Lye and Cradley PACT Meetings
31st January 2009
During January I attended three “Partners & Communities Together” (PACT) meetings. Wollescote, Lye and Cradley.
Cradley was poorly attended, possibly due to the weather, lack of awareness or lack of interest. The police have had some success in Cradley and crime in that area is down by 27%. Feedback from those present was quite encouraging in respect of the police presence in Cradley. There had been a spate of muggings and thus far no one has been apprehended, but that apart, there seems to have been progress. I will check that out when I call on residents in the coming weeks.
Problems reported in Cradley were confined to under age drinking (and associated anti-social behaviour) and speeding traffic. Both these problems are borough wide and it is about time we extended the controlled drinking zone currently operating on and around Lye High Street and in Mary Stevens Park across the entire Stourbridge area. You can drink alcohol in licensed premises or at home. There is no reason why you have to drink alcohol in streets and parks. It invariably leads to disorder, abuse and litter and it should not be tolerated. The argument that the police ‘couldn’t enforce such a rule on a Stourbridge wide basis’ is defeatist and I suspect untrue. If we have the number of police and community support officers (PCSOs) claimed then surely they would be able to enforce it to a reasonable extent.
The controlled drinking zone introduced in Lye High Street has had a very positive effect. Still the main problem for Lye is drug abuse – and (like everywhere else) speeding traffic. The police have made some arrests for drug dealing which is good progress. But there are quite a number of addicts in the Lye area, and there is a re-settlement house for drug offenders so it is a challenge. The most important thing, I believe, is education in local primary and secondary schools backed up by focussed policing.
As with other parts of the Stourbridge area the police are conducting more and more speed traps. Hand held speed guns are in use across different locations and at different times. Fixed penalty notices follow and this should have some effect. But given the extent of speeding that takes place late in the evening the Police will have to extend their activity up to midnight in order to make a real impact.
