Have Your Say in The D&G Community Safety Survey 2023

Does dog fouling annoy you? Is there too much litter in your neighbourhood? Did you stop in a lay-by last week and see fly-tipping?

D&G Council are asking members of the public about local issues in their community. The results of the Community Safety Survey 2023 will allow the Community Safety Team to focus their resources on tackling the issues that the public want.

You may fill in the survey online, or you could be asked to complete a survey by any of our officers who will be out and about over the next five weeks. Please share your views and help us be the most effective we can be by providing accurate and open opinions on the work the team carry out. If you do not have access to the Internet, call into any Council customer service facility, and staff will be happy to help you complete the survey there.

Chair of Communities Committee, Councillor Ian Blake said: “We receive a lot of feedback on what is important to the communities across our region. Some of this relates to dog fouling, littering and abandoned vehicles, among other things. Our Community Safety Team needs your input to continue to make a difference in your community. This survey is your opportunity to inform how the team target their work across the region”.

Jackie McCamon, Vice Chair of the committee, added: “The previous survey generated unprecedented response levels and the feedback generated from it allowed the Community Safety Team to focus in on key areas of our region to detect and deter, to make our residents feel safer. This year’s survey will give members of the public the opportunity to tell our Council how safe they feel within their own area, as well as how they’d like us to deploy resources to deal with various issues.”

One major point to come out of previous surveys was how much involvement the team had with key stakeholders in communities across the region. As a result, officers are visiting schools, attending community groups and community council meetings, and are having more of a presence in local hubs within communities more regularly.

The Community Safety Team consists of eight patrol staff (often working together in four pairs), based regionwide and focusses on the detection, deterrence, and public awareness of anti-social behaviour such as littering, dog fouling and fly tipping. The team also dispose of discarded needles, investigate and remove abandoned vehicles and deal with anti-social behaviour and neighbour disputes in communities region-wide.

These patrols are out from 8am to 5.30pm Monday to Thursday and 11.30am to 9pm Friday to Saturday with the aim of deterring antisocial behaviour and detecting and ultimately fining those offending. They also offer a mediation service to assist neighbours to resolve disputes: