Wednesday, 28 October 2015

Burglary in Ashburnham Grove

Tina Pugh, Oct 28, 2015 


Unfortunately, we have been advised by our Safer Neighbourhoods Police Team that there has  been another burglary within the Triangle, this time in Ashburnham Grove.  This happened between 10pm on the 21st October and 6am on the 22nd October.  Entry into the property was via the ground floor window.
This is now the third burglary within the Triangle in just over a month.  Remember, most burglaries are opportunistic, not planned, so they’re easy to prevent.  Here are a few reminders to keep your home secure:

Lock up

Deadlock doors and close and secure lockable windows if you go out or upstairs. Unlocked UPVC units can be sprung. Keep keys away from doors and windows in a place where they are not visible to anyone looking in, and don’t hide them outside.
Get a strong door with insurance company-approved locks.
Fit an entry viewer and/or a good door chain or door bar. A letterbox cage will prevent lock release or theft via the letterbox. Change locks in new houses so only you have keys. Don’t give keys to anyone you do not know well.

Windows

Visible window locks may deter thieves. Secure easily accessible windows. Draw the curtains in the evening.

Lighting

Lighting with timers, movement or night sensitive switches on external doors, gardens etc. will deter thieves. Neighbours get used to movement sensors being set off by cats etc. so don’t rely on them alone.
Did you know that leaving an upstairs light on is a much better deterrent than a downstairs light? Burglars can quickly work out that no one is in downstairs, but if someone might be upstairs they will probably not risk it. The majority of burglars do not want to be seen or heard and certainly don’t want a confrontation. Specialist light boxes that flicker like a TV can be purchased quite cheaply and make a good deterrent too.

Valuables

Keep valuables hidden out of sight and not viewable from windows. Keep jewellery and credit cards secure and house deeds and other important legal documents in banks. Burglars look in ‘safe’ spots such as under mattresses and in shoeboxes and tins. Never keep large amounts of cash at home. Never leave packaging from new valuables such as computers and televisions visible with your general rubbish. Secure bikes by locking them to an immovable object inside a locked shed or garage. If possible, use a property marking service.
It’s worth remembering that an expensive car parked on the driveway or outside the house can be a clue that there are valuables inside the house.

Alarms

Visible alarms can deter burglars.

Gardens

These can be routes into homes. Secure yours with lockable gates and good quality fences, with 12 inch/300mm trellising and/or thorny plants. Lock away tools and ladders so thieves can’t use them to access your home. Lock outbuildings. Don’t store valuables in sheds unless well secured, e.g. with anchor bolts for large items, and use electronic shed alarms or padlock alarms to deter thieves.
If you would like home safety or crime prevention advice then please telephone 020 8284 5494 or email either PCSO Gemma, Gemma.Black3@met.pnn.police.uk or PCSO Henry, Henry.T.O.Lawton@met.pnn.police.uk of the Greenwich West Safer Neighbourhoods Team who will arrange for an Officer to come and visit your home.

Community policing could be axe

Imogene Russell, Oct 28, 2015 



Even more police cuts are looming. Write in if you want to keep West Ward’s one remaining police community support officer (PCSO). It will be decided in December whether PCSOs have a future in Greenwich.Already there is only one PC and one PCSO in Greenwich West Ward. PCSO numbers have been reduced by 73% in Greenwich overall since May 2010, and Greenwich Police Station in now only open for three hours a week: Wednesday 7-8pm, Thursday 7-8pm, and Saturdays 2-3pm. Email Julia Harries of the Mayors Office for Policing and Crime at Enquiries@mopac.london.gov.uk if you want to retain some 

Friday, 23 October 2015

Security Report from the AGM & Remember Crimewatch?

David Scales, Oct 23, 2015

The Security Hub report presented at the AGM on Thursday 22nd October is attached here in full, please click on the link, and if you were unable to make the meeting and have questions or would like to make any comments please feel free to send me an email at david0902@talktalk.net
At the meeting, we said goodbye to Carolyn Carter our longstanding Representative who has moved outside of the Ashburnham Triangle area and put such dedication and commitment into the Security Hub and police liaison over the last five years or so.
Carolyn campaigned tirelessly against drivers flouting the No Entry signs in Devonshire Drive and took effective action on other issues such as graffiti removal and making our streets less cluttered and we are very appreciative of all her efforts in moving the Hub forward and feeding back residents’ concerns at the Safer Neighbourhoods meetings. We wish Carolyn well and all the best for the future and hope she will continue to stay in touch.
As mentioned in the last AGM newsflash, Tina Pugh has now been appointed as our new Security Hub representative and we extend a very warm welcome to her. Tina attends the Safer Neighbourhoods meetings as well as serving as a Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinator and will be contributing to all aspects of Hub activity.
Finally we have been notified by our Safer Neighbourhoods team of an event being hosted by Nick Ross of Crimewatch fame taking place this Sunday 25th October from 7.45 – 8.45pm on board the Cutty Sark. Please note there is a charge for this event – see below:
Nick Ross
Crime, how to solve it and why almost everything we’re told is wrong
£15.00
Can it really be that almost everything we’re told about crime is wrong? Nick Ross, much loved broadcaster and visiting professor at UCL, explains how to solve crime, and how to learn from medicine – where for millennia almost everything doctors said was wrong. He presented The World Tonight and Newsdesk while still in his twenties and became a household name in the 1980s when launching breakfast TV, Watchdog and Crimewatch. Followed by a Q&A.
If you would like tickets then please either email Margie on Margie@dandyassociates.com or phone 07759 382 103.

