PFCC joins Priti Patel MP on town walkabout to view Safer Streets funded project in Witham
Posted 12th January 2024
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex today joined Priti Patel MP on walkabout in Witham to view plans for Safer Streets funded improvements and upgraded CCTV measures.
The Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner’s Office for Essex (PFCC), successfully secured £297,202 of Safer Streets funding from the Home Office for improvements to Witham Town Centre focussing on Collingwood Road and the town riverwalk area.
The Safer Streets project was supported with an additional £150,506 match funded by members of the Braintree District Community Safety Partnership which includes Witham Town Council, Neighbourhood Watch, Fusion Lifestyle, CARA (Centre for Action on Rape and Abuse), Eastlight Community Homes, Crimestoppers, Essex Police and Essex County Council.
The PFCC and MP, joined by Cllr Susan Ager, Mayor of Witham, were taken on a tour of the measures which include the installation of new CCTV cameras, improved signs and landscape improvements to increase visibility to alleys and access routes.
Roger Hirst, PFCC for Essex, said: “We are pleased to be here to view the improvements to the street landscape in Witham, showing us what valuable changes can be made to improve public safety in towns and cities in Essex.
“Safe and secure communities are the bedrock on which we build success, prosperity and well-being for all. Since 2016 all of us together have invested in making our communities safer and this partnership approach has worked – the very latest figures show crime in Essex is down 5.7 per cent year on year and anti-social behaviour is down 37 per cent.”
Thanks to the Government’s Safer Street Fund the PFCC Essex has been able to invest over £3 million in local communities since 2020, changing lighting, CCTV, community engagement and the layout of local areas where local communities say they felt unsafe.
In addition, through the PFCC Essex Local Safer Streets Fund a further £5 million of improvements will be delivered in the next 18 months to improve street safety across Essex.
