"I'm at The Dell with Andy Coles, a councillor for Fletton and Woodston ward on Peterborough City Council – The Dell in his ward, which is south of the city centre.
"Andy, what happened here?"
"There was an arson attack on two flats in August 2020 – one of 14 such fires in this area over the last 12 months.
"This time one of the flats was being renovated and, fortunately, empty – but the second one had been occupied by an elderly person: had they been in, the fire damage and the smoke would have no doubt taken their life. It was an extremely dangerous and potentially a fatal fire."
Straightforward suggestions
"After the fire I spent time here with fire officers, colleagues from the council and council enforcement officers to access what had happened and what could be done to prevent more fires.
"I made some proposals, having spoken to a number of the residents – common sense ideas which can be used in any situation similar to this:
- Move the wheelie bins – often used to start a fire – to a separate storage area away from the building.
- Cut back the greenery on the patch of ground facing the flats to prevent the arsonist(s) from hiding to watch what happens. It will also mean young people who play here won't be able to get up to mischief without anyone seeing what they are doing.
"Cross Keys Homes, which owns the properties, acted quickly and created a new storage area for the bins – but the heavy undergrowth on the green patch, owned by the council, has not been cut back yet."
Work together
"And now I see there is what amounts to fly tipping of flammable old furniture right outside the flats – despite an 'Arson Watch' sign a few yards away.
"I feel the key to making areas like this safer is for the different agencies to work together, which so far this hasn't happened.
"Darryl – what would you be doing to get everyone, including the community safety partnerships, to do their job? I want to reassure residents they are going to resolve this particular problem."
"First of all, thank goodness the flats were empty.
"In terms of a deterrent and people being reassured, if I'm elected my number one priority will be more police officers – more police officers on local patrol acting as a deterrent for these sort of crimes and strongly enforcing the law when they can."
Multi-agency approach needed
"But the police can't do this on their own – it needs a joined up, multi-agency approach.
"Within the PCC legislation, Police and Crime Commissioners have what are called convening powers to bring together all the different agencies to look at local solutions to local problems.
"So I would make sure the community safety partnerships throughout Peterborough and Cambridgeshire are strengthened and supported by making funds available."
Everyone should feel safe
"And we also need to learn the lessons from where they're working well so it works well everywhere.
"All of our communities should feel assured they can be safe where they are, particularly in their own homes."
- Watch – Andy talking to Darryl about the fire .
Darryl Preston is the Conservative candidate in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Police and Crime Commissioner election in May 2021. There's more about Darryl on the About Darryl Preston page.
