Minutes of the Risborough Area Business Group

Held at Princes Risborough School on 10th July 2007 at 1900 Hrs

 

Attendees

 

 

President :L.Adlam :L.Adlam Architects

C.Williams :Drifters Lodge B&B

D. Kent: Special Days

Acting Chairman M.Pitcher :P.A.M.

A.Smith :J Smith & Sons

A. Turner : PRTC

Hon Sec P.Pitcher :P.A.M.

B.Clark :J.H.Clark Butchers

N. Beill : Treats II

Brian Hill : Neighbourhood Watch

G.Wilson : Marks & Spencer

N. Brooks : FSB

 

Item

Topic

1

Chairman’s Welcome

The chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Given that the evening was concentrating on local law and order issues, it was disappointing that more people had not made the effort to attend.

2

Apologies for Absence received from:

M & J.Thomas :Coppins B&B

P.Keen :Hypnos

B.Clark :Birchnells

J.Hughes :Corporate Comms

H.Brown :IFC

C.Etholen :PRTC/CAE

M.Adlam :Adlam Reprographics

G. Wiles :IFC

S.Marriott : PR school

S.Baker :Sylvia & Jean Hairdressers

E.Tadros :Ercol

A.Brown :Softech2000

J.Varley :Sylvia & Jean Hairdressers

 

 

 

 

 

3

Minutes of the meeting held on 13th June 2007 (previously circulated)

The minutes were agreed as a true record.

Matters arising:

·         Even after Mark Adlam’s presentation last month on the penalties of not complying with the new anti-smoking legislation, many retailers in the High Street are not displaying the mandatory signage.

·         The Park Mill Farm appeal has now been turned down.

·         RABG meeting dates have been switched to Tuesdays at the request of Princes Risborough School, 7.00 pm in the school library as usual.

·         Friday 28th September, 7.30 pm has been confirmed for our local MPs, David Lidington and John Bercow to meet RABG.  Venue will be announced nearer the time.  This date replaces the previously announced one for the September meeting.

·         The AGM will be held on Tuesday 9th October, 7.00 pm.  An updated constitution will be put to the membership along with a proposal to change to meetings every other month.

There were no further matters arising.

4

Fighting Crime & Anti-Social Behaviour in Princes Risborough:

Ken Pearce : Wycombe CCTV Centre

Until recently, Ken was the CCTV team leader in Wycombe.  Unfortunately due to cuts made by WDC, he is now looking for alternative employment, possibly in the charities sector.

Ken’s background is in engineering and security in South Africa which, when he came to England some 5½ years ago, was very relevant to working in CCTV.  When PRTC first looked into the possibilities of CCTV to address problems with anti-social behaviour, Ken was invited to give his views on how it could help.  Having come from Johannesburg, he was most impressed by the level of zero tolerance towards ASB in the town.  Since then however ASB has been on the increase and WDC has now agreed to help fund the installation of CCTV.

PR will be getting eight CCTV cameras hopefully by the end of July.   The cameras will be ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) linked by underground glass fibre optics to WDC’s Control Centre.  All cameras are recorded 24/365 with active monitoring as crime is reported or at certain times of day when ‘hot spots’ of trouble are anticipated.  The Wycombe Control Centre is highly regarded in the UK being one of only six centres initially to be given Gold Accreditation.  It is the only control room to have ISO 9000 CCTV accreditation.  Annual running costs are covered by a contribution from the police and funds from local councils.

The PR cameras will be sited in the High Street, Market Square, bottom of Duke Street, Mount car park.  Each one must have a warning sign nearby to inform people they are about to be recorded by CCTV (human rights’ requirement).

The CCTV Control Centre carries out a number of important functions:

·         assists Business Watch in Wycombe with Shop Watch & Pub Watch particularly at closing time.

·         talks directly to the police as and when immediate action is needed

·         watches out for drug dealers

·         monitors unlicenced street sellers

·         tracks missing persons, mainly the elderly, children and pets

·         reports local incidents such as problems with uneven pavements etc.

 

CCTV tapes may be viewed on request through the correct procedures but only for specific purposes.

Ken stressed that CCTV is just another tool to help maintain law and order.  Crime and ASB must still be reported to the police.

 

The meeting was then opened for questions and comments:

·         CCTV will be installed in PR by Siemens who are WDC’s preferred suppliers.  There are problems with putting cameras on listed buildings and with the siting of the poles.

·         Cameras are protected against vandalism, and grills can be put in if necessary without compromising the quality of the recordings.

·         Additional cameras would be preferred to cover New Road and King George V Playing fields.  These could be added in the future when funds allow.

