IMPROVING NIGHT TIME STREET SAFETY
Wakefield's
main street through the city centre will be closed to all traffic except
taxis, buses and emergency vehicles for the first time on Friday night to
help boost community safety.
The
Wakefield District Community Safety Partnership has developed the plan which
will see Westgate made a one way route only away from the city between 7pm
and 4.30am on Friday and Saturday nights.
It
is hoped the closure will help reduce violent crime and anti-social
behaviour and follows consultation with the public, licensed premises in the
area, taxi drivers, bus operators and the emergency services.
The
trial scheme should also help people move quickly away from the area once
they are ready to go home by making it easier to get taxis.
From
May 5, Westgate will be made a one-way road with access restricted to taxis,
buses, hackney carriages and emergency vehicles only with diversions in
place to travel the other way. The restriction will apply from Wood Street
to Drury Lane and Smyth Street.
This
is one of a number of measures in place to help boost community safety in
Wakefield City Centre including night time marshals, extra policing and CCTV
cameras as well as a proposed ban on unauthorised street drinking.
The
scheme will be launched for a trial period of four months. There will be a
review after three months, with scope for further measures to be introduced
in the following month if the scheme can be improved further.
Sam
Warmington, Wakefield Council's Service Director of Enforcement and
Environmental Health, said: "Our aim is to make Wakefield City Centre a
safer place for everyone, and this is just another step we are taking to
further build on the reductions in crime we are already seeing. We have
worked extensively with local people and businesses in the plans who share
our aim to make Wakefield a safer place for everyone."
Chief
Superintendent Mark Whyman said: "This scheme should certainly help to
get people out of the city centre more quickly after a night out, which will
ensure fewer people on the streets at any one time. This is just one of the
measures that the Partnership is taking to make the city centre a safer
place at night - others include working closely with licensees, an increase
in patrols under the Government's Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign and
extending the alcohol exclusion zones. Violent crime and disorder is
decreasing, and we will continue to work closely with our partners to reduce
it even further."
Ref:
PR812
Date: 03/05/06
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