Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner secures almost £1m investment from Safer Streets funding announced today
Posted 27th October 2023
Three Safer Streets projects in Essex have been successful in securing almost £1million from the Government.
As part of round five of the Government’s Safer Street’s Fund, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex has secured almost £1m of additional funding to support targeted community projects to tackle neighbourhood crime, such as burglary, robbery, theft and vehicle theft, as well as reducing violence against women and girls.
This Government Safer Streets funding of £999,966 will be matched by £826, 411 funding from Councils and Community Safety Partnerships local to the three projects.
The announcement was made today.
The three successful Safer Streets projects are:
- Halstead – An area including Ramsey Road, Mount Hill, Chapel Hill, Trinity Road, Halstead High Street, Butler Road, Bridge Street. This project has secured £300,223 Government Safer Streets plus £150,171 match funding from Braintree District, Halstead Town Council and Community Safety Partnerships.
- Mile End Ward, Colchester – This project has secured £320,600 Government Safer Streets funding plus £162,000 match funding from Colchester City Council and Community Safety Partnerships.
- Basildon – An area around Basildon Hospital, The Knares, Wickford High Street, Whitmore Way/Holy Cross and Basildon Town Centre has secured £379,143 Government Safer Streets funding plus £514,240 match funding from Basildon Borough Council and Community Safety Partnerships.
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner said “This extra investment will mean we will be able to do even more to keep our communities safe and help people feel safer, especially women and girls. People want to be able to go out and enjoy their lives, free from the fear of crime. Nobody wants to be the victim of crime and we are working hard together across Essex to get crime down, tackle Anti-Social Behaviour, protect the vulnerable and support victims.
“Crime has fallen by 6.7% in the last twelve months and Anti-Social Behaviour has fallen by 35.2%, but we must do more and this extra investment will make a real difference in communities across Essex.”
Cllr Mary Cunningham, Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities at Braintree District Council, said: “Following our successful bid for Witham last year, it is excellent news that we will be able to run a second Safer Streets project in Halstead. I know antisocial behaviour has been raised by some residents in Halstead and this funding will allow us to provide a number of measures to help residents feel safer.”
Councillor Natalie Sommers, Colchester Borough Council’s Portfolio Holder for Communities, said: “We are delighted to have secured this additional funding for Safer Streets projects in Colchester. This investment will help us to make our communities safer and more welcoming for everyone, with a particular focus on women and girls.
“We will be working closely with our partners to deliver a range of measures to promote community involvement and create safer spaces. This will include the Stronger Together initiative, Girls with Goals project, and support for the Premier League Kicks programme in Mile End, using the power of football and sport to inspire young people to reach their potential.
“We know that feeling safe is essential to people’s quality of life, and we hope to see similar investment in other wards in Colchester in the future, so that all of our communities can benefit from safer spaces.”
Cllr Andrew Baggott, Leader of Basildon Council, said: “We are committed to ensuring our communities and neighbourhoods feel safer for local people. This funding will allow us to put additional focus on delivering against our key priorities – including tackling violence against women and girls and Preventing Serious Violence.
“The successful projects include an education and empowerment programme for young girls, development of a Women’s Safety Charter, and increased community safety warden resources to target hotspots and our town centres. We will continue to strengthen our engagement with local communities to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour.”
Each project includes a range of activity to improve the physical environment, promote community involvement, and create safer spaces. This includes investment in redesigning walkways, lighting and CCTV as well as strengthening community engagement including engagement with schools, young people and businesses.
The projects are designed to increase feelings of safety and community ownership, increase community cohesion, increase community trust in police and local government. The government funding is part of their Beating Crime Plan and Levelling Up strategy.
This extra funding is on top of the £4 million of local funding announced by the PFCC on the 23rd June 2023 and brings the total investment in Safer Streets projects to £5 million plus match funding contributions from local councils and Community Safety Partnerships.
This focus on creating safer streets is additional to the £1.2m secured for Essex to tackle ASB Hotspots across the county.
Successful projects have already been supported in Gray’s Town Centre, Chelmsford Bunny Walks, Colchester Town Centre, Colchester Greenstead, Witham, Ninefields Estate in Epping Forest, Harlow and Clacton.
Picture: The Knares, Basildon, one of three project areas successful in securing Safer Streets Funding.
