Heathwatch Winter 2008: A message from the Borough Inspector

[Stephen Casey]

I want to use this opportunity to celebrate the success of a community-led problem-solving event. It unified a community and significantly reduced a recurring crime and disorder issue.

Halloween is always the busiest day of the year for the Police in Surrey Heath. The focus for this demand is Heatherside, where numerous young people moved around the estate, causing minor damage and behaving in an anti-social manner.

The community took this issue on and decided to run an event for the whole community that would provide an attractive alternative to anti-social behaviour. The event committee had many hurdles to overcome but the event was a resounding success.

Anti-social behaviour was reduced to virtually nothing and the event was enjoyed by the whole spectrum of the community.

I hope that other communities can learn lessons from the Heatherside experience and with the support of the statutory service providers work together to tackle local problems..

James Norbury
Surrey Heath Borough Inspector