Posted on 19th Jan
A day of action will be held on Monday 23 January as part of a campaign to reduce crime on a Mansfield estate.
Mansfield District Council officers will join forces with Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service and Nottinghamshire Police to target the Oak Tree Lane estate.
Council and police officers will be handing out free locks and GPS trackers systems for bicycles and anti-theft screw kits for motorcycles at Oak Tree Primary School and Nursery, from 10am to 2pm.
Fire service officers will also be door-knocking up to 300 homes on the estate. They will be checking and fitting smoke alarms and looking for any other vulnerabilities or fire risk concerns within a property.
This latest day of action follows one held last month (December) at Tesco on the estate when 18 bike locks were handed out and 17 residents registered for crime updates via the Neighbourhood Alert website at: www.neighbourhoodalert.co.
The event was organised and supported by the council, police and Mansfield Mobile Youth Provision, which works to create engaging and safe spaces for young people across the district.
The aim of the Oak Tree campaign, which runs until the end of March, is to cut crime and anti-social behaviour on the estate with particular focus on reducing the number of deliberately set fires and thefts of bicycles and motorbikes.
It follows a successful £33,000 bid last year to the Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Safer4All (Target Hardening) funding.
The area is currently designated a priority neighbourhood for the council, the Mansfield Community Safety Partnership and Neighbourhood Policing Team, for actions to improve the quality of life for residents.
As well as distributing free locks and anti-theft kits, fire crews are also visiting schools and community groups to share fire safety advice as part of the campaign.
They have also heightened their visibility on the estate, with fire appliances visiting streets and carrying advertising messages specific to the estate.
A CCTV camera at the hotspot location for fires on the edge of the heathland near the estate has also been installed.
Another strand of the campaign involves the police working with West Nottinghamshire College to help students whose bicycles have been stolen.The college is running a course to refurbish bicycles provided free of charge by the police from unclaimed pedal cycles recovered during crime investigations. Once refurbished and fitted with an ImmobiBike Cycle Protection Kit, they are offered to students who have been victims of cycle theft but do not have the finances to replace their bicycle.
Inspector Kylie Davies, district police commander for Mansfield, said: “We won’t allow a small number of people to upset others living in and around the Oak Tree estate.
“If residents’ lives are being negatively impacted by antisocial behaviour, we want to know about so we can put solutions in place. That’s why my officers are on patrol in the area most days – responding to incidents as they happen and building stronger relationships with local people.
“Community policing is largely about identifying problems and preventing offences before they happen, and that is what this day of action is all about. It is an added bonus that neatly complements a lot of other very good work on the estate.”
Tracey Straw, district prevention officer at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We are really pleased to be working in the Oak Tree Lane area, especially given the number of deliberate fires recently.
The Safer4All funding is from a pot of £800,000 that the PCC has allocated to support crime prevention initiatives between 2022 and 2025, with £100,000 assigned to each of the seven local authorities and the city council in the county, which equates to £33,300 per area per year.
“This day of action, where a range of agencies are coming together for a common cause, really shows that we will stand up for local residents by taking action to improve their neighbourhoods.”
