Chiswick Area Forum Told of Drop in Knife Crime

Council budget, potholes and dim street lighting also discussed

Knife crime has decreased in Chiswick over the past three months with not one incident being reported in that time period, according to the latest local police report for the area.

Crime in general has shown a reduction in the three local wards, according to the latest police figures presented to councillors at last week's Chiswick Area Forum.

"Across all of Chiswick Riverside, Homefields and Turnham Green there has
been no knife crime including, the possession of an article with a blade or point or other knife crime related offences", according to the report.

You can read the statistics for your area here.

There continues to be a trend where number plates are being stolen from
motor vehicles. The team have been raising awareness via social media and are planning setting up a crime prevention stall next month.

Anti-social behaviour involving motor vehicles have been flagged by the local Chiswick community.

Residents have reported mopeds driving unsafely and antisocially, putting pedestrians and other road users at risk. Officers have since issued two Section 59 Police Reform Act 2002 warnings to the persons riding these vehicles. This has been done by continuously patrolling Chiswick and gathering information of the motor bikes vehicle registration marks.

Leader of Hounslow Council, Steve Curran came to the CAF and presented the forthcoming budget which will be put before the next Borough Council meeting. He outlined how the Labour-led Council intends to make savings- one of the main issues for local residents is that Hounslow Council is increasing the Council Tax by 3.99 per cent, for the second year in a row.

Despite decreased figures for crime, councillors said they will continue to ask for a third public meeting because there were fears that the perpetrators move elsewhere when there is high police visibility in one area, but then move back to commit crimes if visibility is reduced. The issue of underreporting continues; the police made another request to the public to report what they see - such people hanging around on a corner or down an alley; all information is important and could tie in with other information reported and lead to action.

Members of the public can report to their local police team by email:

ChiswickHomefields@met.police.uk.

ChiswickRiverside@met.police.uk and

TurnhamGreen@met.pnn.police.uk

Hounslow Highways representatives attended the meeting to discuss a number of issues.

They were questioned about their alleged failure to clean up streets following excessive leaf fall. The meeting was told that their schedule meant some roads in Chiswick were done very late (Turnham Green ward roads weren’t done till 30 December) and this was despite the fact, they revealed, that 53% of the roads with trees in the borough are in Chiswick. They now left more decision-making about which roads to do to the crews, which had resulted in improvements.

There was a discussion about potholes and conditions of the roads in general in Chiswick. The meeting was told that parameters are set for cars. Councillors asked why this was not the case for conditions for cycling. The meeting was told that that roads that need attention and which fail the Hounslow Highways parameters could still be eligible for repair via the pothole buster programme (this is extra funding including from the government).

The more people who reported that a specific road needs attention, the more likely it is to be added to the list. Hounslow Highways said it is proactively looking at roads and pavements all the time: side roads are visited and inspected once a year and Chiswick High Road is inspected monthly, they said.

Over 80 per cent of the work needed is reported by HH themselves after inspections, and 20 per cent of repairs are raised by residents. The meeting was told that there are 700km of footway and 400km of road in the borough to be taken care of.

Cllr Ron Mushiso raised the issue of Windmill Road which has been the subject of local complaints from residents and councillors for some time.

Community Safety Scheme: Hounslow Council wants to know what the main concerns are for residents in the borough. Some suggestions made by those present at the CAF meeting included lighting on Turnham Green - a member of the public said locals were worried that people might jump out at them in the dark. Other points raised included the lighting along a narrow alley off Wellesley Road; lighting at Deans Close bridge which it was thought might be Network Rail’s responsibility; damaged railings along a footpath leading to Strand on the Green nursery;

Another member of the public raised the issue of road markings which he said were getting very faint and will in future be a real safety issue. He remarked that in some places the pavements are so bad that he walks down the middle of the road when it’s dark for safety.

There was some praise for Hounslow Highways for an improved response to reports of graffiti, fly-tipping and litter. Chiswick has a relatively low rate of fly-tipping, according to Hounslow Highways.

Other issues raised:

SmartWater was still being rolled out and the police were asked if there was evidence that it led to the recovery of stolen items. It was suggested police could give more publicity to this so that it could improve take up. The issue of scooters and where they can be used was raised and the Council promised to report back on this.

Councillor Sam Hearn briefly outlined the Liveable Neighbourhood project in Riverside, and it was raised by another councillor that this did not contain provision for north-south cycling just east-west and whether this could be included.

The issue of whether the Post office delivery office was to move came up at the meeting. Royal Mail have said there is no date at present.

There had also been rumours that the post office might close. The meeting heard that the post office lease lasted until 2023 and Cllr Biddolph said she had been told closure was not being considered at present.

Written with material contributions from Councillor Jo Biddolph

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November 14, 2019