One of the biggest challenges I face as the Community Safety Engager will be reassuring people that for most of the time, they are safe and to reduce their anxiety and fear about crime and who is considered to be responsible for causing crime within the local community. The community safety survey found that 64% of respondents felt that the fear of crime and the need for reassurance was a noticeable and fairly significant problem in the local areas.

In November 2020 the Scottish Community Safety Network, published a significant piece of research. ‘The Scottish Picture of Antisocial Behaviour (ASB)’ report, produced by Robyn Bailey, Social Researcher for the Scottish Government, who was commissioned to research into ASB in terms of how common it is, which types are most common, who is engaging in it and what is driving it. I know many people cannot be bothered with facts and figures; but it is in my view worth pondering over some of Robyn Baileys findings, as they are revealing and, in some respects, consistent with many local peoples experiences. However, when we look at the national picture this is suggesting that problems with ASB are actually falling.

The research found that Levels of ASB have decreased over the past 10 years and the public have noticed this decline in their areas, nevertheless, those living in the most deprived areas, in socially rented housing and in large urban areas, as well as younger people, are more likely to perceive ASB issues in their area. The consultation work I carried out in 2020 echoed these concerns and I noted a high level of concern about the connection between poverty, lack of opportunities and the very local levels of ASB. It would therefore not be unreasonable to conclude that if we do not address poverty and inequality then the same local neighbourhoods will continue to suffer from disproportionately higher levels of ASB

The next observation is that although youth crime rates in Scotland are falling, the percentage of people who view young people hanging around on the streets as ‘problematic’ has continued to grow (Neary et al 2013) This seems to be due to stereotyping of young people congregating in public, which leaves them in a difficult position: just being young and hanging about can make these youngsters seem to be unfairly criminalised and often treated like modern day folk devils. This process over time leads people to think that groups of young people hanging about is in itself a form off ASB. If the levels of ASB are actually decreasing as the research is suggesting then a significant part of feeling safe has to be about changing some peoples perceptions of what young people are actually doing when they hang about in groups. They are often just socialising and not actually involved with ASB and the research would seem to support this observation.

As always, the challenge is in responding to these circumstances in ways that are effective, and which bring about change for the better. The research finds that in reality ASB is more often caused by people in their thirties and not teenagers, and the most common ASB is unwanted and intrusive noise. The best course of action that is suggested will require the community and agencies to try and correct these false historic perceptions. The recommendation is that we need to adopt community-led approaches to tackling ASB. My role therefore as community safety engager should be key and central to facilitating, engaging, and supporting the community to develop responses and opportunities which will have the best chance of success. Firstly, we need to understand the causes of ASB and then we will have a far better chance of successfully reducing that negative behaviour. The solutions might be practical, for example excessive noise might be remedied through improving wall insulation and having more effective sound proofing in the housing stock. Another pertinent example might be about developing new local youth services that are appropriate to their needs and interests. In areas of low income and with high incidence of poverty and deprivation then access to local sports and leisure facilities may need to improve and the barrier of cost be removed. Similarly unresolved mental health issues and ongoing substance dependency need to be tacked at their route causes as opposed to tackling their symptoms and the social and criminal consequences of these addictions and negative behaviours.

Finally, we need to address the perceptions of ASB and who engages in it and acknowledge that this is often influenced by stereotypes and reinforced through the media and the creation of moral panics. The responses to the local community safety priorities will require us to get behind these stereotyped labels, better understand the causes of people’s behaviours and attitudes and then as a community work together to facilitate successful sustainable solutions. One of the strap lines of Neighbourhood Watch Scotland is “We all need to look out for each other” and in that statement lies the core of an effective community safety strategy

The Picture of Anti-Social Behaviour in Scotland can be found at:https://www.safercommunitiesscotland.org/new-research-the-scottish-picture-of-anti-social-behaviour/

So, what would we consider to be a living street? What gives it life and makes it a vibrant, safe, and a sociable place which we all enjoy being about? I thought that I would revisit a previous blog that looked at living streets and in particular the creation of pop up parks. I am very pleased to announce that the new Tidy, Clean and Green Community Group have been awarded £1500 through the Falkirk Council Community Choices Programme towards the cost of setting up Pop up parks throughout Camelon and Tamfourhill. So lets reflect back upon the context and vision for having these provisions as part of the process of making our local community a safer, happier and more attractive place to live. My previous blog began with highlighting some of the key features and attributes which can contribute to making our streets alive and safe for everyone in the neighbourhood.

