At the first meeting of Oswestry’s green-controlled Finance and General Purposes Committee last night a presentation was given by Inspector Claire Greenaway from West Mercia Police Safer Neighbourhood Team on the new Police Charter.

Councillors discussed the Charter and then unanimously backed a motion from the Chair, Cllr Duncan Kerr to form a new partnership to tackle the issues that cause most harm and distress to Oswestry residents.

Duncan explained “We won’t build the better and greener town we all wish to see without working closely with the Police. From litter, graffiti and dog fouling through to speeding cars, youth crime, drugs and domestic abuse there are a host of issues where we both need to work together to address both the symptoms, and the underlying causes, of anti-social behaviour. Our new Police Partnership Panel has been formed to do this and is another first for Oswestry. The two organisations will share data and then plan and resource effective programmes to combat the issues that cause the most harm to our communities. Action to tackle these problems were a key part of the pledges made by the Green Party Councillors in standing for election in May and I am pleased that we are starting to address them already”.

At the same meeting the Council approved a motion from Green Councillor Gemma Cassin to write a letter of sympathy and support to two local families who have recently been the target of hate crime incidents. The Council urges anyone else who might have suffered any similar incidents to contact the police and thanks the police for the steps they are taking to make the service responsive to the needs of vulnerable victims.