Residents Invited to Help Shape Community Safety in Reading

A SURVEY launched by Reading Borough Council on behalf of the Community Safety Partnership is inviting residents to have their say on how safe they feel in the town, and help shape continuing changes being made to make Reading a safer place to live.

The annual community safety survey, launched this week, is open until 8 September and can be accessed at www.reading.gov.uk/communitysafetysurvey.

The Council’s commitment to resident safety includes taking an active role in the Reading Community Safety Partnership, or CSP, where it works alongside Thames Valley Police, the Probation Service, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service and Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board to make Reading a safer place for those who live, work or visit the town. The CSP is working to achieve this through discouraging criminal and anti-social behaviour (ASB), thus reducing the fear of crime and ASB. This work through the CSP involves tackling multiple complex issues with strategic partners in areas from drugs, to domestic abuse, to internet crime and more throughout the town. Importantly, the CSP works hard to create as many opportunities as possible for residents to come forward and have their say, within their communities, online and at public events, on the subject of crime and disorder. This work also includes ensuring our young people are listened to also.

Town centre improvements have been made possible through a working partnership between the Council, Thames Valley Police, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Reading’s Business Improvement District (BID) which resulted in £429,000 of Safer Streets funding from the Home Office to improve town centre safety.

Recent significant improvements the Council has introduced from the funding and taking on board feedback received in previous community safety surveys include:

• Purchase of five mobile cctv cameras which can be moved between hotspot areas where it is felt additional surveillance is required to increase safety
• Nine new CCTV cameras in locations where residents identified feeling less safe, including Friar Street, Chain Street, Oxford Road and Queen’s Road car park
• 12 new streetlights, including along Queen’s Road and Station Road, and the addition of festoon lighting along Chain Street and Union Street
• The establishment of the Reading Safe Space (safe hub) where people who feel threatened, vulnerable or unwell can go for help and support on evenings out in our night-time venues
• Cleaner and more attractive areas and providing better spaces for the public
• Welfare and vulnerability training for restaurants and bars to ensure those visiting Reading at night are well looked after
• A review of the Safer Neighbourhood Forums, which will seek to establish and ensure that residents can access public meetings to discuss and problem-solve issues of crime and ASB across the entire town

Karen Rowland, Lead Councillor for Environmental Services and Community Safety, said:

“We’re working really hard to make Reading a safer place which everyone can visit with confidence, and we need input from our residents to tell us where we need to focus our resources going forward.

“Big steps have been taken already such as investing in increased cctv equipment, better lighting and the Reading Safe Space, but the people best qualified to tell us what residents need action on next is our residents themselves.

“There is always more that we can do and budgets need to be carefully considered, so it is critical that we take residents’ views on board to help inform what they feel will make Reading safer. Please get involved, take the survey and help us keep pushing forward the best initiatives that we are able to action to make Reading a safer place for you”.

Superintendent Colin Hudson, Local Police Commander, said:

“The CSP plays a key role in targeting resources toward issues affecting communities in Reading. It is important the CSP is linked in to how residents, businesses and those living and working in the area feel about safety. I hope people will respond to the survey, giving their community a voice.”

A range of in-person events are taking place to allow residents to meet the Council’s Community Safety team and have their say, with staff on hand to help visitors complete the survey. These include:

• Tue 23 July: Coley Park Community Centre, 9am – 11am
• Wed 24 July: Town centre – Broad Street and Station Hill, 1.30pm – 3pm
• Tue 30 July: Whitley Wood Community Centre coffee morning, 9.30am – 12pm
• Thu 15 August: Battle Library, 1pm – 3.30pm
• Thu 29 August: Palmer Park Library, 2pm – 4pm

Staff from the CSP will be visiting libraries and other locations, where surveys will be available if you are unable to attend an event.

A full list of the events you can attend to talk about the community safety survey and submit your thoughts can be found at www.reading.gov.uk/communitysafetysurveyevents