Action Note of Ward Forum held on 25th February, 2008, at the Hilton Community Centre at 7.30 p.m.

Attendees
Councillor John Finnie (Chair)
Councillor Norrie Donald
Councillor David Henderson
Councillor Fraser Parr
Chief Inspector Ian Cox
PC Gary Taylor
Chairs of Hilton Milton and Castle Heather Community Council and Lochardil and Drummond Community Council.
Secretary of Holm Community Council

Karen Hamilton, Ward Manager – Ness-side Ward, Highland Council (Action Note)

Apologies:
Chair of Holm Community Council
 

Agenda

1. Introduction –

The meeting was opened by Councillor Finnie who introduced his Councillor colleagues and representatives of Northern Constabulary. He then invited Alison Weightman the Artist/Consultant appointed to take forward the Hilton Environmental Project to describe her ideas and plans to the assembled group.
Main points:
The area will have a focal point in the form of a structured piece of artwork. Three options will be presented which people will have the opportunity to vote on.
The project will involve as many individuals locally as possible – youths, school children and adults. Her approach to this is very ‘hands on’ – youths will be engaged in building work, school children will put together time capsule(s) and all will be involved in making elements of the project.
The overall aim is to develop a sense of ownership of this area which will in turn encourage respect and value in the environment to maintain it attractively for all.

2. A Presentation on Policing our Communities

CI Ian Cox spoke to the Forum on this topic and asked PC Taylor to contribute from a local Community Beat Officer’s perspective.
CI Cox outlined the changes in the policing structure in April, from 8 Area Commands to 3 Divisions which would result in better use of resources, reduced bureaucracy and most importantly more officers at the front line.
Ward 16 will fall within the Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch Division and will have a designated Chief Inspector.
He described these changes as responding to the changing face of Inverness as it has evolved into City status which has brought with it more complex policing requirements.

Hilton is fortunate in that arrangements have been put in place to locate PC Taylor within the Service Point at Hilton Village. This means that he is very accessible to the public increasing the opportunity for reported crime and can also work closely with Housing staff and the Community Warden to address matters before they become more serious. This model would ideally be replicated in other areas of the City if suitable locations can be identified.

4 main themes, and how they are tackled, were covered:

Under age drinking – irresponsible drink marketing is being addressed nationally which will help. Local by-laws currently focus on drinking from open containers rather than being in possession of alcohol which the police would like to see changed. Experimental test purchasing by young people under supervision and guidance is also under way.

Vandalism – Very often linked to use of alcohol so measures described above will help where younger people are concerned . Police engage in some undercover work to address this and the use of the mobile CCTV facility is also a great help. There was reference here to education and a sense of positive ownership of an area (eg the Environmental Project).

Anti Social Behaviour – Again often linked to alcohol and use street violence. The partnership between the Highland Council and Northern Constabulary  - described by Ian as being ‘joined at the hip’ enabled information and solutions to be shared across agencies through curfew orders and Acceptable Behaviour
Contracts as well as the most extreme measure of Anti Social Behaviour Orders.

Noise Nuisance – the Police work closely with Public Sector Landlords and others to address this problem. They also now have the ability to deliver Fixed Penalty Notices to offenders, which increase if not paid and may ultimately result in a Court appearance.

3. Questions on Policing from the floor
A number of individuals raised questions and points to note and these are grouped by theme below:

In relation to Under Age Drinking
How are young people selected to ‘test purchase alcohol’ and were they not committing crime by doing this. CI Cox reassured that this was not the case as it was under supervision and guidance and the personal safety of young people was of primary concern. He was not familiar with the selection process but was certain it would be based on successful models elsewhere in Scotland.
Another idea is to label bottles so that they can be tracked back to the shop that sold them – this is being piloted at present. However, the point was made that Licensed premises, although fined on occasion rarely lost their license to trade as a result of selling alcohol to under age customers. Quite often older teenagers acting as ‘agents’ will purchase alcohol fro younger friends however this is mostly an impromptu activity and they are rarely caught and/or prosecuted  It should be remembered that some shops demonstrate  good practice by looking for triggers and warning signs that the purchase is suspect – payment in large amounts of small change for example and will check the vicinity of their shop as a consequence.

In relation to the remaining themes of Vandalism, Anti Social Behaviour and Noise Nuisance – the concept of Neighbourhood Watch Schemes was raised. These were agreed by most present as being of value however they can be improved by technology – more effective ring around systems and email warning networks to alert members of neighbourhood to a potential problem. The Police acknowledged their role in advising and guiding communities towards running and  maintaining  such schemes and they need to do this to encourage take up. It was pointed out that these have failed in the past due to poor response from Police and a particular problem was highlighted around difficulty in getting a response from the Police station non emergency number when a situation was at its height.
 
Action: CI Cox agreed to meet with Councillor Donald to discuss this contact difficulty further.

In response to being more pro-active on the streets generally the Street Pastors initiative was cited as having had a positive impact on the City centre area since it started work at the end of January. This was welcomed by the Police who see them as ‘good citizens’, complimenting their role (rather that replacing it), and offering care and support to people in trouble, homeless or vulnerable in some other way.

Finally a plea was made for improved green spaces to be built in to new developments to enable young people to engage in healthy pursuits in pleasant surroundings. Councillor Finnie drew attention to the Core Paths Plan at

/leisureandtourism/what-to-see/countrysideaccess/corepathplans.htm
 
A model was described whereby developers are bound to build a structure with services (water, power etc) to provide accommodation for building site staff and equipment at the inception of a development and leave this as a legacy for the new community to adapt and use as they wish. The idea was seen as innovative and the Councillors who were members of Planning Committee agreed to bear this in mind.

4. General Questions from the floor
This led to opening the questions to topics beyond policing:

Plans for Culduthel Park (area beside new Gaelic School)?
Councillor Finnie replied that he is in discussion with the Director Of Education to establish permitted uses for this area of ground.

Youth Work at Hilton
Problem highlighted around staff no longer to run Youth Club. Hilton CC Management Committee has advertised and will appoint a Youth Leader. Councillor Finnie advised there is to be a review of all Youth facilities across Highland on a Ward by Ward basis to consider input required but meantime Hilton should be commended on their efforts to raise the profile of this issue and to find a solution in the short term.

Play facilities at Hilton.
These are in a very poor state of repair and what plans are there to improve them. There is a Play Park Strategy for all parks in Inverness based on independent risk assessments undertaken. The overview is contained within the Appendix of the report can be found by clicking here

Balloan Park drainage and dog fouling.
The footballs pitches are in need of drainage and there is a serious problem with dog fouling in this area. It was acknowledged that this is unacceptable.

Action: Ward Manager to contact appropriate official to arrange for area to be cleaned and look at drainage.  Dog warden also to be notified of problem with fouling and to be asked to patrol the area more frequently.

Finally the views of Councillors were sought on the arrangements for Multi Member Wards and how it is working in Ward 16.
Although views were divided as to which worked best – the old or the new system, Councillors were unanimous in their views that Party politics remained in the debating Chamber at Glenurquhart Road. They met fortnightly as a group where Ward matters were discussed and their relevance to people within the Ward was of the highest concern.

5. Next Forum
No date fixed at present but as before Community Councils would be canvassed for their views as to suitable topics in due course. Councillor Donald is the next on the Rota to act as Chair.

The meeting closed at 9.30pm and Councillor Finnie thanked everyone for their attendance and contribution to a useful and lively debate.