Have your say on crime and ASB

Come along and discuss crime and anti-social behaviour in Crawley at the Civic Hall at 7pm on Thursday March 11.

Residents and business people are invited to the Safer Crawley Partnership’s annual public meeting.

Have your say on Crawley’s Community Safety Partnership Plan for 2008-11, which sets out its priorities for tackling crime, disorder, drugs and anti-social behaviour and which are revised annually following consultation with residents and people who work in Crawley.

Councillor Nigel Boxall, Cabinet member for Community Engagement, said:

“It’s important that we know what residents’ priorities are when it comes to tackling anti-social behaviour.

“Events like these, and the recent anti-social behaviour questionnaire sent to residents, help us to ensure that the work we do is targeted at these priorities.”

Come and meet your neighbourhood councillors

Pound Hill and Maidenbower residents will have a chance to meet their ward councillors at two events in March.

Councillors from Pound Hill North and South wards will be at St Barnabas Church, Worth Road, and on Pound Hill Parade, Worth Road, on Saturday March

6 from 10am-12 noon.

And Maidenbower ward councillors will be in Maidenbower Square on Saturday March 13 from 10am-12 noon.

At both events residents will have the chance to ask questions, find out what their councillor does, have their say on council spending priorities and neighbourhood issues and meet their local police officers. There will also be a chance to win family tickets to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at The Hawth.

The Pound Hill event will also include information on Worth’s heritage, with a photography exhibition, as part of the Road to Crawley history project.

Come and meet your neighbourhood councillors

Pound Hill and Maidenbower residents will have a chance to meet their ward councillors at two events in March. Read More here…

Get your nominations in

The search is on for new members of Crawley Young Persons’ Council.

Thirty-six seats are up for grabs when the full membership comes up for election in March. And each one needs to be filled by someone aged 13 to 25 who wants to get involved in the future of the town.

The CYPC represents the needs and interests of young people in Crawley and makes sure their voice is heard. Members get to talk directly to the town’s decision makers and to help improve services for young people.

Last year, the Young Persons’ Council helped to organise many events including the Outset Volunteer Awards night at Liquid Envy, sponsored the Community Award for the Crawley Youth Awards, had an awayday at Blacklands Farm, the Band Stage at the Event in Southgate Playing Fields and supported Crawley Battle of the Bands. Members also launched their new DVD and redesigned the website – at www.cypc.co.uk – along the way.

The Crawley Young Persons’ Council elections take place from Monday March 15 to Saturday March 20. Candidates must nominate themselves. They must live in Crawley and be aged between 13 and 25.

Pick up a nomination form from schools, youth centres, Crawley Borough Council or the Connexions Centre in Queens Square. The closing date for nominations is Thursday March 4. For more information call Vikki Jacobs at Crawley Borough Council on 01293 438565 or email vikki.jacobs@crawley.gov.uk

Crawley Council to help honour Pte John Brackpool

Crawley Borough Council will have Private John Brackpool’s name etched into a war memorial following a request from his mother.

Pte Brackpool, 27, died while on duty in July last year with the Prince of Wales’ Company, 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

John’s mother Carol has asked the council if it could commemorate her son’s life. The council has instructed a stonemason to etch Pte Brackpool’s details into the memorial at St John’s Church in the High Street in the spring.

Councillor Bob Lanzer, Leader of the Council, said: “Mrs Brackpool approached us with this idea of remembering her son. We are pleased to be able to help with this fitting memorial.”

Mrs Brackpool said: “John was a Crawley lad through and through and proud to be so. Honouring my son this way is something he would have been proud of just like we are very proud of him. I think it is very important that we honour and remember all our heroes who have died serving their country.”

The memorial currently has names of those members of the armed forces from Crawley who died in the First and Second World Wars. The remaining two sides are empty.

The council would like to hear if anyone else from Crawley has died during conflict since World War II. If you do contact Nicky Shaw, PA to the Chief Executive, on 01293 438393 or nicky.shaw@crawley.gov.uk

Friends of Broadfield Park get to work

The Friends of Broadfield Park will be holding a work day on Saturday February 27 – unless the weather thwarts them again.

Anyone with an interest in the park is invited to meet in the car park at 10.30am. Activities will include:

. Pruning the pear arch

. Cutting down and clearing overgrown shrubs and small trees

. Clearing seedlings from a meadow area

. Opening up site lines along paths.

