BORDON streets are set to be cleaner, calmer and safer after next week as a crackdown on crime disorder and anti-social behaviour is launched. East Hampshire Community Safety Partnership is revving up for the area's second CREW (Crime Reduction Environment Week), which aims to tackle the town's crime, litter, graffiti and fly-tipping troubles. Two mini-CREWs are being launched, one around the Forest Centre in Bordon, and the other in Alton, in the Lipscombe Rise area. Community safety workers from East Hampshire District Council, Hampshire Constabulary, Hampshire County Council, DRUM Housing and Hampshire Fire and Rescue will be working together in Bordon from Thursday. Local organisations such as Mill Chase School, the Bordon Charity and members of the community will also be contributing to these events. EHDC's community safety co-ordinator, Sharon Bendrey, said: "It's really important that we are able to run these mini-CREWs as partnership events, because it makes them extremely effective. "Not only will we all be working together to make the areas look and feel better, by doing things such as cleaning up graffiti and litter, but it is also a great opportunity for people to talk to us and raise any issues they think are facing their communities. "We want to be tackling the things that people who live there think are important, not just imposing our idea of how to make things better. "Normally, CREWs are only carried out in one area at a time, but the partnership has this time opted to carry out mini-CREWs, over three or four days, so that both towns can benefit." Hilary Ayer, EHDC's portfolio holder for community and youth said: "This isn't just about the events themselves, it's also about making a permanent and positive difference by helping local people to set up their own schemes and initiatives. "It's crucial that residents get involved and we will be encouraging them to set up things such as Neighbourhood Watch schemes to keep the momentum going. "These CREW weeks give the partners in the community safety partnership an excellent way to find new and more effective ways to work together in the future." The Bordon event will run from next Thursday to Saturday. The CREW will include more high visibility community patrols by the police to deal with crime, anti-social behaviour, vehicle problems and offences, as well as educational visits to local schools and pro-active targeted work. In addition, East Hampshire District Council will be addressing the ongoing problem of fly- tipping and arranging for abandoned vehicles to be removed. Offenders on unpaid work orders will be directed by the Probation Service to work clearing up areas where there is fly-tipping and litter, while local authorities have arranged for bulky items and graffiti to be removed and some lighting repairs to be caried out. DRUM Housing is involved in this its second CREW and will have its grounds maintenance team and caretakers making improvements to the environment by litter picking, clearing alleyways and open space areas, targeting abandoned cars and dealing with any graffiti identified within the area. They will also be encouraging residents to become more actively involved in their estates by becoming "estate watchers" who will carry out regular walkabouts to highlight issues and areas in need of improvement. Trading Standards officers will be visiting and offering advice to shops and checking that shops and off-licences are not illegally selling alcohol or cigarettes to underage children. Mill Chase School pupils will continue the good work they have started, landscaping the area next to the Community Centre in Bordon. The mini-CREWs follow on from a survey carried out in each area in January to record any problems to see how they could be improved. Representatives from the agencies involved visited the areas for the environmental visual audit, and used the findings to develop a plan of action. Businesses, voluntary organisations and members of the public who have views on issues being tackled during the CREWs can contact Sergeant Rik Grant at Whitehill Police Station or Sergeant Marcus Johns at Alton Police Station on 0845 045 45 45; or Sharon Bendrey, EHDC's community safety co- Ordinator on 01730 234342.
