Minutes of Police and PCF meeting at the Salvation Army Hall, Norwood Place, BH5 2AT on Wednesday 19th June 2019
Those present: Cat Macmillan (BCP) Sgt Paul McKenna (Police) Cllr Andy Jones (Joint Treasurer PCF) 2 ladies from Dolphin Mews, Stefan Krause (Coastal Bid), Ruth, Alison, Lynne McCarty, Tom McKinney, Pam Ruthvan (Chair PCF), Major Carole Gadsden (Salvation Army), Another lady, Penny Bonser, male Harcourt Rd resident, Annette Bennett (Secretary PCF), Dawn Nottage (SOBO), Tara Graham, Soo Chapman, Cllr George Farquar, and Fiona Davis, Ben.
The meeting was opened by Cllr Andy Jones.
Sgt Paul McKenna gave a briefing on recent police activity against drug pedalling in the Rosebery Rd area which had led to a significant drugs haul. (Pics available on Twitter). Ongoing surveillance is taking place using an unmarked car and plain clothes detectives. Sgt McKenna advised residents not to put themselves at risk. Tara agreed to speak with Sgt McKenna on what she could do from her vantage point in Rosebery. The police value on going intelligence from the public to aid these enquiries. Encouragement was given to use 101 by email rather than phone. It was agreed that on the website was not easy to find the 101 reporting service.
Evicting the dealers from the flats at top of Rosebery was deemed to be necessary. Annette asked on the possibility of closing the alleyway at top of Rosebery Rd where vehicles drove to avoid the ANPR cameras. Matt King at BCP was to be contacted by Andy on this matter re a possible closure or some other action.
Another site of possible dealing was the repair garage in Parkwood Rd.
Sgt McKenna gave an update on Jack Barnes, a prolific shoplifter and drug addict responsible for a lot of crime in the area. He was currently imprisoned for 6 months for repeat offending. Details were given of Section 35 order for ASB offenders to be banned from an area. This could also be given for begging and other ASB.
The Dolphin Mews ladies reported that though they had a new housing manager from Sovereign that person was ineffective in combating ASB to one flat in particular where men were shouting up at a residents window during the night. Sgt McKenna agreed to visit the site and liaise with the 2 lady residents of that block.
Sgt McKenna informed the group of a Harcourt Rd resident who parked multiple vehicles and trailers much to annoyance of locals. This man had been issued with a Section 59 traffic penalty notice for using a vehicle off road, damaging grassland. If he was caught doing this again it would lead to seizure of the vehicle. Another resident of that road who had been flying drone illegally had moved to Christchurch.
Tara Graham asked about ASB/fly tipping from the DWP flats at top of Rosebery Rd. DWP were to be asked to resolve this with the help of the council resolution team. Graffiti tags needed to be reported to the council/police.
Stefan Krause of Coastal BID gave a presentation encouraging participation by PCF and local businesses to celebrate its unique set of shops. He said the strong antique shopping offering had potential to be massive attraction for Pokesdown and that advertising in particular in South London was proving successful.
Annette asked Stefan to state under what statute Coastal BID worked. Stefan said these were directions from Central Government last updated in 2014. See link below. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwiEiqvI7PfiAhUTXMAKHYPQDa8QFjAAegQIBBAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fresearchbriefings.files.parliament.uk%2Fdocuments%2FSN04591%2FSN04591.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1G4wl1vlrmWlVBPRGEt3Cv
Coastal bid charged a 1.5% levy of business rates to fund itself and its operations. Currently Pokesdown has £3,000 in the kitty. The plan was to fund increase funds by applications for grants to fund further improvements in the high streets of the ‘coastal villages’. These grants would come from the Lottery Fund and other sources. It was proposed the PCF would apply for the funds with help from BID staff including Fiona MacArthur who was already known to the committee. He encouraged Pokesdown to support Coastal BID in bringing about more activity including online shopping from the existing retailers. A competition to find best digital online retailer was proposed.
Interaction with the Neighbourhood Plan group and the possibility of compulsory purchase of abandoned shops was also mentioned. Pam welcomed these ideas.
Lynne McCarty agreed that more trader engagement was necessary. It was agreed to form a small committee to create activities, assess priorities and seek funding for grants with Fiona.
AOB
Ben, a wheelchair user spoke of his frustration at not being able to use Pokesdown train station. Lifts had been promised by South West Trains, the current franchise holder by December 2019 but there was no sign of this happening. Ben’s life was severely affected by his having to use other stations on the network where possible. Surveys had been done and local MP Tobias Ellwood had intervened to bring about work. George said he had recently attended an RMT union meeting where he understood that SWT had plans to get rid of guards leaving the trains solely in charge of the driver. He said that RMT wanted a higher degree of public safety for accessing and using the railway including the safety of disabled passengers which was paramount. He realised the lack of safety for residents and visitors to Pokesdown. He wanted to see commitment to the franchise agreement from SWT.
Andy was of the opinion that senior SWT person and not Phil Dominey should be sought to account for the inaction in this matter.