The Covid lockdown has offered us a glimpse into a more greener living environment, there were less motor vehicles and with their decrease in noise and exhaust fumes, we experienced an increase in people and families going out for walks and a similar increase in people travelling by wheels, including bikes, skateboards and scooters. The air was cleaner, the birds chirping much more noticeably, and the grass and undergrowth were left to grow, flourish and bloom without their regular cutting and maintenance.  The notion of prioritising pedestrians over cars is seldom a popular approach to designing our streets and shopping areas, people like the convenience of shopping by car and often travelling to shopping centres on the outside of their communities. This however has a negative impact upon the quality of our own streets and in the decrease of local shops catering for local needs and which are often owned and run by local people. The priority when planning and managing our streets always seems to be about how we move cars or motor vehicles about, and marginalised groups are often discriminated against and consequently are excluded from our streets and public places. This effects our older people , those with physical and unseen disabilities and other vulnerable groupings who are discouraged and alienated from walking their streets , going to local shops or hanging about socialising due to the intimidating designs of our streets and the dominance of the motor car. I recently was made aware of the Living Streets Scotland organisation and their Walking connects Project. I learned from them about how our public places often act as barriers to vulnerable groups like those with disabilities and how these so-called public spaces can make individuals and groups feel unsafe. I was made aware of how peoples human rights were being undermined and how they were being discriminated against and in fact how few people actually were aware of how their social spaces were being used to oppress and alienate them.

https://www.livingstreets.org.uk/about-us/scotland

Our communal spaces can be made safer and less intimidating if we include certain features, for example public seating. This provides a resting spot for those who might not be fully fit due to age or illness. Install benches with some plants and shrubs then we have created a comfortable social area, people will feel safer and they know they can rest and not be harassed and stressed as they go about their daily business. Clearly, we need to ensure that local people are involved with the design of their public spaces and this must be an inclusive process. Those whose needs are currently discriminated against need to be brought into this process as a priority and they will require support and positive encouragement to engage and participate effectively with that design process.

We often think back with nostalgia to when we could safely play football in the street, children were not at risk from motor cars and it was commonplace for people to gather and socialise at street corners. The motor car is here to stay so the main challenge now in making our streets alive and safe is how we manage the tension that exists between cars and people. How do we negotiate a positive outcome from this conflict which could convert our streets back to being the focus of our communities? A solution might be to agree days when cars are not allowed on certain streets and these spaces can then be converted into social and community spaces. This approach has been successfully developed and deployed by the Living Streets Organisation, with their pop up parks and Parklets. This can then be progressed through including mobile sports equipment and possibly a performance area and providing a temporary meeting construction with seats and cover from the weather.  

This sets the scene for the arrival of Pop-up Parks in Camelon and Tamfourhill, the first will be at the grass area at the car park at the Camelon Juniors Football ground on Friday 15th October, and this is also going to involve a very creative community taste and try day, I will off course explain all that’s going to be happening at this community safety event and how you and your family can get involved within this blog over the coming weeks.

