Minutes:
PC G Morgan spoke of the issues ongoing at Wigston Cemetery. Comments are being made on the Leicestershire Police main page on Facebook but it appears many are not following the local Oadby & Wigston Police page; this is used to update the public in the Borough on Police work at a local level. Neighbourhood Link was also promoted to residents present as another means for the Police to share updates and work with the public.
Wigston Cemetery and ASB around the Bell Street / Junction Road area. Police are undertaking plain clothes and uniformed patrols through the cemetery, but are not sharing details of the dates ahead of the patrols. It has been noted that another gravestone has been pushed over in the cemetery today.
There are lots of comments around the Police “finally doing something about the issue” but on review it is apparent that the issues haven’t been reported to the Police, and without the knowledge of a concern they are unaware of something they need to act on. The cemetery matter was first noticed on Spotted Wigston, not via a report to the Police.
Burglaries and Vehicle Thefts – 6-7 arrests were made, and the number of incidents reduced massively.
eScooters / eBikes – Raised by a member of the public as they are becoming an increased risk on the public highway. Leicestershire Police are taking an education route regarding the use of eScooters, informing riders where it is safe to stop them that the use of them in public is currently illegal. There is some confusion around the public’s view of eScooters being legal as some retailers are not making their current status clear at the point of purchase. Schools have been asked to pass on a message to parents around the use of eScooters as parents have previously been seen taking children to / from school on them. Leicestershire Police has previously seized eScooters on multiple occasions. eScooters can only be used on private land with the landowners consent. There is a potential that some eBikes are legal under different legislation that is being reviewed with Leicestershire Police’s traffic department. It may be too late to “put the genie back in the bottle” regarding the use of eScooters. The Police cannot stop retailers from selling eScooters as their sale is legal. Legislation may change from central government in 2024.
Pavement Parking – Raised by a member of the public as it is particularly bad along Horsewell Lane. Part of the issue is front gardens being paved over but still not being big enough to accommodate vehicles which are left hanging over the edge of the pavement. Many of these driveways have not been accompanied by a dropped kerb which would make the driveway legal, as a means of allowing a vehicle to pass over the pavement. The Police do not have a power to enforce this, but can enforce against dangerous parking. Pavement parking falls under the remit of local authority parking / traffic wardens. Recommended that a log of registration numbers, time, date and location are kept by those affected; photographs can also be taken and forwarded on to local Beat Teams. Newton Lane is another location where cars are nearly blocking pavements with their parking, and on the days wheelie bins are put out they are completely blocked. The pavement parking is also damaging infrastructure where kerbs are dropping through vehicles driving up them. Central Government was looking at legislation to make pavement parking outside of London have the same standard of legality as is in London, where pavement parking is only permitted in certain areas due to road width. The efforts that some people go to in order to avoid paying £1 in parking fees is excessive. PC Morgan stated he is happy for members of the public to share details of problem parking with him via email; gareth.morgan@leics.police.uk. Langton Road, a van being parked entirely on the pavement at this location on a wide corner, corner of Halcroft.
McDonalds – Raised by Cllr. Martin, McDonalds are encouraging the use of their app as part of the drivethru, which still falls foul of using a mobile phone whilst driving even when on private land. The use of the app isn’t illegal in and of itself, but the Police will intervene if people are witnessed by officers using their phone whilst driving.
Corner of Clarkes Road – Raised by Cllr. Boulter, a gentleman is parking his white van on the corner and causing traffic to exit Clarkes Road on the wrong side of the road, and cars entering are unable to do so due to the cars waiting to exit. This has been noted by PC Morgan who will visit the location tomorrow.