Funding secured to fight crime in Hucknall

Nearly £150,000 in funding has been secured for Hucknall over the past 12 months to improve community safety.   

The money, made up of £63,333 from the Police Crime Commissioner and £86,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, will be used on several projects to make Hucknall town safer.  Ashfield District Council who are leading the initiatives are working in partnership with Nottinghamshire Police, Police Crime Commissioners Office, Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service to deliver a number of crime-fighting initiatives.

The funding has been used to develop safe spaces in the town centre, with over 20 businesses in Hucknall receiving High-Definition CCTV cameras, Passive Infrared sensor (PIR) lighting, radios along with safeguarding training for staff and signage.

The Safe Space initiative and ‘Shop Watch Scheme’ focuses on addressing concerns relating to women and girl’s safety, tackling anti-social behaviour and retail crime.  Other initiatives will see two innovative, voice-activated, safe point cameras being installed in Hucknall town centre along with the installation of eight new Ultra High-Definition CCTV cameras across the town centre and estates.

The cameras will be monitored from Nottinghamshire Police Headquarters and will help deter and detect criminality and will be used to respond to incidents, support investigations, and to identify perpetrators of crime and anti-social behaviour.

Additional interventions will see a raft of environmental improvements, the development of a cultural awareness and diversity programme in partnership with local faith and community sectors, and a youth diversionary project to deter young people away from crime and support them access education, training and employment.

Hucknall Councillor Lee Waters said:

"We’re so pleased that we have been successful in securing this funding to make Hucknall safer.  We’ve been busy developing  a number of ground-breaking projects ready for delivery. I’m particularly pleased that we have a range of initiatives that are in progress which will prevent crime and make people feel safer across Hucknall.  We have already taken positive action that has made residents lives safer including closure orders on 2 properties in Hucknall and installation of CCTV cameras on Titchfield Park.  This latest support includes more help for local businesses and interventions to divert young people away from anti-social behaviour.’’

Antonio Taylor, Community Safety Manager at Ashfield District Council, added:

‘’Ashfield is seeing major economic growth and investment and, as part of this, we want to see the District continue to remain an attractive, welcoming place for all our residents and visitors. This funding will help us achieve this aim and will allow us to carry out vital initiatives that will help create a safer Hucknall.’’

Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry said:

“Safety and security in Hucknall is being ramped up significantly with this great package of measures, each of which are aimed at giving people greater confidence in public spaces.

“By coming together as partner agencies we can have a big impact and this is a great example of working together to prevent crime and antisocial behaviour, respond to local issues and offer support to victims.”

A full list of the Interventions being delivered as part of this funding are:

• 2 x Safe Point camera located in Hucknall Town Centre.
• 5 x Rapid Deployable CCTV cameras Installations for Estates and Neighbourhoods
• 3 new upgraded CCTV Cameras
• Business Crime Forum Scheme ‘Shopwatch’ Radio System for Hucknall Town Centre.
• Cultural Awareness and Diversity Initiative
• Environmental Improvements
• Youth Engagement Programme
• Safe Space Accreditation Scheme
• Gating of Alleyway/s