Saturday was a family clear up on the canal  between the Falkirk Wheel and the Lock 16, the sun shone, and the wind blew at times, and the hard work of paddling and picking up rubbish was carried out with skill and through family teamwork. The canal is a central artery to the community, and it has been  so very positive over the last 5 months to have involved local families, young people, school classes, youth  and community groups who have all contributed to the upkeep of both the water and the towpath. The Our Place Camelon  and Tamfourhill Project will  continue to focus community development and regeneration around the canal network and encourage our Partners and  local people to utilise the canal corridor to its maximum potential in order to  facilitate new leisure, social and economic opportunities. I would like to thank Great Place Falkirk for the funding to support the canal clear ups over the last 5 months and Scottish Canals for providing quality instruction on the water and providing  support services for the towpath litter picks. It really has been a joint initiative and an excellent partnership approach with Falkirk Council  Waste Services teaming up with the Community Safety Engager to deliver dynamic workshops which encouraged  participation and learning about the  environmental impact of littering and fly-tipping.  The critically important factor was that the  local community was at the front and centre of this environmental programme, with several young people gaining their Saltire Challenge Awards for volunteering from the Scottish Government and all participants receiving a certificate of achievement for their contributions to keeping the Canal; Tidy, Clean and Green.

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Sundays activities were based around the Brown Street Park in Camelon where the new Tidy, Clean and Green Group hosted a tree planting session which represents the first phase of transforming this old play park into a community growing space. The day however started with a community litter pick  which began in the Park itself and which also covered many of the surrounding streets. We were joined by a  staff group from the McDonalds Restaurant on Glasgow Road and  by Councillor Dennis Goldie and they really have made  a massive difference to the Park and the surrounding streets that they  so thoroughly  covered.

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The main event of Sunday was the planting of the 20 trees which had been provided by the Woodland Trust. We were joined by Councillors Cecil Meiklejohn, David Alexander, and our local MSP Gillian McKay, who each  got a hold of a spade and assisted with the tree planting. The local volunteers from the new Group of Chris, Nicholla, Arya, Mathew, Angie, and Nathan  were all happy to see their new community group launched with a weekend of environmental endeavours which will be the beginning of a journey to make Camelon and Tamfourhill a Tidier, Cleaner and Greener  place to live and enjoy.   

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The Tidy, Clean & Green Campaign developed as a local response to the Community safety Strategies priorities for Camelon and Tamfourhill. Over the last year local people and community organisations were consulted about their priorities for making Camelon and Tamfourhill a safer, happier, and more attractive place to live. A significant theme and recurring concern was the level of litter, fly-tipping and dog pooh that was  having a really negative impact upon the local area and contributing to the spoiling  and deterioration of the local green environment. The community response to this was to get out and about and start clearing up the community through regular litter picks and to involve local community groups and the schools with this action. The wider plan was to transform some of the notorious local grot spots into community growing projects and to look to establish a series of Pop-up Parks at various open spaces throughout Camelon and Tamfourhill. Local volunteers have stepped up to the mark and faced these challenges through direct community action and with the support of the Our Place Camelon and Tamfourhill Project the volunteers have now been forming themselves into the Tidy, Clean and Green constituted community group.

This new Community Action Group will be officially launched this weekend of Saturday 14^th & Sunday 15^th August with a programme of environmental activities, Leader of Falkirk Council Cecil Meiklejohn will officiate over the launch which will also be attended and supported by our local MP John McNally.

There are opportunities for any interested  people and groups to get involved with the weekends launch programme: 

Saturday 14^th August: The Family  Canal Clear up Day from the Falkirk Wheel to Lock  16

The last in the series of the Our Place Camelon & Tamfourhill Great Place Falkirk funded community canal clear ups. If your family would like to take part then please get in touch with myself John R Hosie , the Community Safety Engager on 07391524528 or communitysafetyengager@tamfourhilltro.co.uk, advance booking is essential. You can take part as 1 adult/parent/carer with 2 of your children, they must be 8 years and older for the canoe part of the day although there are no age  restrictions for the canal towpath litter pick and the workshop session. A great way to end the school holidays and enjoy a day out and about around lock 16, the canal and the Falkirk Wheel. There is no cost to taking part and whoever does take part will be making a valuable contribution to keeping our community tidy, clean, and green . You can link with our Facebook event for further information and details at:

https://www.facebook.com/events/4273201196059503?ref=newsfeed

Sunday 15 August: Community Litter Pick and Tree Planting session.

