Keeping our Play areas and Parks free from Dog mess:
I have recently received communications highlighting problems with dog pooh not being bagged and binned and being left in places where there is a real risk of spreading germs and disease. This harmful behaviour scored very highly on the community safety survey, with 84% of respondents being either fairly or greatly concerned about dog fouling. When this is happening in children’s and families play areas and parks it is a very infuriating form of anti-social behaviour. There are a few actions that we can take in a bid to reduce this and improve the health and safety of our streets and public spaces, especially our parks and children’s playgrounds. I have had some requests to provide signage and posters which would highlight the problem and encourage dog owners to take responsibility for scooping their dogs mess up and then put it in the appropriate bin. This particular issue is being addressed through some resources that we have been able to access from Keep Scotland Beautiful which will enable us to create our own posters, signs and other creative methods for giving a reminder and a nudge to dog owners to always clear up responsibly after their dogs . The local primary schools will be supporting their pupils to come up with some graphics and designs which I will then use to provide new significant and clear signage and get them put up prominently at the dog pooh trouble spots in Camelon and Tamfourhill. Similarly, I will be requesting some new dog pooh bins from the council and discuss with them how we can deal with this ongoing problem within the wider Tidy, Clean and Green Campaign.
There are some constructive actions that I will be supporting in the coming months, these will include:
v Providing dog pooh bags as required, and these can be picked up from Tamfourhill Community Hub.
v Producing pooh bag dispensers or using recycled plastic bottles as dispensers and distributing these around the community.
v Supporting local young people and children to design notices, posters and signs and getting these produced professionally and erected at key locations.
v Linking our local actions to the Tidy, Clean & Green campaign and with Keep Scotland Beautiful national strategy.
v Monitoring positive changes in dog owner’s behaviour though carrying out local survey work.
v Its vitally important that any dog fouling problems are reported to Falkirk Council as they will take actions if they are told about the problems, this is very important because if they are not aware of the issues then they are unable to take effective action, please remember people can be fined for allowing their dogs to foul up public places. If local people would rather raise the matter with me that is absolutely fine, and I will then ensure its reported and dealt with appropriately. Please visit the Falkirk Council Website for details about dog fouling and the reporting g of this matter as anti-social behaviour: https://preview.tinyurl.com/y4ftfwsd
Lets keep our parks and open spaces : Tidy, Clean and Green
One of my main tasks as the Community Safety Engager is to bring together a Community Safety Group which would involve local people working closely together with the key Services and agencies, including ; Police, Fire Service, Drugs agencies, Falkirk Council and the various local community organisations and Groups. It has been frustrating for myself that due to COVID I have been unable to make any significant progress with this. I am nevertheless grateful that a few local people have expressed an interest with getting involved and I have also received a commitment from various agencies to support the work of the Group. I have had preliminary discussions with the coordinator of Neighborhood Watch Scotland and there is the potential for our local community safety group to take on some of the functions of a Neighborhood watch whilst following the groups own priorities and development of community led safety projects. A starting point will be the agreed local community safety priorities, and although we are still a long way from confirming what these are and what actions we are going to agree to take, I thought it would be worthwhile to look at the types if issues and areas of work that the Group might support and develop.
Find solutions to local problems, this could cover: incidences of local crime or persistent anti-social behaviour, continuing fly-tipping and environmental issues, drug misuse , vandalism, child safety issues, in fact the work of the group would very much mirror the local community safety strategy but would be able to make quick responses to changing circumstances.
As the main Statutory services would be involved you would be able to get more direct action when it is most required and ongoing communications and dialogue. There would be greater community consultation on an array of issues from car parking, speeding motors to burglary and car theft.
The Group could run local activities and roadshows and attend community events e.g. Mariners day, with community safety information, provide an advice stall and offer support and therefore speak directly with and listen to local people.
Support and resource local campaigns like road safety, improving paths and cycle routes, the Tidy, Clean and Green campaign.