Thursday, 22 October 2015

Ashburnham Triangle Association AGM


Neil Sinclair, 22 October 2015

Annabel Cowell was last night (Thursday 22nd October) elected as the new treasurer of the Ashburnham Triangle Association (ATA) in succession to Zach and Tara Veitch.

Re-elected as chairman and secretary respectively were Chris Ward and Imogene Russell.
The annual general meeting (agm) of the ATA also formally welcomed Simon Barrs as new head of the planning hub in succession to Andrew Steeds. Maureen Romeril will be assisting Simon as planning associate.

David Scales, senior representative of the security hub, introduced to the meeting Tina Pugh who has become the other security hub representative in succession to Carolyn Carter. Tina will focus,  among other things, on communication of security hub issues across the Ashburnham Triangle.

Robin Stott, deputy chairman, formally chaired the AGM in the absence of Chris Ward.

Wednesday, 21 October 2015

Agenda for Thursday’s AGM

By imogene russell on Oct 21, 2015 08:32 pm



Agenda for the ATA annual general meeting, 22nd October 2015, in Greenwich west House
1) Wine and sandwiches at 7.45pm
2) Welcome from the chair at 8 pm (Robin Stott – 2 minutes) (Timings given throughout are what we aim for, so that there is time available where needed for discussion at unexpected points)
4) Hub updates (average 5 minutes each including discussion, ie 40 minutes)
Security hub (David Scales)
Fun hub (Neil Sinclair)
Green hub (Janet Stott)
Newsletter and ATA booklet (various)
Planning Hub, including suggestion the Triangle become a designated
Neighbourhood Area (Simon Barrs)
ATA discount card (Rob Willett)
Website and Facebook (Tom Webb – he’ll arrive at about 9pm, so this may have to be later)
Local history project (Tom Webb)
5) Financial report (Imogene Russell – 5 minutes, including discussion)
6) Invitation to all for ideas for use of residual funds, including good causes (allocation of finances to be made as usual by a committee of all officers and hub heads at their next meeting) (10 minutes)
7) Presentation of last year’s minutes and matters arising (Imogene Russell – 5 minutes)
8) Election of officers: chair, secretary, treasurer (presently Chris Ward, Imogene Russell, vacant); and election of planning team, and security representative (5 minutes)
(These timings bring us to just after 9pm! The Neighbourhood Area question and the suggestion for a Local History Hub are among topics which may take longer than scheduled)

Saturday, 17 October 2015

Be part of deciding ATA policy at the AGM this Thursday

By imogene russell on Oct 17, 2015 12:21 pm

Find out about ATA activity, finances and plans, over a glass of wine at Greenwichwest House this coming Thursday, 22nd October. The AGM is at 7.45pm (not 7pm as given in the ATA newsletter). We’ll elect a new treasurer and a new planning head. Could the Triangle become one of Greenwich Council’s new Neighbourhood Areas to give it more control over planning? – Simon Barrs will tell us. Should we form a new local history hub? – Tom Webb will suggest yes.  There will be pitches for good causes for the ATA to support, and for what events to put on. These are some of the topics for discussion. You are welcome to suggest others.
Venue for the Annual General Meeting: The William Mills Room, 1st Floor, Greenwichwest House, 141 Greenwich High Road, SE10 8JA
Time: Drinks at 7.45 for settling down to business at 8pm. Escape is possible at any time – just come for part of the meeting if you like. Deputy chair Robin Stott’s muscular chairmanship will ensure all business is done by 9.45. The building must be cleared by 10pm.
Nominations for the posts of chair, secretary, treasurer or planning head, should be given to the secretary (imogenerussell1@gmail.com) by this coming Tuesday 20th October. The posts of chair and secretary are not currently vacant, but new people are very welcome to stand for them – incumbents can get tired!! There is so far one nomination for treasurer: Annabel Cowell, and two for planning head: Simon Barrs and Maureen Romeril, possibly as a team.
Other hubs have no vacancies for heads at present, nor do communications (website, newsletter, Facebook), but new people are invited to join the teams from which hub heads will emerge when needed. Contact details for all departments are on the website.
The ATA’s new local history project needs volunteers to reshape into a Triangle history resource the 4,000 facts in the late Richard Cheffins’ research notes – about the streets, houses, businesses, churches and pubs of the Triangle and their residents down the years. For example, the Triangle was home to Russian revolutionaries in the 1870s; and Greenwich High Road was the first street to be lit by a public electricity company. If you’d like to take part in this project, contact Tom Webb (thos.webb@gmail.com) or Mick Delap (mick@delap.plus.com).
Good causes in and around the Triangle can now benefit from some of the money the street party made. The management committee makes financial decisions, but invites suggestions (to the secretary as above). The causes suggested so far are: the Deborah Ubee Trust, the James Wolfe School breakfast club, the 999 Club in Deptford, Hacan, the Greenwich Food Bank, Redthread, and Clean Air in London (not to be confused with the Mayor’s Clean Air for London website).

