A public meeting was held on Monday evening at the Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge Community Centre in the Ironbridge Gorge on local policing.
The meeting was organised by the Borough Councillor for the Ironbridge Gorge Nicola Lowery who invited the West Mercia Police & Crime Commissioner John Campion, the Safer Neighbourhood Inspector for South Telford Paul Arnold along with PCSO Venus and officers from Telford & Wrekin Council’s Highways and Customer and Neighbourhood service areas.
The meeting was called by the Ward Member to provide an opportunity for the local community to ask questions and raise concerns directly about local issues in the area. The meeting, chaired by Cllr Lowery involved a presentation from the Police & Crime Commissioner on his role and aspirations for West Mercia, an update from Safer Neighbourhood Inspector on the local policing response and how best to report issues. The majority of the meeting then focussed on a Q&A session to enable to community to ask questions directly to the PCC, Local policing team and officers from Telford & Wrekin Council.
Cllr Nicola Lowery, Ward Member for the Gorge said: “It was an extremely constructive and beneficial meeting and I would like to thank everyone that attended for their contributions on the evening as there were some really important areas raised.
“It was excellent to hear from the Police & Crime Commissioners plans for West Mercia and how this seeks improve resources locally and the tools available to officers. The local policing team went into detail on what measures can be taken to report crime to gather local intelligence by calling the 101 non-emergency number, risk management plans, the impact of the intervention models and what options we can explore as a community look at issues such as speeding by establishing a community speed watch group.
“As the Ward Member, I was keen to ensure that the local community had an opportunity to raise their concerns directly to the Commissioner and local policing team so that we can continue to make progress on the issues within the local area and build our resilience as a community. The attendance both from the local policing team in South Telford, our PCC and officers from Telford & Wrekin Council exhibited our commitment to working in partnership and I would like to thank them all for the excellent work they do in our local area and for keeping our communities safe.
Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion said: “Last night was an extremely productive and positive meeting. I was really pleased to see so many people attend and be part of the discussion of how we can move forward with resolving the issues that have been affecting the Ironbridge Gorge residents. The attendance from both the local policing team and Borough Council evidenced the coordinated approach in the Gorge and I would like to thank Cllr Lowery for arranging this meeting. I will continue to work with West Mercia Police to ensure that the actions discussed and agreed are met.”