A thriving Street Association in a challenging neighbourhood has made a new alliance with the local police to help transform the street.
The meeting, on Scarborough Road in Pleck, Walsall, covered a range of local issues, from anti-social behaviour, to prostitution, to parking – with a desire to work together to continue the big improvement which, all agreed, was already being seen.
The dozen members of the Street Association core group, who invited the local sergeant to attend their meeting, were amazed when seven police officers – the whole neighbourhood team – arrived. One core group member, who registered the Street Association as a Neighbourhood Watch group, said “I was overwhelmed when so many from the police arrived to meet us. It was amazing”. All felt that the police were showing a strong commitment to work with local residents.
Martin Graham, who leads the Street Associations initiative, said, “This just shows how valuable the new partnership between Street Associations and Neighbourhood Watch can be. This street is having a great time organising positive community-building events such as a big Christmas party. At the same time, we can now work closely with the police to make sure the community is increasingly safe as well as increasingly close.”
