'Incredible' difference hailed after investment in public safety in Kirkby

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire secured £3 million of funding through the Home Office’s Safer Streets project in July 2022 to spend on initiatives across Nottinghamshire that help reduce neighbourhood crime and antisocial behaviour and violence against women and girls.

Kirkby was one of the areas to benefit from this additional cash injection, which has paid for a range of measures, including new CCTV, street lighting and automatic number plate recognition cameras, as well as Safe Space Schemes in shops, Shop Watch radios and environmental improvements to make people feel safer.

The OPCC has worked with Ashfield Council and Nottinghamshire Police to deliver the work, which comes in addition to the standard policing and council services the agencies provide every day.

Caroline Henry, commissioner, said: “The incredible work carried out across Kirkby is a great example of the difference our Safer Streets funding is having to the people of the town.

“From world-first innovations with our refuge point camera systems, to the new lighting at Holidays Hill Park, and our Shop Watch Radio scheme, the people of Kirkby are seeing first hand the great work that is being done.”

The Coxmoor estate has benefited from a range of environmental improvements including 13 new streetlights and innovative QR codes to report faulty lights, while Holidays Hill Park has received £32,000 of investment in nine streetlights, a replacement barrier, new bins, hedge and tree trimming, weeding and rubbish removal.

Alongside the environmental improvements three anti-social behaviour hotspot alleyways have been gated and 25 residents of Coxmoor Estate have received Ring doorbells, security lights and new locks as part of a burglary reduction scheme.

Coun Helen-Ann Smith, council executive lead for community safety and crime reduction, said: “It’s not just about the physical improvements though, the additional support services we have provided, through extra patrols and the Vulnerable Adult Support Scheme, have allowed us to provide interventions and have a positive impact on residents’ lives.

“The council is serious about improving safety across the district and the safer streets fund has allowed us to do that.”

As many as 20 businesses in Kirkby’s town centre have signed up to the Safe Space scheme which has provided businesses with ultra high-definitio CCTV cameras, signage, lighting and safeguarding training, so they can provide a haven for vulnerable people or anyone who needs assistancem, while 15 of them have also signed up to Shop Watch, which provides radios connected directly to the CCTV control room at police headquarters. The Shop Watch Scheme has seen a 45 per cent reduction in retail crime in the three months it has been active.

Coun Andy Meakin, council member for Abbey Hill, said: “The Safer Streets Fund has provided an incredible amount of diverse projects and initiatives that have genuinely improved the feelings of safety on Coxmoor, and in Kirkby town centre, for everyone, but especially for women and girls.”

State-of-the-art Safe Point cameras have been installed on Kirkby Plaza and Welbeck Street, opposite Morven Park. The cameras feature an emergency call button which allows the user to instantly speak to the police control room. This technology is the first of its kind and was originally launched in Sutton in 2022 as part of the Safer Streets Fund.

The Safer Streets Fund has also paid for a series of educational sessions for primary school children in Kirkby aimed at promoting healthy relationships, a youth diversionary scheme to divert young people away from crime and a Vulnerable Adult Support Scheme to support our most vulnerable residents.