The Litter Pick starts at 12 noon ,and the meeting place is the old Brown Street Park in Camelon, and  we are being joined by the staff from the McDonalds Restaurant on Glasgow Road, Camelon who are coming along to show their staffs and the  restaurants commitment to keeping the local area #tidycleangreen.  The  Tree Planting  will start from around 1pm also at the  Brown Street Park.   Councillor Meiklejohn will be joining us so if you would also like an afternoon out and about in the fresh air then please come and join  us at the Brown Street Park for the litter pick and the tree planting. We are very grateful to the support we receive from Keep Scotland Beautiful, Falkirk Council Waste Services, Woodland Trust and the litter picking support of the local McDonalds Restaurant.

An interesting and refreshingly positive aspect of the Canal Clear ups has been the young peoples workshops which have concluded the days clean up work on both the canal and the towpath. The group who took part on Wednesday 21st July were tasked with thinking about where they lived and the places they played with their friends and to then consider some of the environmental issues at these places and to come up with their own plans and ideas for keeping these special places #tidycleangreen. I was really privileged to hear about all the locations the youngsters went to and were important to them, from the Roman Park in Tamfourhill, the places with the special named stones in Rowen Crescent and the skatepark in Falkirk. The group who were aged 8 -11 years old worked in groups of three or four and here is a taste of their ideas and creations for improving and keeping their special places #tidycleangreen, so don’t be surprised to see some of these projects becoming a reality and actually happening over the coming months.

This week’s short blog is a call out to all 11 -18-year-olds who live or are connected to Camelon and Tamfourhill. I have begun having street conservations with groups of local young people and I have been encouraging them to complete the young peoples community safety survey: Lets Make Camelon and Tamfourhill a safer and happier place to live. The main issues in the survey, include being safe outdoors in parks, MUGAS and the street, Social Media, travelling about the area and asking what topics or issues  would be most useful to learn about through further information sessions and workshops. There is a prize of 4 cinema tickets for a lucky person who has submitted a completed survey, it only takes 5 minutes, and it is the starting point for involving local young people with the new community safety strategy. The strategy through listening to local young people can facilitate new opportunities, services, and activities for  young people . The core of this approach is to promote young people’s wellbeing and to empower them to develop and organises the activities that would be best suited to their needs and aspirations. Here is the link :      

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/D686J6H

Please pass this link  onto any young people you know and who would be prepared to fill in the survey and there will be further opportunities ,if they are interested, to get more involved with and help design some new  local community safety projects.

Last weeks blog focussed on the long summer holidays and how that can be a risky time for our young people as they push their own and other peoples boundaries. My watchwords were “Look out for your mates” After the tragic loss of life in Scotland over the last weekend due to drowning I felt it was appropriate to repeat some of the campaign materials that I published last week, these were: https://www.fearless.org/campaigns/Scotland-summer

The good  mental health and  wellbeing of our local youth population are critical in making our wider community a safe and enjoyable place to live, so  over the coming months I will be highlighting some specific youthful issues that are raised by local young people as they reflect upon their own local community and personal safety.

Summer is here and its holiday time for many and off course the  long weeks of the school holidays with what used to feel like endless days of running wild outside and having a whale of a time with your mates. Fond memories and probably a bit over romanticised and there were occasions where you would fall foul of the anger of adults and even the odd meeting with the local police. I was a bit nostalgic when I was speaking to some young people at the Mariner Street MUGA last week, they were off to continue building  their den , they had a spade to help dig out their foundations, but they  still had time for a kick about and a chat with this old timer. Summer holidays can be a time for young people to be taking risks  and later that day I spoke to some lads who were diving into Lock 16 without any care or consideration for their own safety. I did stop for a chat and the guys were respectful and understanding but they were having too much fun to listen to my concerns or the ramblings of this old Fuddy Duddy.

We can easily get over sensitive about some of  the risks that our young people put themselves through  and I am part of the narrative that complains about cotton wool kids and them spending to much time on computers and with other digital screens. The community is often the best facilitator of our young peoples safety and the Summer Camp being run at Tamfourhill Community Hub is a great example of providing youngsters with challenges and exciting creative activities that are facilitated safely within a supporting nurturing environment. Local people with the commitment , enthusiasm, and skills to support a great summer community programme and this is a great template for the types of youth opportunities that I would like to see supported and developed throughout Camelon and Tamfourhill as part of the wider community safety strategy. 