Thursday, 8 October 2015

Security Alert – Ashburnham Place & Peabody Close – Devonshire Drive

By david scales on Oct 08, 2015 07:37 pm

We are sorry to be the bearer of more bad news within two weeks but as the saying goes forewarned is forearmed. We have been advised by our Safer Neighbourhoods Police Team that there have been two recent burglaries in the Triangle: 
Ashburnham Place:  This happened on the 7th October 2015 between the hours of 00:01 – 08:45 hours.  The suspect gained entry through a basement sash window which had been forced open with an unknown object.  Items stolen were – Apple IPAD, Photographic equipment and a handbag.  The items value totalled to approx £4,500.
Peabody Close, Devonshire Drive:  This happened between 28th Sept 14:00 hours and 3rd Oct 2015 20:30 hours. The gate entry system had been broken for a number of weeks and was only fixed on the 1st of October 2015.  The home owner had been away and noticed the property had been burgled on return; a rear door had been left open and the door had been damaged.  Items stolen were a pair of headphones and a bracelet, approx £50 in total.  The damage to the door is estimated to cost approx £200. 
Although we previously contacted Peabody Housing Association (after the September Safer Neighbourhoods Police Street Meet) that undesirable groups were gaining access to the back gardens posing a threat to the security of residents there, we never did get a response so this will now be followed up with a formal complaint.
Please take all possible steps to secure your windows and doors etc with appropriate locks and use them particularly when you are away from your property.
If you would like home safety or crime prevention advice then please telephone 020 8284 5494 or email either PCSO Gemma, Gemma.Black3@met.pnn.police.uk or PCSO Henry, Henry.T.O.Lawton@met.pnn.police.uk of the Greenwich West Safer Neighbourhoods Team who will arrange for an Officer to come and visit your home.

Friday, 2 October 2015

Street party credits

By imogene russell on Oct 02, 2015 09:59 am


STREET PARTY 2015 – CREDITS – Big thanks to everyone!
Infrastructure  Neil Sinclair, Tom Webb, Robin Stott, Graeme Elkington, Julian Burgin, Chris Ward
Food stall


Lysanne Wilson, Annabel Cowell, Blanche Cameron, David Walker, Stuart Mulholland, Richard Tyson, Steve Cowell, Cllr Aidan Smith, Cllr Mehboob Khan, Vicky, Neil Bailey, Tom Webb, Emel Guçel, Graeme Elkington, Jo Hall, Roz Weeks, David Williams, Adam Deal, Tom Webb, Matthew Pennycook MP, Andy, Jane Saunders, Tina Pugh
Eyja’s cake stallEyja and Anastasia Haydulina
RaffleBarbara Reid,  Janet Stott, Maureen Romeril, Mary Carter
Face paintingFrances Currie, Lee Bamsey, Naomi Davis, Xim, Amy Dewit, Emma Cole, Carlotta, Mar, Hannah
Spin paintingCaroline Elkington, Ceri and Edmond Rose, Liz McClean, Lee Bamsey, Miew-Cheng Stangroome, Sonia Jarman
Bouncy castle    Josh Stott, Robin Stott, Marion Sands, Zoe Willett
Plant stall    Peter Hulme, Caroline Siggins, Alison Haworth
Honey and bee visitsRobin Stott
PotteryJonathan and Elizabeth Gravil, Joyce and Kathleen, of the Devonshire Drive Baptist Church
Biscuit decorating Alice, Irene Nash, Gideon Nash, and Declan of the South Street Baptist Church
Gate              Rob Willett, Derek Fordham, Chris Ward, James Kellock,  Alastair Currie, Neil Sinclair, Imogene Russell
Music James Andrew, Ruth Currie and the Jazz Ashes, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Jo Honey and Emma
Burgers & sausagesW H Wellbeloved, Butchers
Food stall supplyThe Ashburnham Arms
Climbing wallAltitude Events Ltd
Sponsorship of the climbing wallHamptons International
AnimalsSupreme Animal Foods
Bouncy castleLily’s Bouncy Castle Hire
Furniture and equipmentJames Wolfe School, South Street Baptist Church, St Alfege’s Church, Devonshire Drive Baptist Church, St Mark’s Church, Rachel Hale
Party productionNeil Sinclair, Imogene Russell, Tom Webb, Barbara Reid, Frances Currie
If you lost a red V-neck jumper, a blue towel, or if your name is Thea Viale of Camberwell, contact Neil Sinclair on neil.sinclair@hotmail.co.uk