21 July 2009
Parents and pupils at Aberbargoed Primary School enjoyed a summer barbecue recently, whilst helping to identify the community policing priorities, as part of an initiative to encourage more people to take part in PACT.
Aberbargoed ward officers from the Bargoed Neighbourhood Policing Team, decided to try a different approach, to help inform more people in the area about PACT.
Partnerships and Communities Together meetings are held every few months in all wards in the Gwent Police area, to help identify the community priorities with local residents, the community safety partnership, local council and partners.
At the barbecue, residents were asked to highlight their main concerns in the community. This, together with results from over 100 PACT surveys conducted in the area, helped to identify the top three priorities that the Neighbourhood Policing Team and partners will be concentrating on over the next few months. These have been chosen as:
- Off-road bikes / quads – Hanger 81 and surrounding streets
- Anti-social behaviour – Cwrt Coch Street / Yew Street Park
- Illegal parking – Commercial Street
The winners of the Aberbargoed PACT logo competition were also announced at the barbecue. Pupils from the school have been busy designing PACT logos to be used locally. The Greater Bargoed Partnership donated prizes for the competition, which were awarded to:
- Scott Lloyd, 1st prize, £10 ASDA voucher
- Kelsey Collis, 2nd prize, £5 ASDA voucher
- Chloe Woods, 3rd prize, £5 ASDA voucher
PCSO Eve Churchward, said: "We wanted to try something a bit different to get more sections of the community involved in telling us their concerns and priorities. A lot of the residents at the barbecue had never been to a PACT meeting before and had never completed a survey, so it's really pleasing to get more locals involved. We will now be spending the next few months working towards addressing the priorities with our partners, before letting the community know what we have done."
Alan Collis, Treasurer of the Greater Bargoed Partnership, said: "We are really impressed with the high standard of entries from the school. We would like to thank the school for their co-operation with this competition. They have really got into the spirit of this barbecue and involved pupils and parents. It's a fantastic community day, which will hopefully let the people of Aberbargoed know the influence they can have on their local policing."
Cabinet member for the environment, Cllr Lyn Ackerman, said: "This is an excellent means of engaging with residents and getting them involved in the PACT process. By doing this, officers have been able to engage with people who perhaps wouldn't usually attend a PACT meeting, and give them the opportunity to have their say in which issues should be focused on in their community over the coming weeks and months – long may initiatives like this continue."
For further information, please visit the Safer CCB website.
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