Agenda item

To consider a report of the outcome of the annual review  of the following gating orders:

• Wellingtons, Bramley
• Back Straftord Terrace, Beeston

The Forum considered another report from the Alley-Gating Officer in relation to the Review of two Gating Orders in place at the Wellingtons, Bramley and Back Stratford Terrace, Beeston. The Gating Order at the Wellingtons had been in place since April 2008. There had been issues in conducting the reviews for this round of Gating Orders due to problems with what information was required from the Intelligence Unit and a lack of guidance from the Home Office in relation to the conduct of reviews. The review process had recently been improved and more information would be brought to the Forum in the future. In relation to the Wellingtons the statistics for crime across Leeds for period after the Gating Order showed an increase of 6% on the year before. For the Bramley and Stanningley area the increase in crime for 2008/09 was 44% however for the area which the Gating Order covered the figure fell by 27%. The only increase for the gated area related to damage to vehicles which could be attributed to the area where residents parked. In the consultation and discussions with local residents they had been very vocal in their support for the gates to remain and some of these comments had been included in the report. The recommendation was that the Gating Order remain in force for another 12 months when it would be reviewed again. The Forum supported the recommendation however requested that further review provide details of what type of gate was in place e.g. a time restricted gate.

The Forum then went onto consider a report on the review on the Gating Order in place at Back Stratford Terrace in Leeds. The Alley-Gating Officer informed Members that this review had been more problematic than other reviews. Where there were more than 100 people affected by the Order a random sample of people were selected to be included in the consultation. There had been an extremely poor response to the consultation with 16 people in support of maintaining the Order and six against the Order. It was hoped that future reviews would involved a door to door consultation.

The crime statistics had been difficult to explain as some things such as burglary had increased. The biggest problem was the fact that the gates were regularly left open. Based on the responses from the local residents and local councillors there was general support for the Gating Order to remain in force. There were also options open to the Officer such as locking the gate open and assessing the impact of this. The Officer was also aware that there were other options which maybe more successful in addressing the problems in the area. The gates had been part funded by the local area management board and this will have to be taken into considered when assessing whether gates should be removed. The current recommendation was that the Gating Order should remain in force for a period of six months and to carry out a further Review in 2010.

The Forum endorsed the recommendation that the Gating Order should remain in force for another six months but also recommended that officers engaged with local councillors and local community leaders on the importance of locking the gates and the improvements which had been made in other areas.

RESOLVED: That the recommendations of the Alley-Gating Officer be supported and that in relation to Back Stratford Terrace that Officer engage with local councillors and community leaders in relation to the gates.