HyPER recently attended a meeting regarding Edgware Road, which was specially convened by Cllr Sargent as Cabinet Member for Enforcement. The purpose of this meeting was to bring together key stakeholders to discuss recent challenges, share perspectives, and identify opportunities for collective action to support the area. The meeting was very well attended.
As well as bringing together stakeholders, the aim of the meeting was to identify priorities and agree any practical next steps that can be taken collectively. The core subjects of the meeting were: anti-social behaviour, premises compliance and short-term lets.
During the meeting we heard from Mark Wiltshire (Director of Public Protection & Licensing), who made the following points:
- There is a recognition of the “broken window effect”, whereby the look and feel of an area influences how people behave. The priority of the council is to ensure the area is firstly clean and well-kept, in order to set the right direction.
- The Marylebone flyover is recognised as a persistent issue.
- Current priorities are waste management, rough sleeping and begging.
- Begging in particular is recognised as a big issue, especially aggressive begging.
- The area is recognised as an emerging crime hotspot (as well as Marble Arch) for serious crime.
- Knife crime in particular has been flagged as a challenge, and funding is being applied for.
The police were well represented, and we heard from Chief Inspector James Weston:
- He emphasised the need for a partnership to deal with many of these points, whilst recognising that the police will lead on many of these issues.
- There are a number of ongoing operations targeting retail premises.
- Previously violence was the key issue, although the problems are now wider than that.
Mark highlighted work by the Council to date:
- 28 CCTV cameras are in operation to date
- A number of high-impact individuals are being managed
All attendees at the event were well-engaged and gave positive and productive suggestions and feedback. The meeting was intended to be a one-off event to bring together all key parties. Nonetheless, if you do have any feedback or thoughts then let us know.
We thank the Council for organising a very successful and productive meeting.