'Worst affected' area in Portsmouth awarded £300,000 to tackle crime

A total of £324,851 has been secured from government to improve lighting and redesign secluded areas in Charles Dickens ward as part of the Safer Streets scheme.

It is hoped the cash, which was lobbied for by the newly elected Hampshire and Isle of Wight police and crime commissioner Donna Jones and other partners, will deter burglaries and drug use in the area.

Ms Jones said: ‘Over the last year people have told me that they don’t just want to see crime going down, they also want to feel safer.

‘Improving street lighting and CCTV coverage, assisting residents with security systems for their properties, and generally making it harder for criminals to commit burglaries and robberies in some of the worst affected residential areas will achieve that.

‘The Safer Streets fund is a great government initiative and I am really pleased that together with partners in those affected areas we were able to secure this essential funding.’

In Portsmouth the project will also include the installation of buggy and wheelchair friendly gates to reduce the use of motorbikes on footpaths.

Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of Portsmouth City Council, added: ‘The funding allocated through Safer Streets provides invaluable financial support to enhance our streets in one of the most deprived and high-crime areas of Portsmouth.

‘Burglaries, vehicle theft and street crime have a corrosive effect in our communities; making people apprehensive about leaving their homes and walking around their own neighbourhood. This funding will allow us to reduce crime and enhance community safety in the Charles Dickens ward.’

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A similar project in Southampton earlier this year implemented improved lighting, CCTV and gating in one of the city’s parks and surrounding residential area.

Following this a survey among residents showed that these measures increased feelings of safety, with 81 per cent of those asked saying that having effective street lighting would make them feel safer, and 75 per cent said that having effective CCTV would make them feel safer.

The measures will be delivered in partnership with local councils, community organisations, with them due to be completed by March 2022.

As part of the Hampshire bid £275,179 was also allocated to Eastrop in Basingstoke.

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