Summer activity programmes and play-schemes have been a solid, safe and reliable aspect for many communities throughout Scotland , however the usual issues have worked against their continued  universal delivery; reduced funding, increased bureaucracy and a lack of staff and volunteers. In order to fill some of the community safety gaps that these play-schemes traditionally covered Fearless Scotland https://www.fearless.org/campaigns/Scotland-summer have launched a brand-new summer campaign in partnership with Network Rail  It was launched to coincide with the beginning of the school summer holidays. The campaign focuses on empowering young people to stay safe whether they are at home, travelling or away for the day or on holiday. This campaign will run for six weeks and covers a whole host of community safety topics for young people and each specific topic has its own campaign video. Please pass these links onto any young people you know who are out and about in the community through their school summer holidays

I wonder what the lads diving into Lock 16 might have said in response to this short clip:  https://youtu.be/jncVb2onYC4

For some children and young people, the summer holidays when schools are closed can be a particularly dangerous time for them. Home might not be a safe place – they might be physically hurt there or be neglected.

It is important that if you have any concerns about someone you SPEAK UP. This can be to a trusted adult like your parent/carer, a social worker or youth worker or contact police directly. If you are worried about being at home or if you are being hurt, please call Childline on 0800 1111 or talk to an adult you trust. Or use this link:  https://www.fearless.org/give-info

Please have a look at this short clip : https://youtu.be/V3b1lsK0s7c

We have two busy  railway lines going though Camelon and Tamfourhill, railway tracks, embankments and land around the railway track are common areas for young people to mischievously stray onto when they are playing, and not necessarily to do any harm as this clip illustrates: https://youtu.be/wk19PbCokHk

And finally, those long summer holidays and light nights are often when young people might start experimenting with alcohol and substances and we should not underestimate the pressure that inexperienced youngsters can be put under

Let’s not get matters out of proportion , summer holidays are the best, memories may be fading but they remain positive and to be cherished , lets support our young people to make the most of their local environment, enjoy their holidays and encourage the positive social learning that can be facilitated through running wild in our parks and open green spaces.

IF YOU NEED HELP:

Police Scotland can be contacted 24/7 – for non-emergencies call 101 or in an emergency call 999

If you are on a train and want to report a non-emergency incident you can text BTP on 61016 and tell them what has happened.

Childline can help you if you are worried or feeling low. You can call them on 0800 1111 or visit their website childline.org.uk

Whatever you are doing this summer, stay safe and remember to look out for your mates.

Going Walkabout in Camelon and Tamfourhill:

I want to pick up from last week’s blog review to focus upon some aspects of the community safety strategy that will be implemented over the next few weeks. I have begun going walkabout around the local area and although this is a fit and healthy pursuit at any time it does have a real purpose with some extremely specific aims. I am implementing a period of detached youth work along with volunteers from Tamfourhill Community Hub and this work is intended to be a  good and effective way of getting to know some of the local young people whilst also  gaining insight and an understanding of their perspectives and issues. This will be achieved through  face-to-face contact on the streets and in the local parks. I have begun with a mapping and getting to know the area approach and in the last couple of weeks I have been accompanying a colleague from Falkirk Councils Community Housing Estates Team to show me around the community and understand their remit in terms of identifying and dealing with litter, fly tipping, dog pooh mess and anti-social behaviour. This builds on some sessions I had carried out after the first lockdown back in October and November last year. The main focus of this streetwork will be to establish contact with young people, get to know them and then listen to their views, perspectives, and issues around community safety. I have spent many previous  years with managing detached and outreach youth work projects and that experience should prove beneficial to establishing some creditable and trusting relationships with the young people of this manor. This is  not a quick fix approach, and it will take several weeks to establish some trust and rapport. The next stage will be to then begin to look at some of their main issues which the community safety plan can address whilst also  facilitating new opportunities for our local young people to play a positive and constructive role with the wider development  of their own community. Although my streetwork sessions will have a young person focusI  also want to speak and listen to any local people , young , old and everything in-between who want to discuss community safety or any community issues that the feel are especially relevant. Please come and have a chat, I might not always have all the answers, but I should know  where to get the information you require or who the best contact might be. I will initially be targeting the following locations: Easter Carmuirs Park  and the Mariner Street MUGA, Towpath at the Forth & Clyde Canal, Carpark, and the surrounding streets at CJFC, Nailer park and Telford Square and Tamfourhill. My first priority will be in and around Easter Carmuirs Park so please come and say hello and there are specific projects that will be getting progressed and they include the provision of improved play facilities and a young people’s MUGA with  associated youth facilities and asking if  providing organised sports sessions based within the park would be a worthwhile and welcomed development.

