IT all began for me in Autumn 2009 when, in ten days, 28 parked vehicles had their wing mirrors damaged on Eastwood's Nottingham Road (including mine – twice).
At first sight, it doesn't seem a major crime but it added up to over �4,000 of mindless "fun". The assumption is that insurance will pay, but, as the insurance of most people doesn't cover the first �200, this meant that the cost was coming out of peoples' pockets.
Within a few weeks, after making enquiries as to what could be done, and with the help of the police neighbourhood watch liaison officer, I was busy writing, printing and delivering 100 application forms and information leaflets in an attempt to do what I could to prevent a reoccurrence by encouraging a sense of community responsibility.
Within a few months, 27 households had joined. There was a distinct heightened sense of community with many residents. Others, for whatever reason, decided that they didn't, formally, want to take part.
Right at the beginning I sensed that there was a misunderstanding from some that the Neighbourhood Watch, in some way, was "spying on neighbours".
A core principle of NHW is to encourage vigilance concerning criminal and anti-social behaviour. In the vast majority of cases it is people from outside a neighbourhood that are responsible.
However, there may have been at least one notable exception to this on Nottingham Road when it was observed that plants, plant food and plant growing equipment were being taken away by the police on a Sunday morning last year from a house very near to where I live.
Some may say that the whole matter is entirely the responsibility of the police but I can assure you from my past experience of being a magistrate that without the evidence of witnesses very few criminals would be brought to justice. If everyone had a turn-a-blind-eye attitude we would slowly descend into anarchy.
My personal belief is that if we all work together with a little more cooperation, vigilance and community responsibility then our street becomes a safer and more harmonious place to live.
I have tried during the past 16 months to encourage others to do this and attempted to make representations about practical solutions. There have been disappointments such as the failure to provide a CCTV camera halfway down Nottingham Road. There have been recent incidents, such as further criminal damage to vehicles and a snatched handbag which may have been prevented if that had been put there. There have been many incidents of narrow escapes from cyclists (and I don't mean just children) riding downhill on the pavements at speeds in excess of 20 mph.
On the whole, however, the community spirit on the street has taken on a new lease of life.
I spend several hours a week collecting and giving out information, distributing application packs, making representations to the local authority, conversing with neighbours, making new friends and writing articles like this. I would like to encourage everyone to get involved. It may be that, as the effects of police budget cuts begin to bite, a shift in the balance of responsibility may move towards community responsibility and awareness. The new anti-social behaviour legislation would seem to indicate a shift in this direction.
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