·         Camera angles are controlled by the Control Centre.  The police also draw up a programmed cycle for each camera with everything being recorded.

·         Weekly records of incidents are assembled by date/time and made available to the police.

·         Although CCTV will help, it should not be considered as a replacement for any police.  A full police presence is still needed in Risborough.

·         The next generation of cameras will use the Internet and broadband, cutting annual maintenance costs considerably.

 The chairman thanked Ken for his talk and wished him every success in finding new employment.

 

5

PR Early Warning System:

Mary Shuttle: (David Shuttle): co-ordinator

Although forms were sent out with the March RABG newsletter to all retailers, not many shops applied to join the scheme.  It seems so difficult to motivate people to take action.  The system acts as a grapevine with shops phoning each other to warn of shoplifters and other problems.  Recently unauthorised sellers of the Big Issue had been operating in the High Street and had been reported to the police. 

Mary plans to contact Jette Peddie, WDC Business Watch Manager, to hear how the Wycombe shops and pubs keep in contact by radio, and whether funding might be organised for Risborough also to have a radio system.  She hoped our district councellors might raise this request with WDC!

Mary also stressed the importance of maintaining an adequate police presence in Risborough.  Currently the town has five with two trainee PCSOs.

For further information on the Early Warning System, please see Mary in David Shuttles, Duke Street.

 

6

Neighbourhood Action Group:

Brian Hill : chairman NAG

Brian has recently taken over from Adrian Redfearn as chairman of the NAG.

The second public meeting and AGM was held in June with approx 30 people attending.  A summary of the work done by the NAG in conjunction with the police was given.

Attendees were then asked for their priorities for the police to address during the coming year.  Questionnaires were also distributed through Cross Talk and local schools.

The top three priorities reported were:

1.       driving issues, speed and noise (not just a youth problem!)

2.       anti-social behaviour

3.       vandalism

Action has already been taken to clamp down on driving problems by using APNR and issuing Section 59s for anti-social driving.  Exhaust noise is more difficult to prosecute and advice is being sought on how to handle it.

A Special Parking area is planned next year to sort out parking problems in the High Street.

The NAG gets monthly reports from the police of logged incidents and complaints.  New members are needed on the NAG and it is hoped to recruit younger members and a youth worker.

For further information on the NAG and Neighbourhood Watch generally, please contact Brian at  Odette.brian@virgin.net.  He has information leaflets and copies of the excellent Buckinghamshire Watch News (June 2007) available on request.

 

7

Princes Risborough Town Council

Alan Turner (Mayor)

Alan thanked Ken for all the help he has given PRTC over the years to get CCTV into Risborough.

He mentioned the mobile camera recently purchased by PRTC that is available for hire through the Town Council Offices.  Its main use will be to carry out short periods of surveillance where there are local ASB ‘hot spots’.  All surveillance is recorded and can then be analysed.

 

8

Any Other Business

1.       Mike Pitcher reported that the planned dinner to promote the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway has been postponed until next year as there was insufficient time to organise it.  It had been hoped to use the marquee after the Monks Risborough Horticultural Show.

2.       Anne Smith had attended the Risborough Area Forum meeting as RAGB’s representative.  Lance Adlam is chairman.  The aim of the forum is for representatives from all local organisations to meet quarterly and discuss local issues collectively. Action to be taken as appropriate.  There are plans to open the Information Centre on Saturdays to act as a tourism office. 

The next meeting of the Forum is the AGM on 8th October.  Anne will take up any issues on RABG’s behalf.

3.   On 4th July, Hypnos held an exhibition in the Baptist Church Hall of the proposed development of its current site by the station.  Cathedral Homes is the developer with John Thompson & Partners as architects.  The initial concept design for housing and five storey flats was displayed, with the exhibition being well attended. 

It was generally agreed that the development did not conform to the recommendations of the Risborough 2035 Study.  It was regretted that an overall plan for the whole Picts Mead site had not been drawn up to be implemented in stages as each business relocated.  RABG is concerned that, unless business units are included, jobs will be lost in Risborough and this development will turn into a dormitory area with people catching the train or driving into Wycombe for employment.

 

9

Date of Next Meeting

 

The next meeting is on Friday 28th September, 7.30 pm - venue to be announced.

Local MPs David Lidington & John Bercow to meet with RABG members.

 

The meeting closed at 21.00  pm, and was followed by drinks and refreshments provided by Heather Brown

 

NOTE: since the RABG meeting, it has been announced that the developer associated with Park Mill Farm is challenging the Inspector’s decision on technical grounds.

 

Hon.Sec Pam Pitcher

 

10-08-2007