At the full council meeting on Monday 12th April 2021, Ash Parish Council (APC) was asked about anti-social behaviour in Ash South, and what can be done to increase Police presence in our area.
At the beginning of the meeting, Cllr Nigel Manning (the chairman) asked the Council and members of the public in attendance to observe a minutes silence in remembrance for the life of HRH Prince Philip.
Following this act of remembrance the meeting was adjourned to allow members of the public to ask questions. Cllr Paul Spooner (GBC Ash South & Tongham) asked what APC can do to tackle the problem of increased Anti-Social behaviour in Ash South.
Cllr Nigel Manning confirmed that he and Cllr Jo Randall had attended the Joint Advisory Group (JAG) meeting with the Police and had raised this very issue. He said,
“We did raise the question of Ash Library Car Park and Harpers Recreation ground. The police have now asked for intel reports from myself and Cllr Randall. This is to allow additional patrols over and above those they have already started to do”.
“I went to One Stop today to speak to the manager. He described a group of people who appeared to be causing issues for the Library staff when leaving Ash Library Car Park. The CCTV footage is being reviewed and the findings will be reported to the Police.”
“I have asked the Ash Parish Council CCTV & lighting contractor, to have a look at a location where temporary CCTV could be located, and I hope to receive an update within a week to confirm the feasibility of that.”
“The Police have confirmed they are aware of issues within Ash and ask that residents continue to report incidences as and when they happen on 101.”
Cllr Manning added that when the APC contractor was implementing the recent upgrade CCTV to Ash Recreation ground, they spotted some anti-social behaviour which was immediately reported. The Police turned up within 10 minutes and dealt with the matter.
Ash Parish Council has numerous CCTV cameras deployed throughout Ash which is in part to protect public assets but also in part to help tackle anti-social behaviour by catching the perpetrators. APC continues to work closely with the police on this matter.
A further question was asked to confirm the operational status of the CCTV at Ash Library and whether this is owned and operated by APC. Cllr Manning confirmed that this CCTV is owned by the Police and not APC. He had asked at the JAG meeting to have this camera repointed to One Stop to catch the perpetrators. Cllr Manning went on to say that he is working with the Police with regard to the placement of CCTV to cover the highlighted locations within the JAG meeting.