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Author: FVCA

Reminder to lock out thieves during the hot weather

Police are reminding people not to leave their home open to thieves this summer as the country basks in hot weather.

With the onset of the school summer holidays and the hot weather it can be easy to forget to take a few home security measures, yet open windows and doors are often an open invitation for thieves.

Simple steps such as closing a window when you go out and locking doors can make all the difference and help prevent a house being targeted.

Holiday makers are also advised to take time to consider home security before they go away to give them peace of mind while they’re on holiday.

The advice forms part of We Don’t Buy Crime, West Mercia Police’s response to tackling serious acquisitive crime which includes crimes such as burglary and theft.

Sergeant Ram Aston, from the We Don’t Buy Crime team, said: “We Don’t Buy Crime continues to go from strength to strength with more and more areas signing up as part of our towns and villages initiative which sees whole communities protected by forensic property marking technology which acts as a great deterrent to criminals. So far this year we’ve seen some considerable reductions in house burglaries but this doesn’t mean we’re complacent and we want to make sure everything is being done to help prevent someone from becoming a victim to thieves.

“Crime prevention is absolutely crucial and anything residents can do to help protect their home can help make a difference. It can be easy in the summer months, especially when the weather is warm, to forget you’ve opened a window or left the back door open before you go out or go to bed. It only takes a few moment to double check but could help prevent your home being targeted. If you’re in the back garden, make sure you haven’t left any ground floor windows open at the front of the house and always make sure valuable items, such as car keys, mobile phones or wallets, are not in easy reach of an open window.

“If you’re going away make sure the house is locked up before you go and the burglar alarm is set. Hide any valuable items from view from the outside and don’t leave anything in the garden that could potentially be used to gain entry into your home. Be mindful of where you store your wheelie bin too and consider if it could be used for someone to climb on and access an upstairs window or used to climb over into the garden. If you’re leaving the car at home and have a garage, park it in the garage while you’re away rather than on the drive and if you’ve got gates close and lock them with a good quality lock.”

In addition to We Don’t Buy Crime towns and villages police carry out a range of covert tactics to catch thieves and work with second hand stores to make it more difficult for thieves to sell on stolen goods.

Sgt Aston added: “We Don’t Buy Crime essentially aims to put criminals out of business and we have a range of tactics at our disposal which are both overt and covert to not just prevent acquisitive crime in the first place but catch those who are responsible when they do happen and want to send a clear message to thieves that we are utilising a range of methods to target them.”

For more crime prevention advice visit https://www.westmercia.police.uk/article/1955/Home

  • July 27, 2019 by

Attempted Burglary in Mill Lane

Attempted burglary between 1140 and 1210 yesterday, Thursday 18th July, on Mill Lane, Wildmoor. Thankfully they did not gain entry.

Please be extra vigilant and report and suspicious activity to the police calling 101.

PC Kelso. SNO. Bromsgrove North and Rural.

  • July 19, 2019 by

Improvement Works at the Village Hall starts Monday

Over the next two weeks decorators will be at the Hall repainting & re-varnishing internally.

Whilst work is taking place there will be no activities. Weekly evening activities will resume Monday 5th August.

Then during the rest of August work will take place to install external CCTV, improve lighting over the car park and along the entrance plus installation of a projector, sound system and media player.

The CCTV installation & operation will be fully compliant with relevant legislation & ICO guidelines, the Village Hall policy will be available on the village website on the Village Hall web page.

This Autumn we will see the start film nights and afternoons. Full details in the next FVCA newsletter.

Over the car park low energy, LED, lights will now come on automatically when it goes dark, remaining on until it becomes light. This will improve Hall User safety.

  • July 19, 2019 by

Nextdoor Neighbour Website

We have been contacted today by a couple of residents that have received letters from Nextdoor Neighbour, asking them to join their networking site. 

Earlier this year we were contacted by two other residents who also received similar letters.

There is a social media site called Nextdoor Neighbour that allows residents to share local information within a closed group; incidents, events, good news stories, etc.

We understand that if you register with the site you will join an online community that is wider than Fairfield, it includes Bournheath, Clent, Hagley & Belbroughton. 