Work closely with Neighbourhood Watch. Neighbourhood Watch is a community led initiative to bring local people together to address crime and other community safety issues. Neighbourhood Watch groups often liaise with the local police, the local authority, and other agencies. Neighbourhood Watches can be large, covering most of the households on an estate, or they might involve just a few houses. They may meet frequently or keep in touch via e-mail or social media. There really is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to Neighbourhood Watch. Neighbourhood Watch adapts to fit the community it serves.
The Group may get involved with supporting new opportunities and initiatives which reduce reoffending and develop prevention strategies around addiction and substance misuse, and which are targeted at vulnerable groups and individuals.
In essence the Group would decide its own direction of travel and get involved where it was felt to be appropriate and necessary. The recent community safety survey identified that many people are afraid about their safety and are negatively affected by the fear of crime so this could be an important area for a community safety group to support and reassure residents about their safety and provide an empathetic and listening ear. I would like to highlight that I am already registered with the Neighbourhood alert system and I regularly post their warnings and information about local scams, whether they are online cons, telephone scams or doorstep rip offs. I post these onto our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/opcamelontamfourhill and on our Twitter account at @opcamelonthill these alerts are very local and are very useful for reassuring people about current scams and risks to peoples personal security, especially with the national rise in scams associated with the COVID health crises. This then would be another strand of the work of the Group as these Alerts can be very localised and have a very immediate and direct impact.
If you are interested in getting involved or would like further details about the Camelon and Tamfourhill Community Safety Group then plea get in touch with myself: John R Hosie communitysafetyengager@tamfourhilltro.co.uk or 07391524528. Lets make our community safer, happy and a supportive place to live and work.
Despite the difficult COVID circumstances we have had local volunteers and a group from the Woodcraft Folk out on Litter picks, and they have made a significant improvement to Easter Carmuirs and Nailer Parks and in the area of Lock 16 and Union Road. A tremendous effort and a learning experience for the young people in the Carmuirs Woodcraft Group. Here is some of their comments and photos of their work last Monday at Nailer Park.
Clare from the Woodcraft Folk explains: “Before we started litter picking the group discussed why it is good to clean up litter and the group members came up with the following:”
“Because it looks ugly and makes people feel bad” “Because it could hurt us or make us sick” (The young people identified broken glass, sharp metal, or bacteria in rotting food all as dangers to themselves, the park users and the environment.)
September clean up: Tidy, Clean & Green
“Because it could hurt pets or wildlife in the park” “Because it could wash into streams and even the sea and be bad for animals that live there” “Because it causes climate change” (glass, metal etc could be recycled into new bottles, cans instead of wasted) Thanks, Clare
A Volunteer involved with the recent clear up of the woods in Easter Carmuirs Park explains:
“This park has a small, wooded area, used by the local school nursery for woodland nursery experiences. It is also used by groups to drink, make a mess, and set fires. One nursery parent decided to clear the area and was joined by 2 others who spent a morning clearing rubbish to make the area safe for children to enjoy the outdoors.”
If anybody or a local group wish to borrow the Clear up equipment and be covered with Public Liability for your litter pick then please contact: John Hosie at communitysafetyengager@tamfourhilltro.co.uk or phone on 07391524528
This week’s community safety blog will be a load of rubbish, nothing new there some may say, well I can live with that if it is helping or supporting the local community in a practical way. The Tamfourhill Community Hub is now a Clean Up Scotland National Hub, and you can now borrow a full litter picking kit from the Hub. If you want to organise you own litter pick , whether as a group, on your own, with your family and friends or through a club or organisation that you are involved with that’s what the gear is for. Please contract myself at Communitysafetyengager@tamfourhilltro.co.uk or give me a call on 07391524528 and I will arrange the booking and go through the process for picking up the gear and explaining everything you need to know. I am waiting on Falkirk Council finishing their littering plans and when that is done, I will also be able to cover your activities with Public Liability insurance. This is a chance for everybody to play a part and assist with keeping our communities Tidy Clean and Green.
