Quad bikes and antisocial behaviour

I've heard a lot of complaints about anti-social use of quad bikes and off road bikes. These have been passed on to the local police, who have responded, despite their limited resources.

Sadly, due to service cuts, there aren't as many traffic officers trained to ride the off-road bikes, so there is a huge demand for their services. These are the team that can conduct pursuits safely across areas like Fox Hollies Park - there used to be a unit operating out of Stechford, but that was removed. Nevertheless, the police have put together a sufficiently persuasive bid that saw the bikes put to work in Acocks Green and they recovered the stolen bike in the next picture.

They have also been tackling quad bikers who are driving in an anti-social manner, particularly on the Gospel Estate. Two have so far been issued with s59 notices, which means if they are caught repeating the behaviour, the drivers will have the bikes removed and impounded. They then face a £250 recovery charge, plus £10 a day until the bike is collected by somebody insured to take it.

The police have also had helicopter support to deal with the problem - with the chopper even lifting on a number of occasions specifically to support operations against anti-social behaviour and vehicle theft in Acocks Green.

The problems haven't been fixed, but it is really good to hear that the police have been able to respond to the concerns raised.

They always need your support, so if you have any information that can help tackle this behaviour, you can always contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Gospel Farm Estate Update - Operation Seabreeze

Last week, there was a meeting including the police, local youth groups, Cllr Barry Bowles from Hall Green ward (which includes a chunk of the Gospel and has also suffered from problems) and some parents and young people from the Gospel Estate. We really wanted to hear from the young people on the estate, identify their problems and try to find some common ground so that we can move forward. We'll be putting together a programme of diversionary activities - subject to funding being secured - and we'll try to meet some of their needs. Hopefully, at least one of the young men will get the golden opportunity of joining a new intake to the Prince's Trust programme - it is an opportunity, because he still has to want to succeed and change his own life. We want to support them, but they also know what the police - and the community - aren't prepared to tolerate. There's something of a deal to be struck here and room for mutual understanding.

The police have also applied for - and just been granted a dispersal order covering the Gospel Estate. This will be in force from the 14 October 2013 to the 14 April 2014 in the first instance. This gives uniformed police and community support officers the power to ask any group of two or more persons to disperse immediately or by a stated time. The officer has to have reasonable grounds to believe that the presence of these people may result in any member of the public being intimidated, harassed, alarmed or distressed. Between 9pm and 6am, they also have the power to take young people under the age of 16 back to their homes. This has had support from councillors in both wards, although I've been very clear with the police that I expect this power to be used with discretion and common sense.

Gospel Estate Police Meeting Update

Last Wednesday saw the first in what will hopefully be a series of meetings to address issues of crime and anti-social behaviour on parts of the Gospel Estate. We had an excellent turnout - the local police inspector, Jim Gooderidge, PCSO Chelsie Beardsmore and PC Ian Davis, as well as Cllr Stacey and myself, plus the Victims' Champion for Birmingham, Cllr Jess Phillips.

The most impressive thing, however, was the number of residents who made the effort to attend and it was really positive to see such an attendance from people who aren't usual visitors to that meeting - there was scarcely any room left.

We heard from people who have been victims of crime and anti-social behaviour - including the youth worker from the Gospel Oak, who described how their summer programme had to be scrapped this year. We also heard from some of the young people on the Gospel - who I was particularly pleased to see attending the meeting.

I'm always aware when writing about this that Yardley has a problem with the worst level of fear of crime in the city, a fear entirely undeserved when you consider the actual levels of crime over recent years. The problems that we are seeing on this part of the Gospel is a spike in burglaries from sheds and other buildings, thefts from motor vehicles, use of quad bikes and motor bikes, etc. The police are determined to deal with this and we all want to see the estate become a better place to live.

Some of this work ahead will require cross-border co-operation - the estate sits on the edge of Acocks Green, Hall Green and Solihull, crossing police and local authority borders. I'll be liaising with my colleagues in Hall Green - we already work closely to support the Gospel Oak Community Centre, which sits in Hall Green, but serves many people on the Gospel Estate. We'll also be assembling a stakeholders' group (jargon, I know) of the key agencies - Housing, Youth Services, voluntary and third sector - to discuss what further action can be taken and what needs to be done.

There will be further public meetings and we'll also be trying to arrange a meeting involving some of the young people from the estate to identify their needs and see how we can support them.

It is clear that this will not be an easy fix - this area has been ignored for some years and it will take some time to improve things. This couldn't have come at a worse time - with council and policing budgets being slashed by government, our resources to tackle problems like this are severely limited. Cllr Stacey and I will certainly be making every effort to bring whatever resources we can to bear on the problems and I'm confident that my colleagues in Hall Green will be happy to help as well.

If we can maintain and widen the support from local residents, then we're in with a good chance of improving the life of people in that area of the ward.

Gospel Estate Police Meeting - Wed 28 Aug 7pm Lakey Lane School

If you live on the Gospel Estate, this is an important meeting. 

The police and councillors need your thoughts and feedback on what can and should be done to make the estate a safer and better place to live. 

If you can't make it, let me know what your priorities would be. 

7pm, Community Room at Lakey Lane School.