‘BLIGHTED’ hotspots for crime and anti-social behaviour in Warwickshire will be made safer thanks to a funding boost.
More than £350,000 has been secured from the government by Warwickshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) and local partners to improve safety at the Eagle Recreation Ground in Leamington, the area around St Andrew’s Church in Rugby, and the recreation ground and Railway Station in Stratford.
The areas were identified by police and the public as being prone to violent crime, personal robbery, sexual assaults, drugs misuse, County Lines activity and anti-social behaviour.
The PCC’s application to the Home Office Safer Streets Fund fund for over £354,000 was approved, and will be delivered alongside a further £197,800 which has been committed by partners for associated projects to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.
Agencies will work with communities to identify and deliver solutions, which could include CCTV cameras, lighting, the removal or management of vegetation, and the installation of physical barriers.
Safety and awareness campaigns will also be run in each of the areas to address local concerns and ensure the improvements are sustainable.
A Safer Streets Officer will be appointed to engage with communities and implement improvements.
Last October, the Government awarded Warwickshire £249,000 in Safer Streets funding for improvements in other areas of the county that women and girls had highlighted as making them feel unsafe.
Warwickshire PCC Philip Seccombe said: “The funding will allow community safety partners to make some meaningful improvements in parts of our county that sadly have been blighted by serious crime and anti-social behaviour in the recent past. It also helps to further strengthen the approach to tackling violence against women and girls.
“By working with the local communities in the areas concerned, we want to ensure that each project is as effective as possible at reducing the problems residents have told us about.
“In turn, we want to raise the confidence of communities that these areas are safe places for everyone to enjoy, while sending a parallel message that crime and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated.”
Coun Andy Crump, Warwickshire County Council’s spokesman for community safety, said: “The money will support the council and partners’ ongoing plans tackling issues of anti-social behaviour, different types of neighbourhood crime for all residents, as well as violence against women and girls to help them feel and be safer in public spaces across the county.”
Work on the improvements will take place across the next year and will be complete by September 2023.