This is how we can change a Grot Spot to a Creative Spot
Here is how we can change places from Grot Spots to Reclaimed Green zones
This is one aspect of the campaign: to clear the area of rubbish, fly tipping and dog pooh, the other important strand is the reclaiming of badly kept and messy grot spots. The plan is to convert them into green zones and community growing places. We have plans for wildflower meadows, pop up parks, allotments, and growing zones. I will leave Dan to explain that in his Thursday blog and how it fits with the Keep Camelon and Tamfourhill Tidy, Clean & Green campaign.
Traffic and roads is one of the key community safety themes and as the link above illustrates speeding cars and a lack of safe crossing locations are a notable concern for the local community. During the COVID lockdown people have enjoyed taking to the streets on foot, bicycle, skateboard and scooter and the clean air and quieter roads have had many health and well being benefits. The development of our local community safety strategy will be required to create and sustain this new social and health positivity. A possible and very practical means of achieving this would be for Camelon and Tamfourhill to become Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. This may mean roads being closed for periods of the day, for example outside local schools so that overtime there is a culture change where we no longer expect there to be motor vehicles within a given distance from any school. As the wearing of seat belts and drink driving are no longer considered to be sociably acceptable so will the presence of cars near schools be expected or allowed. The benefits are many , the safety of our children and young people and a reduction on the school car run and its environmental damage, healthier parents and children as walking and cycling become the new school run.
Consider how you and your family could benefit from a living in a Low Traffic Neighbourhood.
In my role as community safety engager I have been invited to participate in regular multi agency discussions chaired by the Leader of Falkirk Council Cecil Meiklejohn , this will put various local community safety issues onto the agenda and in particular the issue of road safety and traffic management will be a priority consideration for this Group. As always my focus will be to put the community at the front and centre of any new safety initiatives, so please watch this space for opportunities to be involved with shaping particular plans and actions.
Often our problems are ones of perception and if we change the view then we can change the narrative. I therefore would propose that instead of putting up big aggressive signs that say a road or street is closed that we put up cheerful signs that exclaim the road or street is open to : walking, cycling, skateboarding , wheel chair access and just about any form of sports, games and exercise, this below is the kind of signage that I am talking about:
My colleague Dan was recently highlighting the Road Safety Trust who will provide funds for councils and communities to devise, plan and implement improvements to road safety and this could be one avenue we pursue locally in order to improve road and traffic safety.
I want to finish this week on a high note and ask you to consider what it might be like if we began to transform our neighbourhood into a Low Traffic neighbourhood. I have touched before on pop up parks and reclaiming green zones for community planting as part of the Keep Camelon and Tamfourhill Tidy Clean and Green campaign, so lets consider if we join all these strands together then we could get something like what the film below illustrates:
Please as always get in touch if you have any comments , ideas or thoughts about the Low Traffic Neighbourhood approach to community safety.
I hope that you may have 5 minutes to spare in order to have a read of this week’s Community Safety Blog. I have highlighted successful community organisations on previous weeks blogs but this week I will focus on a group of local people who have simply decided that they must take their own direct action. Well I say people but in actual fact the star of the show is an energetic and dutiful dog called Lexie. I met up with the group last Tuesday afternoon when they had agreed to take me on a tour of some of the routes and locations that they regularly cover when they are out collecting rubbish and clearing up their immediate local area. This dedication and commitment are exemplary, so we are truly fortunate that they have agreed to actively support the Keep Camelon and Tamfourhill Tidy, Clean and Green campaign.
