Two Liverpool neighbourhoods that have been “plagued” by crime are to receive over £750,000 of funding to install new CCTV, street lighting and fences.
The money will be directed at projects focused on reducing crime in areas of Huyton and Picton. It comes after Liverpool’s police commissioner Emily Spurrell successfully bid for the cash investment from the Government’s Safer Streets Fund.
In Huyton, £367,000 of funding will be used to improve the safety of residents in Primrose Court, a housing estate which has suffered from high levels of crime and anti-social behaviour in recent years.
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The money will be spent on measures aimed at preventing crime and making residents feel more secure in their homes, including through the installation of new CCTV, street lighting and fencing.
It will also be used to provide security devices for homes on the estate, to tackle fly-tipping and improve local green spaces with the aim of rejuvenating the area and creating a healthier environment for residents.
Ian Critchley, Merseyside Police’s Deputy Chief Constable, said he hoped the measures would “restore pride in the area, help us detect criminality and bring offenders to justice, and ultimately deter anti-social behaviour”.
A similar community safety project using an investment of £390,000 will also be undertaken in Picton. Ms Spurrell said that Picton had been “plagued by issues in recent years” and burglaries were a particular problem.
The funding will be used to improve and upgrade street lighting, repair alley gates, redeploy CCTV and introduce security equipment to improve the safety of residents.
Picton has a high student population and the project will also work with universities on a communication campaign focused on increasing crime prevention awareness and helping to integrate the student population with residents’ associations and community groups.
Emily Spurrell, Merseyside’s Police Commissioner, said: “Using this major cash boost, we can look to put some long-term measures in place relatively quickly and easily that will make a genuine difference, helping to cut crime and improve the safety of local people.
“No-one should feel unsafe in their home or the area where they live. We’ve seen the success previous Safer Streets projects have had in other parts of Merseyside, like Birkenhead and the Flower Streets of Kirkdale, so I’m really hopeful we can change things for the better in Huyton and Picton too.”
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