Consultation asking for your “perceptions of safety” in Wrexham closes this week

A consultation asking for members of the public to put forward their views on their perceptions of safety in Wrexham will close at the end of the week.

The Community Safety Partnership (CSP) – which includes the likes of Wrexham Council, North Wales Police Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board and North Wales Fire and Rescue Service – has been carrying out the annual survey on how safe local residents feel in their area and while visiting the town centre for the last few weeks.

Questions include how residents would rate their fear of crime in Wrexham compared to other UK towns and what has influenced their decision. This could include personal experience, national or local media coverage, experiences of friends and family, word of mouth or comments seen shared on social media.

There is also the chance to comment on any issues that members of the public may have seen or experienced within a two mile radius of their homes. Options include antisocial behaviour, drug taking, fly-tipping, vandalism, graffiti or underage drinking.

The final questions focus on the town centre specifically – including how safe you feel when visiting during both day and night, the reasons you may not have visited and why.

However there are no questions on how often you visit the town or what you find positive / has improved in the area since the last survey was undertaken.

Likewise the question on why you may not have visited the town during the day or after dark asks if that has been because you are “fearful of crime”, rather that space to put forward your own thoughts.

Participants are then asked to select one option that they feel would make them feel safer when visiting the town.

The survey, which is carried out annually, is undertaken to find out “about feelings of safety in Wrexham and the issues that have an impact on this, in order to help us decide on the priorities for our local community safety plan.”

Last year’s survey found that ‘high-visibility policing’ and ‘action to tackle anti-social behaviour’ were the two most popular responses.

74 per cent said they had witnessed ‘drunken behaviour’ and referred to witnessing drug related activities. A high number of open responses throughout the survey also referred to the ‘visible vulnerable’ in the town.

45 per cent of people said they felt ‘a bit unsafe’ in the town centre during daytime, with the unsafe/very unsafe score rising by nearly 10 per cent year on year. That figure for night time is down slightly year on year, with 77 per cent people scoring town ‘a bit unsafe / very unsafe – but 2 per cent better than last survey.

Respondents under the age of 18 were more likely to feel ‘Very unsafe’ in the town centre after dark (61 per cetn) compared to other age groups (average of 46 per cent).

You can take part in the survey on the YourVoiceWrexham website until January 31st.