Lexie in Action
After a short briefing session, we headed along the canal tow path past Lock 14 and down towards Camelon Public Park, this was all new territory for myself, it was a fine day and the tow path was being well used by walkers and cyclists. The level of litter and rubbish was moderate, but I was impressed with the group’s techniques and silky use of the litter pickers, even discarded cigarette butts were skilfully removed and put into the bin bag. The most outstanding contribution however was from Lexie who is so well trained and in tune with the task at hand that she is mega efficient at pulling discarded plastic bottles, crisp pokes, sweetie rappers and discarded cans out from the jaggy bushes and grass verges. In addition to removing the litter we were also mapping out the areas for potential growing spots and for locations that had been badly disfigured by fly -tipping. This was a double-edged sword as we identified an excellent area of the public park for growing a wildflower meadow and a couple of horrific spots piled high with human detritus and industrial sized rubbish. This was a bit of a roller coaster, the ups of the canal and the tow path, green areas for potential community growing and the lows of sizeable dumps of fly tipping and industrial garbage.
An afternoon out for some litter picking
We identified this terrible load of rubbish near Camelon Main Street; however, the Councils Environmental Enforcement Team are onto it and I therefore hope to report a clean up in the next few weeks. Please do report fly tipping if you see it, remember not to interfere with it as there could be evidence of the perpetrators amongst the debris. You can report fly tipping to Falkirk Council at https://my.falkirk.gov.uk/en, if you are having problems with the online process, please do not hesitate to contact myself for some help.
one of the worst cases of fly-tipping that we found
A significant strand of the local Clear Up campaign will be about supporting and building upon the great work that is already undertaken by local people. Nobody asked these particular volunteers to give up their time and dirty their hands with the task of making their neighbourhoods look tidier and cleaner, they have taken that responsibility on for themselves. They care deeply about their local community and are motivated to make a difference and I felt energised and positive after my mapping session with them last week. In addition, since the recent publicity in the Falkirk Herald a number of other volunteers have got in touch and have put themselves forward to assist with the Campaign. I can also report on having very constructive meetings with Falkirk Council Waste Services and I am greatly confident that we can all work together and have a significant impact on improving of the area.
Hard at work making a difference
We are now a Keep Scotland Beautiful Community Hub which means we will be able to support our existing volunteers with improved resources and support and we can also support any groups or individuals who want to organise and run their own litter picks. The Councils new Litter strategy once agreed will also provide us with additional equipment for groups, publicity materials and very importantly Public Liability Insurance. I will also be looking to involve and engage the local schools, youth and community groups and local businesses with the Clear up Campaign. So, if you want to organise your own litter pick then please get in touch with myself, the contact details are below. I can help you plan, provide equipment, support you with some citizen science advice and ensure your litter pick is risk assessed and the paperwork is in place so you and your group are fully covered by the relevant insurance policy. I am hoping that more local people and groups will step up to the mark and contribute and follow in the footsteps of the Union Road Group and a dog calledLexie.
Lexie getting her hard earned reward
Please contact John R Hosie : Community Safety Engager 07391524528 & communitysafetyengager@tamfourhilltro.co.uk
“Millions of small actions by each human being; all the little things we do every day, can surely add up to vast changes over time”
John Muir; Conservationist and ecologist.
The recent responses to the Keep Camelon and Tamfourhill, Tidy , clean and green campaign have been very positive , and its great to be able to thank the various local people who have come forward to volunteer and get involved with clearing up our local community. The recently published article in the Falkirk Herald has been a great boost to the campaign and has encouraged and motivated local people to take up the challenge , get their hands dirty and make a contribution to improving the quality of life for everybody.
I really don’t want to hear that dropping litter is not my responsibility or even worse that I cannot do anything about the litter problem , “what difference can I make ?”, well I refer to the John Muir Quote that headlines this article and in a similar way I would point out that mighty glaciers are made up of individual snowflakes.
I will use this week’s community safety blog to describe the different activities that will be organised as part of the; Tidy, Clean & Green campaign.
