To receive an update from Thames Valley Police.

The Forum was introduced to Superintendent Colin Hudson, the new Area Commander for the Royal Borough.

Louise Warbrick informed members that since the last meeting there had been four unauthorised encampments in the Royal Borough, all of which had been on non-rural land. They all involved environmental waste and by working with the Environment Agency, the police had been able to link the encampments to regional travellers involved in large scale environmental waste. Louise Warbrick said that two vehicles had recently been seized in connection to two of the encampments and the Environment Agency were looking launch prosecutions.

Louise Warbrick said there had been discussions relating to the Rural Crime Policy, in order to identify signatories from local authorities across the Thames Valley area to agree a policy. However it had proved problematic to identify a signatory from every local authority. Thames Valley Police were committed to sticking to the Rural Crime Policy however.

Louise Warbrick informed members that 21 reports of rural crimes within the Royal Borough had been recorded since October 2017. This figure may be higher however as not all reported crimes were given a categorisation. The 21 reports included 4 of theft, 3 of non-dwelling burglary and 6 of criminal damage. In total across the Thames Valley Police area there were 81 reports of rural non-dwelling burglary, 108 of theft and 157 of criminal damage. Louise Warbrick stated that the most problematic areas of the Thames Valley Police region in terms of rural crime were Milton Keynes and Chiltern/South Bucks, and that the Royal Borough had seen a significant decrease.

Paul Rinder informed the Forum that incidents of hare coursing had decreased, although it remained a problem.

Responding to a question on Windsor Police Station, Louise Warbrick stated that although it was not open to the public, it remained operational and housed a number of specialist teams. A timetable for moving to a new premises had not been made, although a Neighbourhood Policing base would remain in Windsor.

Regarding speeding, Louise Warbrick stated that officers were deployed to carry out regular speed checks were around the Borough but these would be in identified accident blackspots. Speed monitoring equipment was supplied to Neighbourhood Action Groups for checks to be carried out in other, usually rural, areas.

Cllr Coppinger stated that he had recently met with representatives of Sandwell Borough Council to find out more about transit sites, which required police intervention over unauthorised encampments. Cllr Coppinger said the transit sites had been successful in Sandwell and asked if such a scheme had been considered in the Royal Borough. Louise Warbrick said a consultation on this had been carried out, although this was not led by the police as it related to identifying a site as part of local planning policy. A site was identified but objections were raised.

Annie Keene raised the issue of protestors coming into contact with farmers trying to transport livestock, and stated her belief that not enough was done by the police to deter protestors and to move them away from farm vehicles transporting livestock. Louise Warbrick stated that the police had to abide by national guidance and legislation, which stated that protests were lawful and officers had to demonstrate a level of proportionality when handling a protest. Officers also needed to ensure the safety of the public and a judgement call had to be made over whether police intervention could inflame a situation. Louise Warbrick accepted that, to the public, there were times during a protest where it appeared that nothing was being done to stop the protests.

Louise Warbrick said the police were involved in discussions over traffic management and other issues relating to the Royal Wedding in Windsor. Relevant information that could impact on residents would be circulated. It was anticipated that as many as 180,000 could come to Windsor over the weekend.