Council and Community Safety Partnership receive funding to make women feel safer on the streets
Cotswold Community Safety Partnership has been awarded £50,000 to work with Cotswold District Council to identify areas in the district where women don’t feel safe. The award has been granted from the Safer Streets Fund, administered by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and will also fund initiatives to make Cotswold neighbourhoods feel safer.
We need to hear from people that live and work in Cotswolds, and may know areas that feel less safe to walk through, or have experienced antisocial behaviour. We will be asking people to let us know in an online consultation.
Councillor Lisa Spivey, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services said, “People have the right to be safe and feel safe in the areas where they live. We know that areas that aren’t looked after, where there is poor lighting and little or no CCTV can be a magnet for anti-social behaviour which can escalate into crime. We need to know where these places are in our district so that we can get to work in making them look more welcoming and feel safer.”
"It's vitally important that as many people as possible respond to the consultation, after all, it's our residents who know their areas best and know where work needs to be done."
Police and Crime Commissioner Chris Nelson said, “Local knowledge has an essential part to play as it will enable the police and our partners to introduce measures that will do most to make our streets safer.
“The community safety partnership has an important role to play in this, and I hope as many people as possible take part in the consultation. I would also urge people to use the Flare App, which enables anyone to report an area where they feel threatened or vulnerable anonymously and in confidence.”
The Grant funding being utilised is from the ‘Home Office Safer Streets’ fund which includes interventions aimed at tackling neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), improving the safety of public spaces for all. This was secured by members from the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire, totalling over £2 million pounds for the county.
If you know somewhere which would benefit from a makeover to look and feel safer for all, get in touch, it would be great to hear from you. The consultation can be accessed at https://saferstreetscotswold.commonplace.is/?utm_campaign=NR from 1 March until 17 March.