In recent weeks we've seen a number of concerning incidents in our Town Centre. We need to do something about it.
It was already clear something needed to be done to end the free for all the criminals think they have in our town centre. Recently, I met people working in shops in the town to talk about the crime they witness and face all too often.
I’ve been making it clear for months that to make a success of the renewal of our town, we have to tackle the constant crime that times places.
Recently, however, the instances of crimes have become ever more scary and dangerous.
We have a responsibility to ensure our communities are safe and currently what is happening in West Bromwich Town Centre is not good enough.
On the 5th November, I held a roundtable discussion with the College, the Council, the Police and local businesses so that we can work closer together to come down hard on the criminals that blight the town centre.
I have also raised the issue with Ministers in London; the Home Secretary has spoken to the local superintendent and I am keeping her informed with updates.
I won’t settle for accepting our Town Centre is dangerous. We're working really hard to make sure it's returned to its former glory. We're seeing this recently with the demolition of the eye-sore Bull Street car park. And more investment from the Government is on the way.
Our town centre has to be a place we all feel safe before we can once again be proud of it.