This will be the group’s first outdoor event. Bad weather has cancelled their previous attempts.

For more information call Councillor Alan Quirk on 01293 413853 or Councillor Lee Gilroy on 07593 141806.

Cash savings and croissants

Come and join us at a free breakfast networking event on Friday February 19 from 8.15-10.30am at K2 Crawley to find out how your business can make those all important cash savings by adopting sustainable business practices.

The breakfast is hosted by Crawley Borough Council’s Green Business Programme (GBP) and the West Sussex Sustainable Business Network in association with Cadia.

It will include three short presentations from local businesses that have made financial savings, won awards and increased business through their improved green credentials as well as time at the end to network with businesses from the Gatwick Diamond area.

The Green Business Programme will also be providing information, advice and support for those businesses interested in joining the 10:10 campaign, by pledging to cut their carbon emissions by 10 per cent in 2010. Visit www.1010uk.org for more details.

For more information and to reserve a place, contact Dorinda Kealoha on

01293 438545 or email gbp@crawley.gov.uk

Council services in your neighbourhood

Crawley Borough Council’s mobile advice unit is based in Langley Green and Bewbush until March.

The unit visits Langley Green Community Centre in Langley Drive every Monday up to and including March 8 from 11.15am-1pm and Bewbush Children and Family Centre in Dorsten Square on Thursdays from 12.30-4pm until March 11.

The centres will be staffed by our experienced and friendly Customer Services representatives who will be able to answer all council related enquiries and signpost to other agencies if needed.

Information and advice about the following council services is being

provided:

.     Housing

.     Benefits and debt advice

.     Refuse and recycling enquiries

.     Community centre bookings

.     Environmental services

.     Planning services.

For more information call Crawley Borough Council on 01293 438000 or visit www.crawley.gov.uk/mobileservices

Residents have another two weeks to air their views about crime and disorder in Crawley by completing an online questionnaire.

The Crawley Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) questionnaire can be filled in at www.crawley.gov.uk/communitysafety. Alternatively, it can be completed in the current issue of Crawley Live and sent freepost to the Town Hall.

The CDRP has a Community Safety Partnership Plan for 2008-11. The plan sets out its priorities for tackling crime, disorder, drugs and anti-social behaviour and its priorities are revised annually following consultation with residents and people who work in Crawley.

This questionnaire gives residents the chance to tell us what their community safety priorities are, so that we can make sure we are tackling the issues that most concern them.

Residents need to complete the questionnaire by Sunday February 28.

Artwork adorning the revamped Langley Green Parade was all suggested by residents and Langley Green Primary School pupils to represent themselves and their cultures.

The patterns, which were chosen from carpet designs, drawings, textiles and household decorations, give a glimpse of the customs, traditions, heritage and lives of the people of the neighbourhood.

The international range of designs reflects the enormous cultural and ethnic diversity of the area and depicts many of the cultures which have settled in Langley Green from across the UK and around the world.

The patterns and decorations, normally hidden in everyone’s homes, are brought out into Langley Parade on seats, banners and lampposts, to celebrate the variety of people in the local community.

The countries featured include Barbados, China, Diego Garcia, England, France, India, Italy, Lithuania, Mauritius, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Wales. The patterns have been developed from many sources including woven, knotted and printed textiles, ceramic tiles, architecture, counters, embroidery, henna, toys, badges and crests.

Other improvements taking place as part of the Langley Green regeneration scheme is:

• The Primary Care Centre. Work began on time in July and the building should be completed by March 2010

• The Langley Green Centre, which will provide new community facilities, the Children and Family Centre as well as improvements to the entrance to Langley Green Primary School. The new centre is scheduled to open in summer 2010

• A new hard play area has been installed at Langley Green Primary School to compensate for the area that the Primary Care Centre is occupying

• West Sussex County Council’s Youth Services will move from their site in Larks Rise into the current Community Centre once the new community building has been completed.

• The parade façade improvements were the first element of this multi-million pound improvement scheme to be completed, significantly enhancing the look of the shopping parade and accommodation above.

All of this work is being carried out to improve Langley Green. It will enhance the environment, community facilities, parade, open spaces, recycling, roads and parking.