On 6th July Sheffield’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Rev Dr Alan Billings, will be attending a South West Local Area Committee meeting at St. Columba’s Church in Crosspool.
Dr Billings, the Police and Crime Commissioner, will be attending the meeting to discuss policing priorities and hear people’s thoughts on community safety, following an invitation of ward councillors.
Local Area Committees (LACs) are a relatively new addition to the Council, created in 2021 to better involve local people in the democratic process and bring decision-making closer to local people. The South West LAC covers the following wards: Crookes & Crosspool, Dore & Totley, Ecclesall and Fulwood.
Ruth Milsom, Labour Councillor for Crookes and Crosspool, said:
“Community safety is a key issue for people in the South West of the city, and something people regularly raise with me. Whether that’s road safety, community cohesion and anti-social behaviour, or perceptions of crime, I know this is a topic often on peoples’ minds.
“It’s important to bring community decision-making to these issues, and hope that by providing residents with an opportunity to raise any thoughts directly with Alan Billings we can look to tackle them collectively.“
Rev Dr Alan Billings (right) with Crookes and Crosspool Councillor Ruth Milsom (left)
As part of its scheduled business, the LAC meeting will feature an interactive session on community safety, inviting residents to join with Councillors and Council Officers on roundtables to discuss any local concerns and how relevant services across the city could look to address these.
Crookes and Crosspool Councillor, Minesh Parekh, said:
“It’s so important that issues like community safety, and how we all work to build strong and inclusive communities, are discussed in a public forum and open to all communities.
“We all want to see safer and cleaner streets, and we all want everyone to have the conditions they need to thrive. The challenges we face—responding to austerity, overstretched services and under-served communities—won’t be tackled by conversations behind closed doors. We need everyone to be a part of that conversation and coming up with solutions.”
