St Pauls and Pittville Community

Pittville Neighbourhood Coordinating Group

The Pittville Neighbourhood Coordinating Group met on the 9 May 2013. You can read a report of the meeting here.

InTouch - Cheltenham North April 2013

The latest Police Report for Cheltenham North is available to read - IN TOUCH APRIL 2013 

St Pauls and Pittville Neighbourhood Watch Update

Over recent weeks we have received an increased number of reports of suspicious persons believed to be rouge traders in our area. Please get to know your elderly neighbours and keep watch for them. As autumn approaches, rogue traders will try and con people by suggesting repairs need to be urgently carried out on their property. They may try and use a ruse to get into an elderly person’s house such as claiming to be from the water board or a drainage company. They may even claim to be coppers and ask to come in to talk about crime in the area.

Look out for your neighbours and learn to differentiate the extra-ordinary from the ordinary. Take notes and report suspicious activity to the police by dialling 101 or 999 in an emergency.

St Pauls - Street Watch

People in the St Paul’s area of Cheltenham are working shoulder to shoulder with their community officers to help combat crime and anti-social behaviour as part of a new initiative called Street-Watch.

Volunteers representing many of the residents who live in St Paul’s are now regularly patrolling their own streets

alongside members of their local policing team.

Mark Stephens, of the Cheltenham North LPT said,

“This is not about replacing police officers with members of the public. None of the volunteers are expected to put themselves in harm’s way. This is about people who live and work within the St Paul’s community taking ownership of the area and making sure that everyone can live side by side peacefully and considerately.” 

St Paul’s was chosen for the pilot in Gloucestershire as the area has experienced extensive social change over quite a short period. This is partly the result of long-established families moving out and being replaced with newcomers to the area and a transient student population. The University students mostly live in rented accommodation which is sometimes not secure. Criminals are aware of this and target the properties to steal the latest gadgets and computers the young people living there often possess.

Students themselves can sometimes be the cause of tensions and anti-social behaviour. When they make their way back home from bars and clubs in town, they can be noisy and disruptive.

Mark said,

“The overriding ethos of St Pauls Street-Watch is to promote dialogue, understanding and common ownership to raise standards of behaviour; decency and tolerance. The aim is to bring an understanding of the impact bad behaviour has on others. Street-Watch provides visible reassurance to residents and improves community relations, particularly with young people.” 

ACC Twydell commented:

“I am delighted that Gloucestershire has joined the growing Street-Watch movement and am deeply appreciative of the energy and commitment of Police Officers, PCSOs and members of the public in Cheltenham that has made this possible. It’s a great example of an effective partnership between a community and police to achieve a common purpose – safer streets. I am sure this will be just the first of many across Gloucestershire”

Oakwood Primary School's Police Cubs

Speeding motorists and inconsiderate parkers have been given a warning by young members of the Oakwood community. Children from Oakwood Primary School's Police Cub group gave out fake tickets and checked the speed of drivers outside their school.

The 12 members of the after-school club were helped out by Cheltenham police community support officers Louise Riley and Chris White. Dressed in high-visibility jackets and handing out Police Cub parking tickets, the pupils, aged 10 and 11, urged drivers to think about their speed.

Deputy head teacher Dave Hill said the Cotswold Road could be dangerous. He said:
"Cotswold Road is very straight and sometimes traffic travels very quickly and that can make it more dangerous for people crossing. The children had a speed gun and the club is good at getting them to look at the area from a different perspective." 

Police Information Points

We have recently installed some new Police Information Points (PIP’s).

PIP’s were originally introduced to Gloucestershire in 1997 to encourage greater communication between the public and the police.

They are situated at selected locations throughout the area and provide contact points. PIP’s are multi-functional providing the public with a range of advice on crime reduction and community safety as well as other police and community related information. PIP’s also provide an opportunity for interaction between the police and the community as well as providing opportunities to exchange community-based information

The new PIP’s situated as follows:

Pittville School Library, Albert Road.

Opening times are as follows:

9:00am to 2:40pm Term time only.

Opening times are as follows:

9:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday

If anyone is unable to find anything that they need or the PIP needs restocking, or you would like to see the PCSO's at the PIP at a different time, please contact PCSO Louise Riley via the form on the contact us tab.