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Good Afternoon Elmdon Residents, I have recently returned from some annual leave and have received various emails reporting neighbourhood and ASB related issues such as parking and speeding. We are working hard to combat these issues and ensure all residents can live safely and not suffer from ASB issues which includes working alongside Solihull Council and other policing teams. I would like to thank all of those who got in touch with me or via Councillor McCarthy to report these issues. I would like to remind everyone that if concerns are not raised and reported to police, we do not know they exist. Whilst we understand and often share your experiences of this ASB, we cannot act on the concerns if we are not told they are happening, so please reach out at the time so we can help you. I would also like to remind everyone that consideration is made when contacting myself or other officers to report these concerns. Some of the recent messages and emails have not been acceptable with their tone or language used. We will not tolerate abusive or insulting language. Whilst we understand the frustrations of ongoing issues, we ask that all communications remain respectful, so we can arrange the most appropriate support and work together to fix these issues. Thank you. There has been some recent confusion on off road bikes within parks and who to call and when. The best possible outcome is for us to know straight away at the time so we can respond and look to detain these people, rather than receiving information after the fact as if we know at the time, we can look to attend immediately. Going forward, we advise you call 101 at the time where will you will be put through to a call handler. If the driving of these bikes is in a way that is dangerous or endangering life, we advise you call 999 immediately.We received a number of complaints regarding an abandoned vehicle in Elmdon Park Car Park which was there for a number of weeks. We worked closely with teams at Solihull Council and got this car removed. Thank you to all those who reached out to us to inform us of this problem. Now that this car has been removed, the Council can continue to close the gates at night to the car park, which will in turn prevent ASB from taking place in the car park and impacting local residents at night.We have been made aware of inconsiderate and poor parking at the Glencroft Road roundabout near to the Coventry Road. The parking here causes issues viewing the junction and blocking the pavement for pedestrians. I attended the location earlier this week and identified four vehicles parked on each corner on the pavement. I spoke to all four owners of these vehicles and can confirm they were moved that day and the impact of their parking was explained and the problems it causes. Myself and my supervisor have since discussed this issue. Unfortunately, there is no current legislation in place by the Government which bans pavement parking within England. Areas such as London and Scotland have a blanket ban on pavement parking which can result in fines but unfortunately this has not been introduced within England. Therefore, as Police, we cannot enforce pavement parking at this stage and issue fines. However, if a vehicle causes an "unnecessary obstruction" of the highway, we can and will seize these vehicles. We will continue to monitor this situation going forward and are fully aware of the issue. We have engaged with a local councillor who is also aware of the issue. I am aware that pavement parking is a current problem being explored by Parliament, and we will act accordingly should new laws be introduced.The above situation is also present at the very top of Hobs Moat Road at the Wheatsheaf Junction opposite the Toby Carvery with pavement parking. This area will continued to be patrolled, and we have also informed the local Sheldon NHT to make them aware.Concerns have been raised about the parking at the top end of Windsor Drive leading onto Old Lode Lane. We regularly patrol this area and are aware it can be difficult merging onto Old Lode Lane due to Windsor Drive parked vehicles ourselves. As it currently stands, there are no double yellow lines or other parking orders to prevent parking here. As these are not in place, we do not have any powers to prosecute. However, if vehicles are causing an "unnecessary obstruction" as explained, we can and will seize these vehicles in order to safeguard local residents. Going forward, I would advise residents to contact their local council and MPs to request additional traffic measures along this stretch. The local council are already aware of the concerns raised here and Councillor McCarthy has added this location to the list for consideration for double yellow lines, however, funding is not unlimited and will be considered against other areas of concern across the Solihull Borough. Your local LEOS NHT will continue to patrol this area regularly and act accordingly.Speeding along Valley Road has recently been raised. There are existing traffic measures in place such as speed bumps and bollards to reduce speed. There is also a speed check device on Old Lode Lane and an average speed check system installed on Lode Lane. We have informed the council of local concerns on Valley Road who are now aware and we will continue to patrol this area. We are now aware of concerns of speeding along Hobs Moat Road and will continue to be present in this area. We have Mobile Speed Enforcement Vehicles which patrol the entirety of the West Midlands and their location varies each day. We can also conduct Community Speedwatch Events with residents if they are wishing to be trained and we have recently conducted a Multi-Agency Road Safety Operation with joint neighbourhood teams and our Roads Policing Teams. Evidence of road traffic offences can be submitted to Op Snap (see below) and we encourage you to contact your local MPs and Councillors to request things such as fixed speed cameras and speed bumps etc as it is the responsibility of the local council to deal with reports of excess speed.Off Road Bikes continue to be present infrequently at Elmdon Park. Following some community intelligence, we are working closely with other local NHTs in Birmingham to identify those causing ASB within Elmdon. We will complete school visits, identify those committing offences, and take the appropriate action. We are in regular contact with Councillor McCarthy and other members of Solihull Council and Solihull Community Housing in order to tackle ongoing ASB and NHT related issues. We will work together to try and resolve these issues for local residents. I have been made aware that Solihull Council are looking at the installation of further Zebra Crossings including Damson Lane near to Coppice Road and Old Lode Lane near to Mayswood Road. We welcome these as they will significantly impact road crossing safety for residents and help to reduce speed on these roads. Councillor McCarthy has updated us that Solihull Council are currently waiting to hear about the start date of new powers from the Government to tackle pavement parking, which they are hoping to be implemented in the autumn which will allow the council to issue fines for any pavement parking. Please rest assured that when these laws are introduced, we will work closely with the council. We would also like to jointly remind everyone of Operation Snap which is available on our website. You can submit pictures of road related offences which will be reviewed by our Central Ticket Office for consideration for prosecution at court. Please feel free to use the below link to have a read! Operation Snap | West Midlands Police Any further concerns, please reach out to myself or your local Councillor/MP. If you wish to report a crime, please contact 101 and always dial 999 in an emergency. Regards, Dan |