair to agree location of Kings Hill sign
  • David explained that the police were very interested in new inexpensive cctv with number plate recognition.
  • Would co-ordinators please note that when circulating information to householders by e mail that bcc (blind copies) should always be sent to keep confidentiality.
  • Colin omitted to report to the meeting that Ruth Dewing the Communications Director for the PC has compiled a welcome pack for new villagers that includes a section on neighbourhood watch.

  1. Date of Next Meeting

To be arranged as required in 2017. Colin

Colin Britchford, 12th April 2016

CC

Attendees

Absentees

Parish Council: Would Louisa please distribute to the Councillors

Margaret Filey

David Woodroofe