LEIGH CRIME PREVENTION PANEL

Annual Report Year 2006/7 by Councillor Mrs. G.M. Horrigan, JP, MBE, Chairman

Presented at the Annual General Meeting held on 16^th July 2007

The year has been one of steady progress and development. The committee continues to work with the police and the community with all partners bringing public concerns to our attention. Then, if needed, we set up sub committees to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.

There is now a partnership for anti-social behaviour of the Police, Southend Council and Youth Connexion.

We made a decision early in the year, to continue, the ‘design out crime’ poster competition for our primary schools in the west of the town. We asked ourselves, “have we enough funds to continue the competition?”

The committee through our Secretary, Peter Dolby, came up with a number of people we could approach to support us financially.

Through that approach we received a number of small awards including one of £500 from The High Sheriffs’ Awards. Our Vice Chairman, David Johnson and Peter Dolby, attended the Awards event and accepted the cheque on our behalf, from the High Sheriff of Essex, Christopher Stewart-Smith.

The Lions Club of Leigh-on-Sea agreed to sponsor the competition and have expressed their desire to support the scheme in future years.

The Leigh-on-Sea Rotary Club also made an award.

A team from our committee put together the Awards Evening event. This took place in the Southend council chamber where the Mayor of Southend, Cllr. Daphne White and escort Mr. David Atkinson presented the awards to the children from seven primary schools.

The council chamber was full and overflowed into the gallery.

We welcomed member of the Lions Club of Leigh-on-Sea as well as Inspector Dave Colwell from Essex Police - Western Sector.

The evening proved to be joyful for the children and very tiring for our committee members who have all said that ‘they will do it again’ next year.

At our September meeting we discussed complaints of disorder and underage drinking in Leigh Old Town, and, by May this year we debated, and voted, to request Leigh-on-Sea and Southend councils to impose an alcohol control order along the cinder path between Leigh and Chalkwell. We await their responses to our request.

Jerry Holden joined the Panel in November and was quickly elected our Treasurer. We received a request from Mick Holland, Southend District NHW Administrator who attends our meetings, for funding to cover the cost of NHW signs for care homes as part of the Sheltered Watch initiative. We agreed a sum of £250 for signs for homes in the west of the town to help to protect vulnerable residents who allow callers into their homes, then finding their possessions gone, causing them great distress.

This is yet one more example of the quick response received from this Panel.

We had approached the Fowler Smith & Jones Charitable Trusts for earlier funding and they have been only too pleased to allow us to use their grant for the purchase of these signs. Sheltered Watch is an initiative they support in Essex.

We now have a youth worker representative on the Panel. It is our aim to work in partnership to engage with young people.

The Panel has once again achieved much throughout the year 2006/07. This can only continue with the team working for the common goal, endeavouring to make our area a safe place to live, work and go about our daily lives in peace.

I close this report by thanking the Panel members for their work, Leigh-on-Sea Town Council for the use of their council chambers for our meetings, Donald Fraser for auditing our books at nil cost and to all those organisations, mentioned above, who have funded our work.

Gwen M. Horrigan, JP, MBE.

16^th July 2007