Street A Week:

Some people may recall back in 2019, before my time, the street a week initiative that was operational in Camelon and Tamfourhill. It has been suggested to me that this would be a good type of Project to replicate or at least deliver some of the more successful aspects of the previous scheme. This would see the key agencies, including the Police, Falkirk Council, The Fire Service, local Drugs agencies and voluntary organisations coming into a few streets over a week to listen to local people’s concerns, issues, and priorities. This would be more than a listening exercise and as all the main agencies will be directly involved, we would therefore hope that effective and quick responses could be made to current or ongoing community safety matters and at a very localised level. I  am currently  meeting with the main partner agencies, but I would also welcome community input from the outset. The Key Outcomes  that I hope to be able to move forward are: The community having an improved sense of security and reassurance about their homes and property, facilitate greater confidence in the local agencies and to improve partnership working between the community and the different agencies .Through this Project  I am looking to establish  a local community safety forum which would meet regularly, would involve all the key local agencies and which would be focused on problem solving and delivering positive change for the community. The current timeline is to try and start delivering this Project in the Autumn of this year.

The Canal Clear up:

As you will be aware the canal clear ups have been remarkably successful, and this project has been made possible though funding that was provided by Great Places Falkirk Project through funding provided  the Heritage Lottery Fund. There are 2 summer holiday sessions operating , one is for young people on the 21^{st of} July, there are only a few places available for this, but we also have a family session scheduled for Saturday 14^th August , this is the weekend before the schools return and it would be a really groovy[JH1] , interesting and special family day to finish of the school holiday . If you are interested in the concluding canal clear up sessions, then please get  in touch with myself directly at communitysafetyengager@tamfourhilltro.co.uk or phone me on 07391524528

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The edited highlights

I want to use this week’s community safety blog to provide an update of where we are in terms of delivering the recently agreed strategy and in terms of developing and supporting local community safety projects. Needles to say as lockdown restrictions ease the more, I have been able to get out and about and engage directly with the local community and various groups.

#tidycleangreen has been active throughout lockdown and the monthly community litter picks have been an especially useful way to get out and get some exercise and fresh air and indeed socialise with other folks. It has been very heartening to have worked closely with both local primary schools and Camelon Early learning and Childcare centre, all the young volunteers took part in community litter picks and in different workshops where they learnt about the importance of looking after the environment and keeping the local community tidy, clean, and green. We also worked jointly with the Discovering Antoine Wall Heritage Lottery Project on a historical themed litter pick and joined up with Forth Environment Link and Dan the Community Coach with the Veg Your ledge Workshops at the Brown Street and Nailer parks.  The Canal Clear ups have made a significant difference to the water quality and the tow path, again we facilitated various learning sessions to accompany the paddle pick-ups and the funding provided by Great Place Falkirk has had an impact on the local environment and allowed local community groups and the schools to engage and learn about the importance of the canal to the local communities social history and industrial past.  Future plans include the siting and construction of Pop -up Parks at some of our local notorious grot spots and to this end local volunteers have submitted a proposal to the community choices fund, and we positively await the outcome of the recent vote. The Tidy, Clean and Green Campaign will be constituted as a local community group who will then take the project, including the community growing, anti-littering and Pop-up Park facets of the campaign forward as a sustainable new local project. An important role for the Group will be liaising with services within Falkirk Council and other agencies with the view to making and keeping the local area much cleaner and to speak on behalf of the wider community on relevant issues. I am pleased to announce that this approach will see the introduction of bin sensors to the street bins around Camelon and Tamfourhill, and  this should enable Cleansing to better  schedule when they should be uplifted, identify the best and most effective locations for them to be placed and provide important details about what is causing problems at particular bin locations, e.g. why are particular bins being filled so quickly to overflowing, these sensors over time should contribute to keeping the local streets  litter free and generally cleaner.   

