PFCC joins Home Secretary on town walkabout to outline plans for Safer Streets funded projects in Halstead

Posted on Friday 15th December Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex today joined Home Secretary James Cleverly and BJ Harrington, Chief Constable of Essex Police, on walkabout in Halstead to outline plans for Safer Streets funded improvements and upgraded CCTV measures. The walkabout, which took place on Friday 15^th December, took in the area of the recently successful town Safer Streets funding bid which included Ramsey Road, Mount Hill, Chapel Hill, Trinity Road, Halstead High Street, Bridge Street and Butler Road. Mr Hirst and Mr Cleverly, who alongside his role as Home Secretary is MP for Braintree constituency which includes the town of Halstead, were joined on the walk by Cllr Graham Butland, Leader of Braintree District Council and Cllr Mary Cunningham, Braintree Council Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities. Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex, said: “This walkabout was extremely valuable, offering all partners the chance to show the Home Secretary exactly how the Safer Streets funding will improve community safety in Halstead. “Safe and secure communities are the bedrock on which we build success, prosperity and well-being for all. Since 2016 all of us together have invested in making our communities safer and this partnership approach has worked - the very latest figures show crime in Essex is down by 6.5 per cent and anti-social behaviour is down 37 per cent.” With the support of the PFCC, the Halstead Safer Streets scheme was announced as successful in round five of the Government’s Safer Streets Fund in October. In this round the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex secured almost £1m of additional funding to support targeted community projects across Essex in tackling neighbourhood crime as well as installing measures to reduce violence against women and girls. The Halstead project secured £300,223 of Government Safer Streets plus £150,171 match funding from Braintree District, Halstead Town Council and Community Safety Partnerships.