It was really good to receive the latest numbers from our local police and to see that crime has reduced locally over the past 12 months. I would like to give a huge thank you to the many hundreds of Chelmsford local residents who have taken their time to fill in my local crime and safety survey.
We now have record numbers of police officers in Essex, more than at any time in the force’s 185 year history. I want to make sure that they are focusing on the issues that concern local people most.
Chelmsford has a reputation for being a safe place. In the survey, the vast majority of people said they felt safe, giving our city a score of 7/10 or higher for “feeling safe”. Three quarters of those that responded said that neither they nor their family members have experienced crime themselves.
People said they would like the police to prioritise reducing anti-social behaviour, drug relating crime and theft and burglary as well as knife crime. Anti social behaviour dropped by nearly a third last year, and knife crime in the Chelmsford and Maldon district was down 11.7 percent.
I met with our local district commander this week to discuss the feedback from the survey and what action they are taking. Tackling car theft has now been made a force priority for all of Essex Police, they have made some very significant arrests especially of the group responsible for thefts of Range Rovers in Chelmsford.
In our area over 20 percent of reported shop lifting offences have been “solved”, the perpetrators have been found and charged. The police have been working with local businesses on increased prevention.
People said they would like more visible foot patrols and cctv cameras. Patrols have been increased significantly in the city centre and other hotspot areas. New CCTV cameras have been erected in Central Park and around the Bunny Walks. These have been paid for from the Governments Safer Street Fund. Do let me know of other areas which you think would benefit.
The District Commander told me that as well as uniformed officers and marked police cars they have been using unmarked cars and plain clothes operations. So if you don’t see the police, it doesn’t mean they are not there.
If you are a resident of Chelmsford and you have not filled in my survey and would like to do so, then you can find it at www.vickyford.uk. It takes just two minutes to fill out the survey and your feedback is invaluable.
I visited Meadgate Primary School to meet with the excellent head teacher, Joe Fogg. Meadgate is one of seven primaries in trust. They are looking at building new specialist hubs at some of the schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Joe and I discussed the work I have been doing to improve support for children with SEND and the new government funding for this type of hub provision. Two new special schools are also being built in Chelmsford. It was great to chat to some of the children over lunch about what they enjoyed about their school.
I also visited Age Concern in Chelmsford to meet with some of our older residents who get together for company and a good lunch at this super charity.
In the House of Commons, I spoke about the importance of delivering new GP surgeries. Chelmsford is growing, we do have more 40 more clinicians in our local GPs than pre-covid. This includes GPs, physiotherapists, mental health specialists and other clinicians. It is also good news that the new mega surgery is being built at Beaulieu which will take pressure off other local surgeries.
However, the bureaucracy regarding rates set by local district valuers is proving a barrier to delivering more new surgeries. I raised this in the chamber and the Health Minister has agreed to meet me to see how to address this issue.
At Chelmsford Station I met the team who have been delivering the new lifts. The old lifts had been in place for over 25 years and had reached the end of their lives. This £2 million project uses new hydraulic lift technology which will be much easier to maintain and service. The first new lift is now complete and the second is well underway.
I was also delighted to learn that once our new second station opens there will be at least one “Beaulieu Starter” train each morning which will also stop at Chelmsford.
I popped into visit the excellent North Avenue Youth Club which is extremely popular with teenagers in north Chelmsford. The young people told me about they work they do to support each other and the project they have been doing to reduce bullying in schools and online. I was particularly impressed to learn of a huge effort by one of the young attendees to raise money for children in a remote area of Napal which had been devastated by previous earthquakes.
Thank you to Chelmsford City FC for inviting me along to the play-off local derby match against Braintree. The ground was absolutely packed with supporters. It was a nail-biting contest with Chelmsford pulling back from 2-0 down with goals in the 91 and 94th minute. They so nearly scored a third just before the full-time whistle blew, however sadly Braintree pulled ahead again in extra time and will go through to the final play-off.
It must be devastating for the team to be so close to promotion and then miss out by such a narrow margin. I have been discussing the Club’s plans for a new pitch and stadium in Chelmsford for a while. This would enable more fans and more football at all levels. I would love to see this delivered and will continue to give my support to this project.
