This has been my third year as Chair of the Association and I believe that we have continued to make progress. We continue to be recognised as one of the multi-agency partners in the EHDC Community Partnership. We have maintained our close ties with Hampshire Constabulary; we meet regularly with our local police and also with our Chief Inspector. We play an active part in the Hampshire Neighbourhood Watch Association where I am currently the Vice Chair. I am also the regional representative for the South East on the National Group. All of which means that our liaison with these organisations helps us to provide you with up to the minute information of what is going on in crime prevention matters. As a co-ordinator or a deputy you have access to PANWA and can make your voice and wishes known, even up to Home Office level. This is what has been evolving over this last year, a national network where we as Neighbourhood Watch work from the ground upwards, not the other way around, with communication the key issue.
Neighbourhood Watch continues to be a strong presence in the PANWA area. Our lamp post signs and window stickers serve the twin purpose of deterrence as well as advertising our presence. Our organisation consists of 145 watch schemes divided into 15 geographical areas, Buriton, East Meon, Froxfield, Hill Brow, Liss, Liss Forest, Petersfield, Privett, Ramsdean, the new Ramshill development, Sheet, Steep, Steep Marsh, Stroud and Weston. These are split into 20 pyramid charts and all told we have 216 co-ordinators and deputies. We are working closely with the Drum Housing Association with regard to the Neighbourhood Watch cover of the Cranford Road estate. We are also talking with the Residents Association in the Spain to see how we can incorporate them into our Watch schemes. We are also trying to expand in the new development on Ramshill in Petersfield. In most cases where a co-ordinator resigns or moves away we are able to find a suitable replacement, and I should like to express my thanks where there has been a smooth changeover. Even so it is not always possible to find replacements and 3 watches have been lost this year.
We try hard to make the quarterly newsletters as informative and useful as possible. A financial shortfall and other pressures meant that only the Spring and Summer issues went out this last year. We have just received confirmation of funding to cover the next two issues so please be reassured the PANWA newsletter will be returning very soon. Our thanks to Petersfield Town Council for their support, also the Woodbury Avenue Residents Association, Froxfield and Privett Parish Council and all the others who have given donations to help cover our small costs. We now reach more than 4,000 households which is a lot of newsletters to put through letterboxes so please accept my thanks for your efforts in delivering these. I am pleased to see so many PLEASE DO NOT COLD CALL front door stickers everywhere I go. We distributed many thousands of these so it was a successful effort for an important ongoing project – your safety.
We still have the lowest crime rate anywhere in the Hampshire Constabulary area and I would like to think that our efforts contribute to these low figures. My special thanks to the police station volunteers without whose help we should not be so well informed. Especial thanks to Brian Hendy who has put in place a new system for emailing regular crime report summaries direct to co-ordinators who are online. These give a general overview of recent crime and trends in this area. The Internet is playing an ever more important part in crime information and prevention. We hope as many of you as possible will go online so that we can reach you quickly when there is urgent information to pass on. Finally my thanks to you, the loyal co-ordinators and deputies who work together to reduce crime and the fear of crime, and help to strengthen and develop our local communities.
There is a vacancy on our management committee for a Minute and Correspondence Secretary. Please phone either Brian or me to discuss the position, preferably before the AGM. This will be held at Herne Farm Leisure Centre on Saturday 7th March starting promptly at 2pm. Do please try and come. Help me and my committee members to make 2009 -2010 a good year, with even less crime and many more friendships formed.
With best wishes,
Jane Hoolahan,
PANWA Chairman
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