Litter Picks: These will be supported through the Clean Up Scotland national hub which will provide the equipment and resources to organise and run effective community litter picks. Different organisations, groups and schools will all be asked to contribute. I am keen to establish champions for different streets and areas and for individuals or small groups to take responsibility for specific localities, whether that’s a street a close or a park. I am also in discussion with Falkirk Council to agree how we can work closely together with their Waste Services Department. We need to encourage behavioural change and by organising a clean up we will be setting the example for others in the community and showing them that it really is possible to make a difference. We will be wearing the bright recycled tabards supplied by Keep Scotland Beautiful so we will be providing a high-profile nudge and reminder to people that littering will not be tolerated by the community.
Litter picking can be an enjoyable and social activity which benefits everyone in the community, including the natural environment.
Developing partnerships: Through contacting local groups, businesses, pubs, and shops we will be able to establish networks of support and the potential to gain sponsorship and greater publicity for our community-based campaign. An important partnership will be with Falkirk Council, but this will also have a very local dimension which will take in the schools, the leisure sector and our transport providers.
smart
Partnerships will be important especially with Falkirk Council
Greening and Growing: The tactics here will be about transforming grot spots into biodiverse areas, or green zones, this can include edible vegetable and herb borders, tasty spaces and pop up parks. These are themes I have touched upon in previous blogs and they will form a central aspect of this campaign. Once we have cleared up an area the best way to sustain that improvement is to reclaim it back for the community as a green leisure or growing space. This can also facilitate new links with local food banks and play a role in combating food poverty and assist with addressing health and wellbeing concerns. I am sure many residents would welcome more seating with some natural greenery around them when they are out going about their business or going for a walk. The potential in this is immense and off course it makes a positive contribution to the climate emergency.
A nice seat with relaxing surroundings
Surveys and information gathering; This takes us into the realms of Citizen Science and can be developed around outdoor learning programmes and encourages us to engage with the natural world around us. Through this approach we can gain insight into how nature works and how we can facilitate improvements for our wild spaces and make them more sustainable. This is more than tree hugging and can involve gathering data which will be useful to other agencies and conservation groups as well as waste management interests. Similarly we will be able to monitor our green areas for invasive species and therefore take action to get them removed or better managed. There is an explicit link here to the school curriculum and other areas of community learning and development. Also essential to this part of the campaign will be the reporting of extreme littering and fly-tipping and getting support from the Council and other agencies through them uplifting bulky items and potentially issue fines. Gathering data can also assist with identifying the most appropriate areas for positioning bins.
Creativity and making some Art: I am sure our colleagues at Camelon Arts will have plenty of groovy ideas for how we can upcycle, recycle, and build sculptures with some of the litter that is gathered. The only constraint in this department will be our imaginations and I look forward to making a load of rubbish art all over Camelon and Tamfourhill. I will also be encouraging younger people to design posters and flyers which provide positive anti littering messages and images and similarly I will be looking to support and develop a social media strategy which mirrors the campaigns activities and also provides positive reinforcing messages about why we must try and keep our community tidy, clean and green.
Promoting Nudge activities: A nudge is an intervention that alters people’s behaviour in a predictable manner, without forcing a particular action onto them. For example, to promote healthy eating, fruit could be placed at eye level in shops or sweets can be removed from the checkouts. Whilst it is not impossible to get the sweets, the emphasis and easiest action is to select the fruit. A nudge then makes the behaviour you want to promote the path of least resistance, without removing the individual’s ability to choose an alternative. Some examples could be to chalk footprints on the pavement showing people to their nearest bin, getting local businesses, charities, or the schools to design and sponsor a colourful bin to make it more obvious to passers-by. I will leave Flash mobs for a future blog, but these might appeal to the younger generation and especially those who regularly use tic-tock or indeed this may also appeal to some of the older hippy generation who are up for a bit of situationist prankster art.
I will conclude for now on that note of having fun through taking part. I will endeavour to make our litter picks an enjoyable experience, it can be creative and can be an outdoor learning activity, it can be this and a whole lot more.
