Policing plan committee to meet quarterly
MEMBERS heard details of future policing plan committee meetings, which will be held from December in Bray.
Policing Plan Committes (PPCs) will operate on a municipal district area basis in Bray, Arklow, Greystones, Wicklow and Baltinglass. Membership will consist of the district’s elected members, members of the Oireachtas, members of the PPN who are represented on the JPC, the Superintendent for the district or his/her nominee, the Municipal District administrator and the Municipal District Engineer. The chair of the district will act as chair to the PPC.
The committee will meet quarterly and prior to the Municipal District meeting.
While the meetings of the Joint Policing Committee are open to the public and media, PPCs are working committees and, as such, will not be open.
Cllr Dermot O’Brien had concerns that the public would not be invited. He said that it is important that the channel of communication is there between the district members and the community. ‘If the public don’t feel the PPC is there to serve them, we might miss an opportunity,’ he said.
Cllr Joe Behan said that while he is all for transparency, it would be useful for councillors and gardai to discuss issues confidentially that they might be aware of in the community. CLLR Dermot ‘Daisy’ O’Brien offered to consult with young people to contribute to the town centre health check.
‘We would be missing an opportunity if we don’t get them to feed in,’ said Cllr O’Brien, who offered to arrange workshops.
Cathaoirleach Cllr Steven Matthews said that there may have been contributions from young people at the public event and online. He thanked Cllr O’Brien for the suggestion and said that perhaps he could bring any information from the process to the presentation at the November district meeting.
Cllr Joe Behan thanked Cllr O’Brien for the offer and said that he is very skilled in the area.
For the past couple of months Future Analytics have been progressing the Town Centre Health Check for Bray. District Administrator David Forde said that a final report will be produced in October. Officials are hopeful that a presentation will be made to the members at the November meeting.
As part of the process there were two public meetings held in September. At the wider public consultation over 1000 people attended.
There has also been an online survey available to the public. As of last Tuesday, in excess of 560 had completed the survey, and commented on items such as: positive things in Bray, issues in Bray, opportunities in Bray, safety in Bray, and the greatest need for Bray in the next five years.