The Tamfourhill Recovery Community Drop-in and environmental programme: It was a pleasure to attend the recent launch of the Forth Valley Recovery Communities opening of their drop in facility based at Tamfourhill Community Hub. This initiative is a partnership which developed from the agreed local community safety priority of providing community-based responses to some of the difficulties and problems arising from substance and alcohol misuse. There was a visible gap in local provisions around recovery from addictions and dependencies and this is the first stage in beginning to address that situation.  A key success to date has been the Recovery communities involvement with local clear ups and litter picks and this visibility has been highly praised by local tenants. An important part of their approach has been the positivise peer support which has encouraged members to get actively involved with their own local community. The environmental programme that operates from the Hub will be supported through the community safety strategy and the intention will be to develop this provision in partnership as we move forward. The drop-in is on every Monday from 10am, with the café facility opening at 1pm, everybody is very welcome so please either contact myself directly or speak to Forth Valley Recovery Community    

Community Safety Projects at the Camelon Juniors Car Park area:   I have really enjoyed being able to get out and meet with local people face to face and the engagement process at this location has been generally positive with lots of constructive suggestions as to how this space can be better used for community benefit and made to feel much safer. I have been working closely with Mark Bleakley of Camelon Arts who is also working on an All Games Allowed project which will contribute to the overall community safety themes that will be implemented around the car park. This Project will be about partnership at every level, and I hope to be able to coordinate several creative and landscaping inputs for the areas development involving several local community groups and organisations. We recently had a great mornings discussions when we attended the Love Falkirk Food Pantry inside the football ground, there were lots of positive engagements and a real willingness from local people to get involved with projects as they get confirmed, agreed, and developed. I would want to emphasise that there will be no developments at this location without the support of the local community and the tenants who live in the immediate vicinity of the car park and its surrounding area, and the long-term success of this project will be absolutely reliant on community support and involvement.

Safer streets and active travel at Easter Carmuirs Primary School:  I have been working closely with the school’s Parent Council and there are positive developments happening with the SUSTRANS Pocket Places Programme and I hope to be able to announce some incredibly good news about new innovative community safety projects which will hopefully be created around the streets and entrance to the school.  

Youth engagement and giving local young people a voice in community safety: I am beginning the process of getting to know some of the local young people who are using the local parks and in particular the MUGA on Mariner Avenue and I want to involve them with various community development projects.  This week I will be about Easter Carmuirs Park with a colleague form the Councils Estates Team and I am hoping to speak to park users about their aspirations for the park and their thoughts about the next phase of the parks development. I will also be about the Canal tow path and around Nailer Park so please if you see at any of these locations please do not hesitate to come over for a chat as I am very eager to hear first-hand what local people think and want to see in their community that can contribute to making the area a safer and happier place to live and play.

The Street a Week Scheme Some people may recall back in 2019, before my time, the street a week initiative that was operational in Camelon and Tamfourhill. It has been suggested to me that this would be a good type of Project to replicate or at least deliver some of the more successful aspects of the previous scheme. This would see the key agencies, including the Police, Falkirk Council, The Fire Service, local Drugs agencies and voluntary organisations coming into a few streets over a week to listen to local peoples concerns, issues and priorities This would be more than a listening exercise and as all the main agencies were actively involved, we would hope that effective and quick responses could be made to current or ongoing community safety matters and at a very localised level. I will keep the community updated with this initiative, currently I am meeting with the main partner agencies, but I would welcome community input from the outset, and I will therefore focus on this particular project in much greater detail in a future Community Safety Blog.