In this week’s community safety blog, I would like to highlight a local success story and it is one that I hope we can build upon and replicate throughout Camelon and Tamfourhill. I was only recently introduced to the Friends of Nailer Park Group who have demonstrated what can be achieved when local people are prepared to take responsibility for their own area and put in some hard and highly creative work. I met the group on a sunny August evening, and they told me about the work they had been involved with and how they had transformed the park. As we were sitting at one of the rainbow painted picnic tables it was very encouraging to see the park being used by a variety of children and adults all enjoying the equipment and the sunshine. This Park is clearly at the heart of community life and it is a great example of a successful community project and it is one which is making a significant contribution to the health and well being of the local people and providing the area with a quality play and recreation facility. The problems with our climate and its negative impacts on our natural environment has also been addressed through the Groups hard work in creating a wildlife hedge, we will see the benefits of this in the years to come. I look forward to attending one of the Groups very successful community events which they regularly run at the Park and which involves loads of local people helping with the organisation and where other local groups and organisations are there to deliver an array of activities and events. I am optimistic that we might be able to host a small community safety event at the Park during the school October holidays, this will off course be dependent upon the COVID situation and may have to wait until later in the year. I think it is worthwhile to stand back and acknowledge the importance of Groups like this, they are the lifeblood of the community and are a forum for further development and success. I am therefore hoping that I will be able to support the group and contribute to the community safety agenda through facilitating new opportunities at the Park. The local Keep Camelon and Tamfourhill Tidy, Clean and Green campaign will be another asset to the Park and the local area and I will be encouraging the Group to link in with our new Clean up Hub and the new litter picking resources which are coming into the area at the end of this week. This new initiative is part of the Keep Scotland Beautiful clean up Scotland campaign and it will see Camelon and Tamfourhill being one of 10 regional hubs spread throughout Scotland. Similarly, the issue of improved security will be looked at so that the Park can be kept safe. Along with other Partner agencies I will also be looking to see how we can better engage with the young people, children and families who currently make use of the Park. My colleague Dan Rous will be working closely with the Group and supporting them to identify new opportunities and resources to further improve and develop both the Park and the Group. I know the Group are extremely disappointed to be losing the support of Dani Lisney from the Communities Along the Carron Association, who is moving onto a new job. Dani has been a long-standing support to the group and will undoubtedly leave a significant gap and one which will be extremely hard to fill. I know however that Dan will be able to take up where Dani has left off and he will continue to support and encourage the Group. A programme of training and group development activities can be organised and I will also be there to assist with progressing the community safety agenda and thus enabling the Group to make the area a safer and happier place to live and work. I hope you enjoy this short slide show of the Groups successes to date and I look forward to a rainbow coloured and sunny future for the Friends of Nailer Park.
You will never plough a field by turning it over in your mind
If you are interested in the Group or would like to contribute to the wider community safety strategy then please do get in touch with myself at communitysafetyengager@tamfourhilltro.co.uk and 07391524528, or leave a comment in the box below.
This week I want to start by offering a big thanks to the 161 local people who completed a community safety survey. The survey closed on the 7th August and I have now been working on collating the data, carrying out some analysis and starting the process of confirming the local community safety priorities. The consultation will now move onto a more interactive phase and once I am able to do so, I will be holding some Focus Groups in order to get further details about the relevant Community Safety issues and the actions we will need to take to address the various concerns. The survey results have provided a clear indication of what are the important issues in the community and where there clearly needs to be positive action. The future will be a success if we are able to involve all sectors of the community and the various organisations to work in partnership and we are able to tackle matters collectively and in a coordinated way. If you are interested in looking at the detailed report with my initial interpretation of the responses, then please visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/stories/SM-6MCXY5PD/
I know that people don’t have the time to read long detailed reports, although they will be of great assistance when we come to later apply for funding and resources , so I thought I would break the survey results into much smaller sections and highlight a couple of themes each week on the blog, so please go to the link below:
Alone we can do so little: together, we can do so much
Hellen Keller
I am putting out a request in this week’s community safety blog: I need your help and your active participation with making Camelon and Tamfourhill a safer, better, and happier place to live and work. If we are to achieve this bold aspiration, then we will need to recognise the challenges that we face and acknowledge that the best chance of success is if we all come together and work with a common purpose.
The first part of the community safety consultation was concluded on Friday 7th August with the closure of the online survey. I would therefore like to once again offer my congratulations to Jacqueline Hannah on wining the Tablet through the survey Prize draw, and I hope that she gets lots of pleasure and enjoyment from using her new device. I was also incredibly pleased to have 161 completed survey responses, with 92 local people expressing both an interest with being informed about the future plans for community safety and in also taking part in a community action planning day. I therefore will be contacting those relevant individuals to bring them up to date with the results of the survey and inviting them to take part in the next stages of the consultation. It is vitally important that the community safety priorities are identified by the local community and in this respect, it is also critical that local people agree to the appropriate and relevant actions that are necessary, if the local plans and activities are to be successful and effective.
The Kemlin Kin Group are a partnership of local people with representatives from organisations and groups who are already active and delivering services and activities in the local area. I would like to encourage others to join with this Group and therefore take an active role with driving forward the community safety plans for the area and also in supporting the work of the Community Coach Dan Rous with his remit of building the resilience and the capacity of the local area. I fully realise that people get fed up with committees and steering groups and endless talking in meetings, however I would want to assure you that this group will be different. Dan and I will endeavour to make this an enjoyable experience with lots of hands on activities, opportunities to volunteer, learn new skills, develop existing interests, and potentially gain accreditation and recognition for your community involvement. We will also be looking to start up a Young Community Safety Volunteers group and they will get opportunities to learn about peer education and will have loads of activities to get involved with. This approach will be equally concerned with facilitating new support networks and hopefully forming new friendships throughout our neighbourhoods and an important aspect of this group can also be about families coming together for the betterment of the local area. I do not want to be too prescriptive as the agenda and programme of the group would be developed in accordance with the views and ideas of the group themselves, with the support of myself and Dan. The key to the success of this group will be in its ability and effectiveness for putting plans into place and having responsibility for implementing positive change in the local area. Please if you are interested in any way please get in touch with either me or Dan at communitysafetyengager@tamfourhilltro.co.uk or communitycoach@tamfourhilltro.co.uk
I will briefly highlight some of the key findings and indicators of what issues might be community safety priorities for Camelon and Tamfourhill. I will also in the coming weeks go into greater detail about the survey results and focus on specific themes. There are a number of Focus Groups and Workshops that I will be facilitating when it is safe to do so and these activities should assist with putting some meat onto the bones of the results of the survey. The three most significant community safety themes on the survey have been recorded as: Anti-social behaviour, Substance misuse and problems with crime and disorder and traffic/roads. Within these broader themes specific issues have been highlighted, and most notable are the problems of litter, fly -tipping and dog fouling, drug dealing and the consumption of drugs, the level of reoffending are all of considerable concern. The feelings about the fear of crime and a lack of reassurance about community safety issues are noted as being especially important to local people.
I have in previous blogs highlighted some of the possible campaigns and plans that I would hope will be supported locally, these have included: Keep Camelon and Tamfourhill: Tidy, Clean and Green campaign and linked with Keep Scotland Beautiful , similarly we have an active bid to be a community clear up host also with Keep Scotland Beautiful, Restorative justice approaches in dealing with issues around disorder and vandalism, public art projects in partnership with Camelon Arts, promoting bio diversity and sustainability through community gardens, wild flower meadows and edible borders, young community safety volunteers project, the further redevelopment of Easter Carmuirs Park and we are one of the lead groups in a consortium bid for a creative communities grant award from Inspiring Scotland. If you are interested in any of these themes and potential projects then please get in touch, these are the types of initiatives you would be supporting and developing through being a member of the Kemlin Kin Group.
If you want to go quickly, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.
Safer Communities Youth Action Project 