Elmbridge has been working closely with its partners including Surrey Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to deliver projects to boost safety in Walton-on-Thames.
Walton was one of three communities in Surrey to receive funding that was secured by the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office from the Government’s Safer Streets fund at the end of last year. Elmbridge received £333,000 to spend on five interventions to address anti-social behaviour, neighbourhood crime and violence against women and girls.
Since 1 January this year, Elmbridge has extended the monitoring of the nine public space CCTV cameras in Walton-on-Thames to 24 hours a day, seven days a week - an extra 12 hours of monitoring for the town.
The Council is also in the process of purchasing five re-deployable CCTV cameras, including an ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) camera for deployment around Walton-on-Thames. These cameras will be installed in areas that are coming to the attention of the Council and Surrey Police for anti-social behaviour, neighbourhood crime and concerns about violence against women and girls.
Works have also been progressing to improve the look and feel of Drewitts Court Car Park. The car park’s lighting will shortly be upgraded, new directional arrows painted, speed humps reviewed and improvements to the stairwell undertaken which include urine repellent and anti-graffiti paints. The car park will also benefit from our deployable CCTV for a period of time. By April, we hope to have the car park assessed for the Safer Parking Award and hope that the improvements and award will encourage more people to use it.
Partners are also focusing on deterring anti-social behaviour at George Froude Park and are considering proposals to reduce the number of entrances.
The grant was part of the fifth round of Safer Streets funding which has so far seen over £120m shared across England and Wales (over £2 million in Surrey) for projects to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and make areas safer for women and girls.
Council leader and Cabinet member for Policy and Transformation, Bruce McDonald said he was really pleased with the project’s progress so far:
“Keeping residents safe and enhancing the feeling of safety is a key priority for the Elmbridge Community and Safety Partnership.
“Elmbridge is continuing to work with relevant partners to deliver youth and family support, along with other aspects of the Safer Streets funding aims, to make Walton-on-Thames safer for all.”
Elmbridge Borough Commander, Inspector Bert Dean, said, “We know, from our conversations with the community and general feedback, that there are often areas where people don’t feel safe. By securing this funding we can work with our partners and the community to bring about changes in the area by designing out opportunities for crime and ASB.”
Police and Crime Commissioner Lisa Townsend said: “Ensuring people feel safe is a key part of my Police and Crime Plan for Surrey. At engagement meetings with Surrey Police this winter, Elmbridge residents told us they want to see more being done to tackle anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime where they live.
“So, I’m delighted that the money from Safer Streets is now being used by the Partnership to make tangible, long term improvements that will enhance safety.”