Sussex police are pleased to announce crime has been reduced in town centre hotspots across Sussex this summer thanks to increased visible policing patrols and close working with businesses and partners.

July saw the start of the Safer Streets Summer initiative, a national campaign to tackle anti-social behaviour, particularly in town centres during the busy summer period.

There’s been a significant drop in reports of all crime in targeted town centres, including a drop in violent crime and shoplifting, as part of the campaign.

The increased police presence – more than 4,000 hours of additional patrols this summer – led to 230 searches, 32 weapons seized and stop 172 arrests.

The additional patrols and proactive policing during the campaign was enhanced by Night Safety Marshals working in the daytime to engage with vulnerable people and provide extra eyes and ears.

Officers have disrupted drug supply networks, provided quick and effective responses to business crime, shoplifting and assaults and targeted enforcement with partners.

The initiative to create safer, thriving town centres, has had a great effect. It follows on from the success of hotspot policing in Sussex, fully implemented a year ago after being piloted in the county.

Targeted hotspot patrols to deter and respond to crime will continue all year round.

Chief Superintendent Katy Woolford said: “Absolutely hotspot policing is having a positive impact in Sussex.

“By concentrating resources over the summer in targeted town centre areas, as part of a national campaign, we have significantly reduced crime.

“Violent crime was cut by 16.2%, offences involving a knife by 10.5%, shoplifting by 12/1% and all crime by 8.9% from July to September, compared to the same period last year.

“Officers and partners across Sussex have been working hard to prevent crime and to find and prosecute those who persistently commit crime and impact communities.

“Working closely with businesses and encouraging reporting of crime allows us to get a more accurate picture of what is happening locally and enables us to focus patrols at peak times to reduce harm.

“We are committed to keep town centres safe all year round.

“If you have any concerns in your area please report it. It is so important that we get that information from you to direct our resources to where they are needed.”

Commenting on the local success of the national campaign, led by Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and Chief Constables, Sussex PCC Katy Bourne said: “The crime reductions for Sussex speak for themselves – violent crime cut by over 16% and shop theft down more than 12%. Our Safer Streets campaign has really made its mark in our town centres.

“By investing in targeted prevention and partnership activities, we’ve reduced the crime that residents tell me matters to them and brought more offenders to justice.

“I’m really pleased with the work that’s been carried out, which has included hotspot policing, additional patrols and collaboration with community safety partners such as our Night Safety Marshals. The aim has always been to make our streets safer for everyone.”

Surrey County Council’s on-demand bus service Surrey Connect is launching across the Reigate area.  Bookings for journeys from 20 October will open on 13 October. In addition, a new Saturday shuttle service to countryside sites will also launch.

The latest expansion allows residents to book a bus when they need it and travel to key services in the areas of Reigate, Banstead, Tadworth, Merstham, Redhill, Salfords and Horley as well as more rural parts where residents have not previously had access to public transport. Buses run Monday to Friday from 7am to 7pm and on Saturdays from 8am to 6pm. Fares are charged based on how many miles are travelled starting from £2 for adults.

From 18 October, Surrey Connect will also run a Saturday shuttle service between Dorking Mainline Railway Station and landmark countryside sites at Box Hill and Norbury Park. The service runs from 9:30am to 5pm and costs £2 a journey.

The expansion of the scheme is funded by Surrey County Council to improve access to sustainable travel in areas of the county where there are fewer traditional bus services.

Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth said: “I’m delighted we have expanded this popular service to benefit residents in more areas across the county, along with making travel to our famous green spaces cleaner and more accessible. Surrey connect has transported over 170,000 passengers since its launch in 2022.

“This expansion is part of our significant investment in bus travel and our efforts to encourage more people to use Surrey’s buses. We’re investing in making our buses greener including £32.3m for more ultra-low and zero emission buses and £6.3m for more ultra-low and zero emission community transport minibuses. We’re also making bus travel more accessible with our Surrey LINK card which offers discounted bus travel including on the Surrey Connect bus services to those aged 20 and under. A further £9m is being invested in bus priority measures to ensure buses turn up on time, and £1.4m in improving information for passengers at bus stops.”

All journeys must be booked at least 30 minutes before travel or up to 7 days in advance. They can be booked:

• Online at surreyconnect.org.uk   
• Via the ‘Surrey connect’ app – available from Google Play (Android) or the App Store (Apple)

For more information and areas covered by Surrey Connect services, visit www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyconnect   

Crawley Borough Council is delighted with the decision to withdraw water neutrality restrictions that were first introduced in September 2021. These restrictions prevent any development that increases the overall use of water in Crawley and other areas impacted. This has significantly impacted on development in the town, notably housing.

Crawley Borough Council has been at the forefront of work (alongside other council areas affected) to find ways that allowed developments to come forward, including being the first ever authority to have a local plan approved under water neutrality restrictions and the first local authority to develop water credits through retrofitting council housing stock – something that also reduced bills for tenants. Read our ‘Working in partnership to improve water efficiency for council housing stock’ news story to find out more.

The council also lobbied government strongly, most notably when announcing a housing emergency in February 2024. With the letter to ministers, Councillor Michael Jones, Leader of Crawley Borough Council, and Councillor Ian Irvine, Cabinet member for Housing, made the following request: “DEFRA and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (now Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government) recognises that the imposition of water neutrality is a failure of long-term national and regional infrastructure planning, and that the sanctions applied through the local planning system penalise local communities, putting at risk future housing and growth. As such, both departments must be more proactive in resolving an issue that we are currently being told may not be resolved until 2040.”

This was followed by further lobbying jointly with Horsham, Chichester and Mid Sussex District councils, with support from West Sussex councils, to this same end, including meetings with ministers. This resulted in the issue being considered by the cross-departmental task force looking at water issues which brought together the key players needed to resolve the issue and, following significant efforts by all parties, has resulted in today’s announcement.

The lifting of water neutrality restrictions is a major success and step forward for the town. It does not resolve the town’s housing emergency, but it means we can once again get housing development moving for the residents of this town. This is real progress and comes after years of hard work to make sure this issue got the attention it deserves by government. I’m thankful to both Ministers Hardy and Pennycook who have provided the leadership needed to resolve this – not by 2040, but by 2025.

Councillor Michael Jones

Leader

Crawley Borough Council

Whilst the announcement has been made today, restrictions will not in fact be removed until the end of the month.

After years of delay to planning applications, the council understands that many applicants will be keen to now progress these as soon as possible. This will take a short while to work through and we thank applicants for their patience as the council processes what will be a significant amount of work for our planners. The council hopes that any frustration at delay will be more than compensated for by the fact that applications will now be easier to manage without the need to account for water neutrality restrictions and the associated costs moving forward.

Spokesperson

Crawley Borough Council