Councillors have welcomed a reduction in the number of residential burglaries in Calverley and Farsley, with one member saying: “It’s good to see figures are going in the right direction”.
The number of residential burglaries in both Calverley & Farsley and Pudsey wards have gone down, although there was a rise reported in Farnley & Wortley ward.
Last November WLD reported councillors’ concerns over a sharp rise in burglaries particularly in Calverley and Farsley, which had seen a doubling of residential burglaries in 12 months.
But councillors at yesterday’s Outer West Community Committee heard Calverley and Farsley had 13 reported burglaries in the past six weeks, which was down five on the previous six-week period.
Councillor Craig Timmins (Lab, Calverley & Farsley) was encouraged to see a fall in residential burglaries both in the past six weeks and year on year.
He said: “It’s good to see some of the police initiatives around awareness coming through. Although it is early days, it is good to see progress on this.”
Cllr Timmins raised concerns about anti-social behaviour and asked for police to name specific hotspots, which would enable targeted work to take place.
Cllr Andrew Carter (Cons, Calverley & Farsley) said:Â “It is good to see a number of crime indicators moving back in the right direction – as we discussed last time, the figures were completely unacceptable in terms of residential burglaries.”
He said anti-social behaviour was a concern, particularly later in the evening in Farsley.
“I know police are feeling somewhat pressurised in terms of their ability to move quickly on anti-social behaviour,” Cllr Carter added. “But it’s something we will watching very carefully.
“We’ve made huge strides over the years in improving the experience for shoppers, diners, drinkers and young people and we don’t want to see this jeopardised by – and I don’t want to overstate this – a few incidents which leave me slightly concerned. I’d like to see action taken.”
Business burglaries in Calverley & Farsley included four offences occurred just off Rodley Town Street, near to the Aire Valley Tow Path.
Meeting chair Cllr Adrian McCluskey (Lab, Farnley & Wortley) also raised concerns about robberies across the outer west area.
Cllr McCluskey also mentioned concerns over the 15 additional burglaries in Farnley and Wortley ward.
In Pudsey residential burglaries had deceased by eight on the previous six weeks, although there had been an increase in commercial burglaries including three offences targeting pubs.
The Outer West Community Committee is made up of nine councillors from three wards: Calverley & Farsley, Farnley & Wortley and Pudsey. It has four Labour, three Conservative, one independent and one Green councillor.Â
The agenda and council officer reports can be read in full here. The meeting was held at Leeds Civic Hall.
- See more of WLD’s coverage of the committee here.