Community Safety Question of the Month: To end this week could you please take a minute to answer this months poll about whether the bins on Clarinda Street should stay or go: Click on the link to have your say. Full results will be published on the Our Place Social Media Platform

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ZQM5Z5F

Although my primary focus is local and community based it is also useful and important to be aware of national developments, trends and ongoing research and insights, I often ask the question: how do we as a community fit with wider national concerns and issues?

A major piece of community safety research was published last month, carried out by Mainstreet Consulting, and commissioned by SCSN. There are 4 separate but overlapping research projects which have now been concluded and it was Project (2) that I felt was of most interest: What makes a community safe? And related to that mapping out how the relationships across the partners can support safer communities.

Community safety is complex and involves an extensive array of interconnected factors, some local some national and in this high-tech age some are virtual and online. These factors all interact with each other, and it is therefore a massive challenge to identify absolute certainties or present any type of template for making our community safer.

The research involved focus groups, a questionnaire, and the direct involvement of members of the Scottish Community Safety Network (SCSN) it was therefore national and detailed. A safer community was found to be based upon the principle of personal safety and safety within the public realm. This is explained as a person being at risk of harm due to the risks they encounter within the community where they live, it is about their personal relationships, their personal circumstances, their behaviour, and stage of life. A safer community will then have to deal with these micro issues and localised concerns, these can even be online. Community safety was found to be complex and was impacted by national, local, and specific neighbourhood-based factors.

The research confirmed that safety means different things to different people but there was three generally identifiable components:

• Seen to be safe: – quality of the environment is a big factor, this is about the appearance of local areas: in particular; dark streets, graffiti, dog fouling, derelict property and neglected green spaces, these are especially important factors for making people feel safe. When applying this to our own local community safety strategy that fits well with our Keeping Camelon and Tamfourhill Tidy, clean, and Green. #tidycleangreen

• Felt to be safe: This is about the fear of crime and the need for reassurance, it’s very difficult to make people feel safer by explaining the actual nature of the risks when that is being negated by the mass media and social media amplifying particular issues like crime and public disorder. Our local strategy highlights the community having an improved sense of security and reassurance.

• Understood to be safe. the importance of basic information about safety within communities was noted frequently and it was found that communities valued knowing where to go to get support and advice and knowing that something will get done. This is a great fit with the local strategies key outcome of Local people having greater confidence in the agencies that deliver relevant services and in particular the local intention to re-establish the successful street a week multi-agency project.  

Other significant factors that were found to impact upon a community’s safety is its sense of place, where a positive sense of identify and pride in the area were massive factors, this relates well with our own Key Outcome of Improving community cohesion and a theme crossing several of these outcomes is to support various community development projects which will facilitate further local ownership and improved responsibility and pride in our local areas, parks, and community facilities.

The final factor highlighted by some of the respondents was poverty and inequality and how this can badly damage a community’s sense of safety through exasperating local criminality and anti-social behaviour and undermining mental health and wellbeing. This is a social structural challenge and requires macro political interventions however we should also be aware of strategies and projects that tackle poverty as being necessary and absolutely fundamental to improving the sense of safety and wellbeing within a community.   

Finally, this research project looked at how best to engage with communities, there was an acknowledgment that this was a basic and necessary part of any community safety strategy, but there were clear warning signs articulated about the dangerous and destructive tendency of tokenism, it is well worth quoting directly from the summary report:

There is the danger of community consultation’ being tokenistic, the risk of giving attention to

those that shout the loudest rather than those in the greatest

need, lack of the resources required to involve communities

using the imaginative and sustained approaches required to

achieve the greatest success and relatively low levels of

confidence and experience in digital communication as a

tool to support community engagement

I hope and believe that our own strategy has avoided this pitfall and is inclusive and representative of the actual circumstances in Camelon and Tamfourhill, the success of our approach will be through participation and local people taking ownership of the projects and initiatives. I believe we are moving in the right direction and the underpinning of the community safety strategy is empowerment and local ownership.