Neighbourhood Policing

The main theme of the meeting was Community Policing and the first speaker to be introduced by Jenny Blackburn was Inspector Jon Kirby of Tunbridge Wells along with his team: PC Chris Carter ; Ariana Sutton, Rusthall’s village warden; and Carly Telford our dedicated police community support officer.

Inspector Kirby began by pointing out that the term Community Policing had in fact been replaced with Neighbourhood Policing to reflect changes in approach that have been evolving recently. Admitting that the ideal would be a bobby on every street corner, he said that in practice the police have to work within the available resources and maximise those they have. The aim is to provide a more visible, accessible, responsive service to that of the recent past where just providing response cars to incidents meant that it was difficult to tap into the problems of particular neighbourhoods.

The Chief Constable of Kent has raised the stakes for performance, concentrating on areas such as burglaries, nuisance youths and noisy neighbours. The aim of Neighbourhood Policing is to be all-encompassing, involving the whole community in the business of keeping the peace. For this, said Inspector Kirby, they need local knowledge of the likely trouble spots and illegal activity that is going on. This can be passed on through the village warden or by phone. One objective is to let people know who their local police contact is – this is in addition to the emergency 999 number of course. For Rusthall the non-urgent police number is 01732 771055.

Inspector Kirby then ran through the crime statistics for Rusthall over the past year, which were broadly encouraging, showing a fall in most types of crime or nuisance behaviour. Apparently Rusthall ranks twelfth for crime out of the twenty wards in the Tunbridge Wells area, but has the fifth best rate of crime reduction over the past year. Nuisances that have increased are reported loutish behaviour and abandonment of vehicles – which has risen from one to seven.

PACT

Future developments in Neighbourhood Policing are focussed on the Partners and Community Together (PACT) project which aims to improve communications between the police and local communities further. After some debate over means of reaching and influencing people (e.g. leaflets, emails, newspaper ads etc.) the police have chosen four main approaches:

1 – Public meetings
2 – Walkabouts
3 – Surgeries at advertised times and places
4 – Surveys

With a view to furthering this agenda, the first PACT meeting for the Tunbridge Wells area will be held at St Paul’s Primary School in Rusthall High Street on Tuesday 11 December at 7pm.

The first aim of this meeting is to form a panel with the ability to influence things in the community. Members will include representatives from other departments of local government besides the police; and in the Chair will be local councillor Barry Edwards. The first aim of the panel will be to produce three PACT priorities to concentrate on in Rusthall which need not just be to do with policing but with other local concerns such as the highways.

PACT meetings will not be held on a regular basis but will depend on local demand. There will however be regular surgeries at which concerns can be passed on to the PACT panel. These should be attended by PC Chris Carter unless he is called away by more urgent incidents elsewhere (such as 999 calls).

Everyone interested in improving the quality of life in our village is urged to attend on 11 December. Apparently Rusthall was chosen to test this idea because it is seen to have a strong community spirit.

Inspector Kirby’s talk was followed by a lively and sometimes heated discussion about the ins and outs of the current situation in the village and suggested improvements; after which councillor Barry Edwards took the chair.

Barry Edwards

Councillor Edwards began by thanking Inspector Kirby for his speech and with regard to some of the complaints about anti-social behaviour that surfaced during the discussion, pointed out that the police could not have done anything about many of them because they had been unreported and no record had been kept of the time and circumstances of such incidents.

He then moved on to news that Rusthall is to get its very own Christmas lights thanks to the persevering efforts of Jenny Blackburn. The lights have been acquired from Tunbridge Wells Council and only two are likely to go up this year, but there are others waiting to be refurbished once the money is raised. Each one costs around £250. Will there be a switching-on of the lights ceremony? Probably not.

There followed a review of the ongoing debate about the recycling facilities in Rusthall. The present location at the top of the High Street takes up around five parking spaces which would be appreciated by shoppers coming into the village by car. There is an alternative site half way down Southwood Road but the question is how many people would stop recycling if the bins are moved. Also perhaps, how many more would use them at the new location.

Barry Edwards has been carrying out a survey at the bins which seems to show that not many users would object to the move. A show of hands at the meeting seemed to reflect this by showing a slight majority in favour of the Southwood Road option. The debate is ongoing so anyone with strong opinions should contact Barry Edwards.

Other news

Or no news at all in the case of the old Rusthall Garage whose developers Hambridge Homes are not answering their phone.

The Rusthall Elms decision is probably to go to committee on 23 January. Anyone who wishes to speak should submit their names to the Planning Committee beforehand.

The suggestion has been raised to adopt the footpaths in Nellington lane to help keep them clear of leaves, brambles, mud etc.

There is also a neglected plot of land between Grange Gardens and Woodside Road that was once a community centre and could now make a lovely community garden if there is enough interest (and enough volunteers!).

The next RVA meeting will be on Thursday 24 January at the United Reformed Church Hall - speakers from St Paul’s CofE Primary School and The Oddfellows Friendly Society.

If you would like to be on our email list for newsletters and meetings notices, please email rusthallva@yahoo.co.uk. Volunteers would also be appreciated for leaflet distribution in one street close to where you live.

MEETING DATES FOR 2008

24 January
3 April
22 May
17 July
25 September
27 November

General Useful Numbers

Jenny Blackburn, Chairman 01892 546520       Jenny Alexander, Membership Secretary 01892 528658
Town Hall (switchboard) 01892 526121       Tunbridge Wells Police (non urgent) 01732 771055
Ariana Sutton, Community Warden 07813 695872       Carly Telford, PCSO 07772 226054
Fly tipping/abandoned vehicles 01892 548154