We also understand that if you sign-up you will agree to the collection of your data for marketing purposes that will be shared with third party organisations. 

Searching the internet, there are complaints about “SPAM” letters from Nextdoor Neighbour, and people are claiming that letters are being sent to their neighbours from them but they were not aware that they had given their consent – this was the case earlier this year, the person that received the letter passed it on to FVCA and when we spoke to the person whose name appeared on the bottom of the letter, that person said that they had joined the site but was unaware that letters were being sent out in their name.   Nextdoor Neighbour have challenged these comments by saying:

“The invitation you have received is from a neighbour that has verified at their address and chosen to send invitations to other residences in their neighbourhood to grow their Nextdoor network.”

“To be clear, we will never send out neighbour invitations on behalf of the member without the explicit permission of the member. Members are presented with the option to invite their neighbours when they join and through emails from time to time, however, members may choose to either ‘skip’ this step or choose not to click on the ‘send postcards” button in the email. There is additionally an option to cancel postcards from the email if the member has accidentally sent invitations they no longer wish to send. “

“We are deeply committed to the privacy and security of our members, if this member doesn’t believe they have sent invitations from their account, we would like to review their account with them directly and are available on help@nextdoor.co.uk.”

FVCA encourages people to think carefully before joining sites and to do their research before subscribing and sharing personal information.

  • July 18, 2019 by

Traffic Enforcement Update

We have received the following message from our County Councillor, Shirley Webb:

“I have been advised by Safer Roads Partnership that the current motorcyclist who is off sick is just waiting for clearance to go back to riding from his specialist. The new recruit is yet to be fully trained, we are looking at mid August at the earliest to start.

In the meantime i have asked our Safer Neighbourhood team when time allows, to spend time monitoring around my division.”

  • July 18, 2019 by

Fairfield First School Expansion

Fairfield First School has been chosen by the Local Authority (LA) to expand to a 1 Form Entry (1FE) School, to help ease the pressure on school places, across the town of Bromsgrove.

To do this the LA allocated funds to build one additional classroom. During the Feasibility Study it quickly became obvious that it would be cost effective to also replace the ageing mobile classrooms, currently in their 35th year on site!

As such, plans have been created to build 3 additional classrooms, on land belonging to the LA, to the rear of our school.

The Headteracher, Scott Smith, said “This, as I am sure you can imagine, is a very exciting prospect for everyone associated to Fairfield First.”

A ‘drop in’ session has been arranged where you will be able to view the current plans and speak with the design team. These plans will also go on display within school, when they return in September.

PRE-PLANNING CONSULTATION EXERCISE IN RESPECT OF EXTENSIONS AND ALTERATIONS AT FAIRFIELD FIRST SCHOOL

Place Partnership Ltd have been working with Worcestershire County Council to develop proposals to extend and alter the existing buildings at Fairfield First School.  A pre-planning consultation will take place at the school on 6th August 2019 from 2:30pm to 6:30pm where the proposed plans will be available to view and make comment on.

The session will be a ‘drop-in’ arrangement so you can call in at any time between 2:30pm and 6:30pm.  Plans will be available in the school after this date, should you wish to view them at the school, then arrangements are made direct with the school.

  • July 16, 2019 by

Storm Drain Update

We have received the following message from Worcestershire County Council:

“Just to keep you informed regarding the emptying of the gullies along Stourbridge Rd, there is a project in place to dig back the verges along Sandy Ln and jet the whole system, we will look to cleanse all the gullies along the Stourbridge Rd from the main island that joins Sandy Ln up to the motorway bridge (by the nursery) at the same time.”

“As you can appreciate it wouldn’t be cost or time effective to do these at separate times.”

If no action is seen by the end of September, FVCA will be chasing.

  • July 16, 2019 by

Stourbridge Road Storm Drains

Many of the storm drain grids along Stourbridge Road are still blocked, even though Residents and FVCA have reported to the County Council.

We will continue asking that our drain are unblocked. 

Can residents please do the same via the County Council Report It CLICK HERE

  • July 15, 2019 by