Does dog fouling annoy you? Is there too much litter in your neighbourhood? Did you stop in a lay-by last week and see fly-tipping?
Dumfries and Gallloway Council are asking members of the public about local issues in their community. The results will allow the Community Safety team to focus their resources on tackling the issues that the public want.
Last year’s survey generated unprecedented response levels and the feedback generated from it allowed the Community Safety Team to focus in on key areas of our region to detect and deter in order to make our residents feel safer. This year’s survey will give members of the public to tell our Council how safe they feel within their own area, as well as how they’d like us to deploy resources to deal with various issues.
One major point to come out of last year’s survey was how much involvement the Team had with key stakeholders in communities across the region. As a result, officers are visiting schools, attending community groups and community council meetings and having more of a presence in local hubs within communities more regularly. Whether you’re on the sea front in Portpatrick, outside the town hall in Langholm, in the main street in Dalbeattie or in the Dock Park in Dumfries, the chances are if you are there long enough, you’ll see the Community Safety Team. But what if you don’t see them? Well, that could be due to the Team doing plain-clothed covert work to detect littering, dog fouling and fly-tipping offences, or it may be that there’s a very low rate of anti-social behaviour in your neighbourhood.
The Community Safety Team is made up of just over 30 positions region-wide and focusses on the detection, deterrence and public awareness of anti-social behaviour such as littering, dog fouling and fly tipping. As well as this, the team also patrol disc zone car parks in Dumfries and Stranraer, dispose of discarded needles, investigate and remove abandoned vehicles and deal with anti-social behaviour and neighbour disputes in communities region wide.
The survey can be accessed by going to https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MVY6HV8.
You may also be asked to complete a survey by any of officers who will be out and about with paper copies of the survey over the next 4 weeks. Please engage with the officers and help us be the most effective we possibly can by providing accurate and open opinions on the work the Team carry out. If you do not have access to the Internet, call into any Council Customer Service Facility and staff will be happy to help you complete the survey there.
Communities Committee Chairman, Councillor Andy Ferguson is looking for everyone to play a part in filling in the survey. He said;
“Our Council receive hundreds of complaints a month in relation to dog fouling, littering and abandoned vehicles, among other things. Our Community Safety Team do a wonderful job, but we need your input to make that job even better. We want all our residents to feel safe in their communities across the region. This survey is your chance to influence how the Team plan their patrol work right across the region. Please take 2 minutes of your time and complete the survey by 11 May.”
Vice Chair of the same committee, Councillor John Martin added;
“The Community Safety Team provides a vital service for our residents. It is vital our public have a trust in the team to keep our streets safe. The Team have carried out more engagement and educational work as a direct result of last year’s survey – changes that would and could not be made without your input in the shape of filling in this survey. We need you to do your bit so our Council can do ours, it’s as simple as that. We look forward to receiving your feedback.”
You can find out more about the Community Safety Team on our website – http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/article/15202/Community-Safety-Team
